Chatting over sushi on a week night in the Café, seniors Robert Burns and Sarah Schoen seem like typical Bowdoin students—except for the fact that they just made more than $50,000 in profit with their recently founded computer resale business, which was founded just four months ago. And that is only the beginning.

The idea for the business first struck Burns last summer while he was working for the Maine Department of Education in Augusta. He learned of a program through the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI), which leases Apple iBook computers for every seventh and eighth grader in the state’s public schools. After the computers’ four-year leases end, MLTI buys the computers for about $40 each from Apple and sells them at extremely low prices in a surplus warehouse in Augusta.

Schoen and Burns also hope to develop their own Internet auctioning Web site and enlarge the business to include textbooks. They want to market the site to students on a budget by posting links on university Web sites. However, at this time both Schoen and Burns are unsure of their post-graduation plans.

“The greatest part about running an Internet business is that you can live anywhere in the country and still operate,” Burns said.

The Bodoin Orient