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NATCO Doubles Internet Traffic Capabilities | ||||||||||||||||
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SSF Grant Allows Omaha School to Update Science/Math Equipment | ||||||||||||||||
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Pyatt Firefighters Get Equipment Funding | ||||||||||||||||
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Pay Your NATCO Bills at U.S. Bank | ||||||||||||||||
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DSL Service Improves Patient Care | ||||||||||||||||
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NATCO Performance Meets Standards | ||||||||||||||||
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2002 Contest Winners | ||||||||||||||||
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Handy Pay Bank Drafts | ||||||||||||||||
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Your NATCO Tech E-Mail Follows You | ||||||||||||||||
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Extra Phone Directories Still Available | ||||||||||||||||
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Remembering Howard Evans | ||||||||||||||||
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Questions From NATCO Tech E-News | ||||||||||||||||
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Sign Up - NATCO's Online Yellow Pages | ||||||||||||||||
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NATCO Doubles Internet Traffic Capabilities NATCO completed a project in August to double the bandwidth from NATCO servers to the company's "backbone" Internet provider. This project should relieve any traffic bottlenecks that could have existed before the improvement, according to Plant Manager and Vice President Steven Sanders Jr. Sanders compares the change in service to what a homeowner would see if a three-inch water main were replaced with a six-inch water main. "Each redundant route is essentially a pipe through which Internet traffic flows to and from the backbone network," he said. NATCO maintains multiple routes to the Internet backbone and, with this project, increased the capacity of each of these routes. The main effect will be improved speed in connecting to sites outside the NATCO network. And, conversely, users outside the NATCO network will be able to download Web pages and information hosted on the NATCO servers with higher speed. Improvements made on this project
will not affect NATCO's own high-speed network which handles e-mail
and Web pages on our own servers. SSF Grant Allows Omaha School to Update Science/Math Equipment
Omaha School has new scientific and computer equipment financed by a $20,546 grant from South Shore Foundation. The grant also covers gear for the Stream Team like waders, nets, and sampling equipment to test the water in Bear Creek near Bull Shoals Lake. Donna Macri and Brenda Blackmon are the teachers involved with turning some high school science and math courses into an application-based environmental program. They are creating the Omaha High School Water Quality Program. Macri describes the effort as "an integrated cooperative learning experience for both science and math students." The school is in its third year of a five-year plan to improve the science and math education of Omaha students K-12, Macri said. The grant covers the purchase of five personal computers, one laptop computer, a global positioning system, an Arkansas Game & Fish lecture program and instruction in field work, equipment such as waders, nets, specimen jars, acid rain study kit, soil study kit, various identification books for birds, plants, and insects, and other items.
The students will make up a Stream Team under the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission's sponsorship. Stream Teams are volunteers who adopt a stream to monitor, clean up, stabilize, or improve fish habitat. It is a program of river, stream, and watershed conservation. Omaha students plan to monitor Bear Creek near Point 34 of Bull Shoals Lake. As students gather data to become part of the AG&FC database, their work with the database requirements will provide math practice. Science teachers said students could also study the local streams as to their chemical, zoological and botanical features. "We would also like to instill an environmental conscience in our students by allowing them to actually see and monitor the effects we have on our natural resources," Macri said. High school classes taking part in the environmental program include environmental and physical science, biology, algebra, advanced math, chemistry, principles of technology, and physics. "Students
learn and remember so much more anytime we can relate science and
math concepts to real life applications," said Macri. Additional
materials to be used in the classroom include an aqua-ponics system,
a fish farm, and an enviro-tank kit. Pyatt Firefighters Get Equipment Funding
Pay Your NATCO Bills at U.S. Bank Three locations
of U.S. Bank (Flippin, Summit, and Mountain Home) now accept payment
of NATCO telephone and NATCO Technologies Internet services bills. Customers
must take their bill with them to the bank.
