Dell donates 13 computers to UCO for Selman Living Laboratory

The Edmond Sun

EDMOND Fri, May 16 2008

— University of Central Oklahoma biology students can more easily connect to the online educational resources they need thanks to a donation of 13 computers from Dell Inc.’s Oklahoma City Customer Contact Center to UCO’s Selman Living Laboratory in Freedom, Okla.
The donation, made possible by the efforts of UCO biology alumna Lynda Loucks and her husband Jason, will help UCO’s biological field station further serve as a learning site for basic ecological principals and education for public schools, colleges and the community.
William Caire, professor of biology at UCO and director of the SLL, said today’s students are accustomed to having computers to analyze data and connect to the Internet for supplementary information.
“Computer analysis of ecological data at the SLL broadens students’ understanding of natural environments. By providing the necessary computing resources to conduct research and teach, we can create an environment that further promotes interaction and collaboration,” he said.
“It is all about learning and furthering education at UCO. These computers will help foster a deeper appreciation for the need for stewardship of our natural resources and we are most certainly appreciative to all of those at Dell who made this possible.”
SLL housed only two computers before Dell’s donation, which could not meet needs of the growing number of students using the facility or the increasing demands of on-site participants.
Caire said the new computers, which have greater speed and storage capacity than what previously was available, will help UCO meet its goal of enabling more students to get involved in undergraduate research and transformative learning.
Kindergarten through 12th-grade students, undergraduate and graduate students and the general public use the SLL, which is situated on approximately 320 acres of land in Western Oklahoma.
SLL is maintained by the Biology Department in UCO’s College of Mathematics and Science.
For more information, call Caire at 974-5480.