Through the miracle of technology, a group of Bellwood children now knows how astronauts use toilets in space.
(Hint: Velcro is involved.)
At the unveiling of the village’s new computer resource center Monday, the teleconference guest was astronaut Lee Archambault, a Bellwood native who piloted the space shuttle Atlantis to the International Space Station this summer.
During a 20-minute presentation, the Air Force colonel appeared live from Houston before about 15 students in the first public run-through of a system that is intended to help democratize technology in the blue-collar western suburb. The center, which cost the village $70,000, officially opens within two weeks at 1125 Bellwood Ave. in a rehabbed building amid a row of shuttered businesses near the Eisenhower Expressway.
Residents in the village of 19,000 will be able to access 24 Internet-equipped computers, a broadband wireless network and a Web camera for videoconferencing, all for free. They will have a village-issued identification similar to a library card.
The site is the first of four computer resource centers the village plans to open, Mayor Frank Pasquale said. Bellwood also plans to have a comprehensive wireless network within a year and is offering a $200 rebate to any family buying a computer before the end of January.
“We shouldn’t be in the position where a student can’t access a computer,” Pasquale said. “If they can’t afford one at home, they have somewhere they can go.”
For the presentation, Archambault wore a blue flight suit and shared photos and video from his two-week mission in June. The video helped explain the mechanics of using toilets in zero gravity.
Students asked such questions as, “How did you like the food up there?” and “How do you contact the people on Earth?”
For many it was their first experience with such technology.
“It was pretty cool to see him like that,” said Terrell Johnson, 10, a 5th grader at Meca Christian Elementary School.
Despite the tidy flourishes of such a new undertaking — fresh brown carpet, spotless beige paint and balloons hovering in the corners — there were a few problems Monday. Although Archambault had expected to be able to see the students gathered 1,000 miles north, he couldn’t, and his image briefly cut out halfway through the presentation but was restored by disconnecting and calling him back.
Public technology is greatly needed in Bellwood, said Jimmi Wooten, director of Bellwood Public Library, which is unaffiliated with the new computer center. The library has 13 terminals for children and adults, and lines are usually long, she said.
“There’s a huge demand,” Wooten said. “We’d have more if we had the space.”
Village officials said they envision the facility as more than just a computer center, with a social worker on hand and a community-based police officer after 3 p.m. When Pasquale cut the ceremonial ribbon Monday, he also cut a piece of yellow police tape.
“There is no reason for any child not to have access to a police officer or a social worker,” the mayor said.
Most of the young people involved in the maiden voyage Monday said they will be back, even those with computers at home, who said the computer center offers a quiet work space.
“This will help us for papers and projects,” said Kyle Saldana, 16, a sophomore at Timothy Christian High School in Elmhurst.
“Maybe after we’re done writing a paper we can play some games,” said Shawn Loiseau, 16, a Timothy Christian junior. “But first we’ll need to get our homework done.”
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jbnoel@tribune.com