Hours of Operation:
Another option, made available recently to our customers is paying your bills online at www.natcotech.com/payonline.htm. Customers may
continue to pay by mail, in person at NATCO, online with a credit
card such as MasterCard, VISA, American Express, or Discover, or at
any Bank of Yellville location. DSL Service Improves Patient Care
What can DSL - our high speed, always-on Internet connection - do for your doctor? Let Terry DePriest, manager of Regional Orthopaedic Health Care, supply one answer: DSL improves patient care. Regional Orthopaedic upgraded its Internet service from a dial-up modem connection to DSL recently. In the past, reports on tests results had to be copied and faxed from the hospital. "Now, with our DSL service, these reports are in our doctors' hands as soon as the test is completed. This improves greatly the level of patient care we provide," DePriest said. Patients of Regional Orthopaedic are frequently suffering from injuries to the bones or painful conditions of the joints, so the quicker the treatment can proceed, the better it is for the patient. DePriest, as office manager, wanted to use the Internet more efficiently than the dial up system allowed. He looked for three features in a service to replace their dial up Internet: speed, no (or very little) down time, and technical support. He found it all in DSL from NATCO. DePriest said, "NATCO tech support was great in resolving any issues that arose." In this medical office with a staff of 25, there are 15 who use the Internet at work. DSL service means one phone line brings the service into the office without interfering with regular telephone use in any way. All Internet users can be online at one time, and they all use the same connection. Packages are available according to the number of connections needed in a business, ranging from an individual station to large groups for area corporations. The DSL telephone and Internet service carries information over the phone line at a higher frequency than telephones, fax machines and other devices. Because DSL uses the higher frequency, customers can use the same phone line for telephone calls and Internet at the same time, without any interference. Unlike Internet connections using cable or modems, customers do not share their connection with other users, so Internet speed is stable with fewer delays. For pricing, availability, and additional information about DSL and other broadband services, call NATCO Customer Service toll-free at 1-800-775-6682 for a brochure or refer to our Web site at www.natcotech.com. Regional Orthopaedic
is located at #3 Medical Plaza in Mountain Home. It is the medical practice
of orthopaedic physicians Thomas E. Knox, Anthony D. McBride, Todd M.
Oliver, and Paul S. Shurnas. Their specialties include: sports medicine
and surgery, total joint replacement of the hip, knee, and shoulder,
arthroscopic and laser surgery. Therapists operate a hand therapy clinic
and physical therapy department onsite. NATCO Performance Meets Standards For the first half of 2002, NATCO has met the standards of the Arkansas Public Service Commission for service performance. The achievement is one that the Plant Department can be proud of, said VP Steven Sanders Jr. The service performance report to the Arkansas PSC showed that NATCO met or exceeded standards in every category of service, such as timeliness of installation, repairs, and the quality of plant facilities. "This requires
hard work each day and commitment from everyone involved from the start
to finish of a service order or trouble ticket," Sanders commented. 2002 Contest Winners
Handy Pay Bank Drafts
Handy Pay is NATCO's automatic checking account debiting system which, once setup, will pay your NATCO bill on the 10th each month without writing a check, mailing or delivering it. Handy Pay Is For You If...
Get Started
On Handy Pay Right Away!
You may also contact our customer service representatives to authorize the Handy Pay Bank Draft System by calling: 1-
800-775- 6682
Other Ways to Pay Your NATCO Bills...
Take your NATCO
Tech e-mail with you wherever you go. If you're away from your home
or office and need to check your e-mail, just "whistle"
for it. Access your e-mail with your user name, domain name, and password.
These instructions with additional explanations are on the NATCO Technologies Web site at www.natcotech.com/webmail.htm. Still have questions? Call our Internet Help Desk at 1-800-775-6682. We do not recommend
using the Web-based system for everyday e-mail because of some limitations,
such as: you must manually copy a "sent" message to yourself
(in Preferences click cc self). Extra Phone Directories Still Available
• for your
vehicle In our last newsletter, an article omitted one of our locations for additional, free directories. It is Beaman Realty in Lakeview. Available online
is a complete list of places where you can pick up additional, free
copies of the 2002 Ozark Regional Directory at www.natconet.com/newsletr/qtr302/index.htm#directory.
