DATE: Wednesday, October 22, 1997           TAG: 9710220048

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LON WAGNER, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   79 lines

TECHNOLOGY: INTERNET CLASS HELPS OLD FOLKS EMBRACE NEW COMMUNICATION TOOL

It's not easy when arthritis is crinkling the fingers, and they're throwing terms like ``hypertext'' at you. And darn if that ``mouse'' isn't a cantankerous little jigger.

But don't tell senior citizens they can't surf the 'Net. Don't try to scare them away by saying, ``Look it up at www dot something dot com.''

As a dozen South Hampton Roads seniors showed recently during Internet training at ECPI College of Technology in Virginia Beach, they're determined not to be left out of the Internet craze.

``All of my children have these computers and want me to send them e-mail - I don't know why they can't pick up the phone,'' said Eleanor Marshall, a Virginia Beach resident. ``I hear all these addresses WWW and I don't want to be ignorant.''

Meanwhile, Dave Lenes has already strayed from the class's instructions to find directions to a book fair in Harrisonburg. The Virginia Beach resident discovered Internet search engine Yahoo! and typed in ``black jack.''

``Hey, Leon,'' he shouts a minute later, ``I got the gambling over here.''

Dr. Leon Leach has found his own diversion: ``I got the stock market on here,'' he yells back.

ECPI has just launched its computer and Internet training program for seniors. President Mark Dreyfus said he wanted to offer classes that would give seniors a chance to learn about the Internet at a pace for people who haven't sat in class for a long time.

It's a class for a generation that did not grow up with cellular phones and programmable VCRs.

``The Internet is something, I think, that can keep retirees' minds very active,'' Dreyfus said.

Seniors could have more of an appetite for logging on than many may expect, even if they didn't grow up with computers. Last year, 21 percent of those 50 and over had a computer in their home, and one-fourth of them used it to get online, according to a 1996 Yankelovich Partners study commissioned by the American Association of Retired Persons.

A Harris poll conducted earlier this year for Business Week found that 19 percent of Internet users were over 50.

Mark Carpenter, AARP's online communications coordinator, said seniors' Internet interests are similar to those of everyone else: finances, sports, genealogy. And at the top of the list: e-mail.

At the ECPI class, the students were far from intimidated by computers. Instructor Anthony DiTommaso said the biggest hurdle for most was clicking the mouse and developing eye-hand coordination between the mouse and the cursor's movement.

Some seniors whose hands shake have a tough time holding the mouse still enough to keep the cursor over a word. Others have a tough time typing because of arthritis. But that wouldn't stop this crew.

Martin Gans, 77, said he doesn't have a computer at home, but wanted to take the class to see how it works. He figured he might be able to use the Internet to pursue his hobby, collecting stamps.

``For an older person, it's easier to buy a computer because they have the money,'' Gans said. ``They may not be fast, but they'll get to it. You can't look backwards - you want to be in today's market.''

Gans' friend, Portsmouth resident Ruth Ellen Myers, said she plans to use the Internet for research with her real estate business.

Others quickly discovered less useful, but perhaps more popular, uses for the 'Net. During class, Lenes popped off an e-mail to his grandson in Philadelphia.

``I don't like the Phillies, so I'm going to razz him,'' Lenes said.

And most of the seniors quickly caught on to the Internet's anarchic, free-flowing spirit.

One man suggested that with Internet Service Providers and America Online providing access for about the same cost, a senior might as well sign up for AOL. He was quickly shouted down.

``No! No!,'' snapped a woman as she turned around, ``They tell you what you have to watch.'' MEMO: ECPI will continue to offer Internet and computer courses for

seniors. Interested persons should contact Rhonda Wilson at 671-7171,

Ext. 307. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Vicki Cronis/The Virginian-Pilot Sarah

Freedman, right, gets help from her husband... KEYWORDS: INTERNET SENIOR CITIZEN ELDERLY

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