News > October 5, 2006

By Carley Rudiger

Contributing writer

On Sept. 29, the Lenovo Group and IBM Corp. issued a laptop battery recall that had the potential to affect all IBM ThinkPad notebook computers on campus.

Within hours of being alerted of this recall, the university’s Information Systems department sent out an e-mail to all students, faculty and staff warning them of the situation and advising them to follow certain actions to ensure that their batteries were not included in the recall.

The Lenovo Group, which required IBM’s personal computer division, decided to issue the recall after a laptop began to spark and smoke in a Los Angeles airport earlier in the week.

The batteries are manufactured by Sony Corp. and have the potential to short circuit, possibly resulting in a fire.

These types of batteries can be found in Dell and Apple computers, as well as the ThinkPad.

The recall can affect ThinkPad models within the T Series, R Series, and X Series, including the R51, R52, and T60, which are found on campus.

In the e-mail sent to students on Sept. 28, IS said, “A preliminary assessment shows that ThinkPad models purchased by Wake Forest University are not likely affected.

Though this recall had the potential to do harm, IS has been working hard to guarantee that the recall will not have an effect on the university.

Jay Dominick, the assistant vice president in charge of IS explained that the department has handled the situation well.

“We take this stuff really seriously… We worked hard to get the information out, and now we are tracking it,” Dominick said.

The Information Systems department’s work is evidenced by its quick reaction to Lenovo’s initial announcement. IS received word of the recall from Lenovo representatives around 5:00p.m. on Thursday afternoon, and by 8:00p.m. that evening, the department had already developed a plan to ensure the safety of the students and their notebook computers.

This plan began with the communication of the problem in the form of an email sent to all students, faculty, and staff. Contained within this email were instructions for checking to see if a laptop’s battery is part of the recall. Dominick encouraged all students to run the simple check to determine if their batteries are potentially dangerous. The test can be found at http://techtalk.wfu.edu/lenovobattery.html

Students with affected batteries are to call the IS Help Desk to report their recalled battery and to receive further assistance. Students are not to use their laptop batteries if they are found to be a part of the recall; these batteries must be removed, and the laptop must remained plugged into a power source.

IS plans to order new batteries to replace the recalled ones. Students who need the new batteries will be put on a list and will be contacted when the new batteries arrive. Dominick explained that students in need of the batteries will need to bring their notebook computers to the IS department where the staff will replace the battery in about five minutes. This service will be free of charge.

As of Oct. 2, the IS Help Desk had received less than 30 calls from individuals believing to have been affected by the recall. In addition to being staffed during the week, the IS team also monitored its voicemail over the weekend to ensure that students with problems would receive assistance. Of the calls received, 19 were from students and staff members who actually had a malfunctioned battery. Dominick said that it is possible for this number to increase slightly as more students test their batteries.

In addition to providing this service, Information Systems is also working with Lenovo to find out more about the recalled parts. Dominick said that the department is trying to obtain the serial numbers of the affected machines. If this information becomes available, it will be relayed to the university. 

The batteries within this recall were manufactured by the Sony Corp. between Feb. 2006 and Sept. 2006. They have been the subject of scrutiny since May when they were first recalled by Dell and Apple. Sony finally called for the massive recall on Sept. 29, which prompted Lenovo to issue a recall as well.  These incidents. “Even though we are from different groups, we share common experiences and can work together to make the community more positive for everyone involved,” Jackson said.

Hatch concluded his message to students by saying, “I encourage all of us to think seriously about our commitment to respecting each other and acting in accord with the greater sense of decency, civility, and non-discrimination which has characterized our community ethos. We are diminished by senseless acts of abuse, but we are elevated by common acts of kindness and regard for one another.”