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Need help writing this letter...

C

CoRPS

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Feb 19, 2004
Messages
1,389
Alright guys, As was talked about here, I'm planning on contacting my schools principal about *hopefully* recieving a few of the schools 'old' computers to fold for the [H]orde.

I'm not sure exactly how to get my point across, any help will be greatly appreciated.
 
Here is what I have so far guys, tell me what you think...



***********
Miami, Florida 33157
November 29, 2004



Dear Mr. ********,
It has come to my understanding that the school will be receiving new computers for Mrs. St. Come's lab. I'm a member of the Folding AT Home organization. Folding AT Home is a program run by the Pande Group, a chemistry department at Stanford University. The Pande group works on theory and simulations of how proteins, RNA, and nanoscale synthetic polymers fold. Folding AT Home is a program that is run on computers that use the computers 'spare CPU cycles' to simulate how proteins fold, and the information is then sent to Stanford. This information is useful when trying to find the cures for some diseases, which is The Pande Groups main conscern. Diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, cystic fibrosis, BSE (Mad Cow disease), an inherited form of emphysema, and even many cancers are believed to result from protein misfolding

I have written this letter to ask that you donate the unwanted, unused computers to Folding AT Home. I would store the computers on my house's Home Network, where I will be able to help The Pande Group find the reason on proteins fold the way they do. I would like to help this group out, but my funding is very limited. This is a perfect opportunity for both of us to do our part for the community, to give back and try to stop these diseases.

I'd like to thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to read into this letter, I'm also appreciative of your decision, whatever it may be.



Sincerely,



Brett *******
ID: *******
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Excuse the horrible grammar, and any misspelled words, I'm just in High School :D
If you have any suggestions I'd be glad to hear them.
 
A reference/link to the FAH website might be a good idea as it will allow the reader/decision maker to see that this group does exist and will allow them to find answers to further questions. Give contact information, you dont want the reader to throw this away if they cant discuss this easily with you. And it is spelled concern. Others may have some sentece structure suggestions. I hate writing and will therefore not offer suggestions. Good luck.
 
CoRPS said:
He's the principal of my school, he knows where to find me :D
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Well, in this instance, the reference was for a link to the Stanford website (http://folding.stanford.edu), so the principal could find it, not you. :)

Add that to the letter. Delete "into" from the last sentence.

One other tack you might try, is to set up the farm there at school using the old machines. Demonstrate the process to the principal and lab admin. You might gain the old machines *and* get to borg the new lab as well. Double win!
 
Thing is though, I've never done it before. Never done anything with F@H. Not to mention, the lab where the computers would be, yeah well she hates me :D

She complains that all I do is visity the 'internets' (hardforum) and read. WHat else am I supposed to do in that class? The assignment? HAH! (Microsoft Word stuff)
 
CoRPS said:
Dear Mr. ********,
It has come to my attention that our school will be soon be replacing the computers that are currently being used in Mrs. St. Come's lab. At this time I am unclear as to what the normal disposition of the old computers would be, but if you will allow, I have a suggestion.

I am a member of and participate in a very large worldwide organization that runs a distributed computing program known as “Folding at Home”. By way of explanation “Distributed Computing” is a methodology by which many computers from all sources are combined into one “super computer” to solve complex mathematical problems on a very large scale. The data being processed is sent via the Internet to each computer where the calculations are completed then sent back via the Internet to the project source. Said data is then compiled, stored and finally made available for whatever research it was intended.

In this case the research program is being run by Stanford University under the direction of Professor Vijay Pande. This is a non-profit undertaking and relies solely on the free availability of unused computer cycles made available by the members. A detailed explanation of the project can be found here:

http://www.stanford.edu/group/pandegroup/folding/

Might I direct your attention to the left side of the page, specifically the “Education” through “Awards” sections? It is a quick read and I think you will agree after reading that the project is indeed worth anyone’s participation, which brings me to my point.

I, like many people am limited to the one computer I have at home. I would be willing to provide more in the way of participation if I had more computers. It has come to my attention that many members of our organization are using multiple donated machines. These machines have come to them by way of corporate cast offs, donations etc. To that end I am asking for your help in either directly procuring some if not all of the above-mentioned machines or your suggestions on how I might accomplish such a goal.

These machines would only be used for the purpose specified and I would be responsible for maintaining and any associated costs regarding their use.

I deeply appreciate your time and look forward to any thoughts and or suggestions you might have regarding this undertaking. Please feel free to contact me at anytime for any additional information you might need.

Sincerely
The geeky kid who won’t pay attention in his “Word” classs.
Click to expand...

I changed your wording, just a bit ;) You want a business letter for your purpose, I think this might work. Feel free to change it etc, especially the sig. Be prepared to answer any questions he might have.

Good luck

Oh, do try to attend those "word" classes...you need it :D
 
BillR, I appreciate the post, I will be using that, editing only small parts out. Thanks again.
 
CoRPS said:
BillR, I appreciate the post, I will be using that, editing only small parts out. Thanks again.
Click to expand...

Your most welcome, if you end up with any spares, let me know ;)
 
Im not trying to sound harsh, but knowing how to prog worked might be an idea .. also do your parents know how many watts your planning on using ?!


 
I would learn how to get the program running, I just haven't done it yet. just like any other program, you don't know what you're doing till it opens up on your screen.

As for the watts, no, they don't. I don't plan on taking in 10 computers anyway, maybe just 1 or 2. If I get more i will probably donate them to the rest of you guys for the same cause.
 
I always found having your parents 'say so' helped when talking to schools, get your parents to atleast sign the note, if not write it for you as such (make it sound like its from them) .. with their permission.
 
AtomicMoose said:
I knew that wasn't going to be free.....
:D
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There is always a price to be paid when you're dealing with BillR. ;)

Sounds like a grand idea. I'd make sure that they know you aren't going to profit from it and that it'd be a learning experience at the same time (software, networking etc...). Definately read up on the project and learn the program completely so that you can answer any questions they have and so they'll know you're serious.
 
pageian said:
There is always a price to be paid when you're dealing with BillR. ;)

Sounds like a grand idea. I'd make sure that they know you aren't going to profit from it and that it'd be a learning experience at the same time (software, networking etc...). Definately read up on the project and learn the program completely so that you can answer any questions they have and so they'll know you're serious.
Click to expand...
Agreed. There is nothing worse than an ill prepared proposal.
 
AtomicMoose said:
Agreed. There is nothing worse than an ill prepared proposal.
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Yeah, I did one of those once, now I'm married;)
 
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