An alternative way of getting there is accessing the archived NATCO
News editions online. This article is from the 3rd quarter 2002 newsletter
- titled "Take Another Directory With You." Remembering Howard Evans
The unexpected death of Howard Evans, 66, from a heart attack on August 18 saddened many at NATCO and the South Shore Foundation. Mr. Evans was an original trustee of the South Shore Foundation, serving since 1996, when NATCO established South Shore Foundation as its charitable foundation. He owned Howard's Realty in Bull Shoals, was chairman of the Marion County Regional Water District, and was a former Yellville mayor. NATCO President Steven G. Sanders recalled that Mr. Evans was one of the first people he asked to serve as a South Shore Foundation trustee due to his experience in creating a regional water system for Marion County. Trustee Jodie Jeffrey-Sanders said, "Howard was a valuable member of the South Shore Foundation board due to his expertise in water systems, real estate, computer technology and the environment. Howard will be missed at every future South Shore Foundation board meeting." Mr. Evans was a Yellville city councilman and mayor of Yellville from 1976 through 1982. While mayor, in 1978, he began working toward a regional water system with Bull Shoals Lake as the water source. Jack Rogers of Bull Shoals, a longtime board member, said he and Mr. Evans met with Congressman John Paul Hammerschmidt in the early 1980s and obtained his support for the grants and loans needed to build a one million gallon system. The system began pumping water in 1989, Rogers said. "He was always pushing for the people, and he knew how to do it. He will be missed," Rogers said. Mr. Evans was chairman of the Marion County Regional Water District, which furnishes drinking water to Bull Shoals, Yellville, Flippin, and Summit. The water district board is preparing a plaque in memory of Mr. Evans to place in the water plant office in Bull Shoals. Mr. Evans was a native of the area, born in Harrison in 1935. He graduated from Yellville-Summit High School in 1953 and from the University of Arkansas in 1957 in mechanical engineering. He worked a few years for the Morrison-Knudsen engineering firm which built Table Rock Dam and Brownlee and Oxbow Dam on the Snake River at the Oregon/Idaho state line before returning to Marion County. Shirley Evans, his widow, said they had just returned from a vacation to Canada, and had planned to sell their real estate business so they could do more traveling. The sale of Howard's Realty in Bull Shoals to Betty and Troy Perrin has been finalized since Mr. Evan's death. Mr. Evans was a hobbyist photographer who had recently photographed former Arkansas Governor Sid McMath at the 50th anniversary of the dedication of the Bull Shoals Dam, his widow said. Mr. Evans was health-conscious and exercised regularly. "Tennis was a passion," she said. He was a naturalist, in a sense, knowing a great deal about the plants, flowers, trees, and songbirds, she added, and he was always interested in education for the young people of Marion County. Mr. Evans was a member of Yellville First Presbyterian Church, North Central Arkansas Board of Realtors, Arkansas and National Board of Realtors, Mountain Home Racquet Club Tennis Team, and South Shore Foundation Board of Trustees. Survivors are Shirley Wolf Evans, his wife of 48 years; two sons, Jerry Evans of Russellville and James Evans of Lakeview; a daughter, Cheryl Wright of Rogers; a brother, Larry Evans of Yellville; a niece, Elizabeth Downey of Atlanta, Ga. He was a "doting grandfather" to five grandchildren, Megan, Meredith, Lauren Wright, Aaren and J.W. Evans.
Burial was at Layton Cemetery in Yellville. High school classmates
and teammates on the Racquet Club tennis team were honorary pallbearers.
Memorials may be sent to the Special Olympics, Questions From NATCO Tech E-News Q.
How can I find out more about computer viruses?
Q. OK. I now have anti-virus software. What else can I do
to protect my computer and files from a virus?
Q. How can I teach my children to keep our home computer
virus-free?
Businesses in Marion, Baxter and Boone counties are invited to participate in this region's first online yellow page project sponsored by a telephone company. There are three levels to the program: 1.
Free Listing
2. Link to Your Site and E-mail Address
3. In Addition to 1 and 2, Your Online Yellow Page Ad May
Also Include up to 25 Words that Describe Your Business and up to
15 Phone Numbers.
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NATCO | Affiliations | Services
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Info | Northern Arkansas Telephone
Company | 301 East Main Street | Flippin, Arkansas, 72634 Services and rates subject to change. Please call to confirm current availability |
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