COMMUNITY PROFILE:

Jay Schuster:

Not Your Average
Queer Computer Nerd

BY EUAN BEAR

WINOOSKI — When you see Jay Schuster,
the image that comes to mind is not
“computer nerd.” There’s- no pocket pro-
tector, no glasses, and no white shirt and
tie. Instead, there’s a black beanie that
matches his full "moustache and beard, _a
tee shirt and rust—colored canvas
Carhartts. If you catch him in summer,
there are tattoos and time spent at Faerie-
Camp Destiny in southern Vermont.
Between seasons, there’s the leather biker
jacket to go with a love of motorcycles
(he and his spouse have a Yamaha).
vWhat you don’t see is the stereotypical
buttoned-down image of a cofounder and

'vice*'preSitler1t of a computer’ company “ ' 

with more than 40 employees that spe-
cializes in software and training to help
doctors manage their practices. But that’s
where images are deceiving, because that
is what Jay Schuster does.

The company is Physician’s Computer
Company‘ (although it started out as
“People’s Computer Company” not long
after Burlington became known as the
‘‘People’s Republic”), with offices in the
Mill in Winooski. Largely through Jay’s
influence, the company has been a bene-
factor to lgbt nonprofits, among other
projects and groups.

“John Canning [the other still-involved

co—founder] and I knew each other in high

school,” Jay explained in a recent inter-
view. “We were in Explorer Scouts
together.” Schuster grew up in Essex
Junction,'IBM sponsored the Explorer
Post, and his dad was the scoutmaster, so
it was perhaps inevitable that he would be
involved in computers early in his life.
The friends’ first project was to com-
puterize a pediatrician’s office in South
Burlington in 1983. “The lesson there
was ‘there’s no such thing as a summer
project,” Jay recalled. At the end of the»
summer, Jay went back to his senior year
_at Cornell, John returned to RPI, and the
two worked on vacations. 5‘That was
when 300 baud [per second], was a fast ‘
modern, but the long distance charges
were killing us.” ' ,
Undaunted, they tackled their second
physician’s practice in 1984, just after
Jay’s graduation. By the next year, they

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had three more doctor’s practices as
clients while the friends finished grad
school. “And it just grew from there. I’ve
basically been doing the same thing for
23 years,” Jay grinned.

For the geeks, PCC’s programming
started out with Unix and is now Linux-

—based. Even for clients networking as few’
as three or four computers, the key is _

keeping that network secure. “All it takes‘
is skipping a security update or down-
loading a screensaver from the Web, and

. you’ve got a_ virus or somebody in

Romania is using your computer to send
porn,” Jay explained.

The company took on different pro-
gramming tasks at various times to keep
the venture afloat: accounts receivable for
a publisher‘, a radio fire alarm system for
the Pine Bluff (Arkansas) chemical
weapons arsenal, inventory and accounts-
for a women’s clothing wholesaler. ,“We
found out that consulting wasn’t really
what we were good at or what we wanted
to do, so we remarketed ourselves as the
Physician’s Computer Company, and spe-
cialize in practice-management software.”

Their system covers everything from
making appointments to billing insurance
companies, to tracking the financial
health of the practice, to identifying when
each patient needs to be called for another
appointment. “After 23 years, we have '
more experience than some doctors. We
help negotiate with insurance companies
about their reimbursement rates.”

Jay does programming and system
administration. He is not a people person.

“The job can be stressful — in that
clients call us when they need help or are
frustrated} so we try to create a fun work
environment. And it keeps us in toys.” He

, laughed, and then admitted, “I’m proba-

bly the most Luddite of anybody here.
I’m the only one that’s not working on a
laptop.’’ , 0

Jay Schuster and spouse Dan‘ Berns
were united ‘in civil union in early August
of 2000 at Faerie Camp Destiny during
the Lammas celebration. The Faeries’
annual play that year was “a very campy”
A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Jay was
cast as Theseus, Dan as Hippolyta. *‘At »
the end of the play everybody gets mar-
ried, and really’ it’s the boring part of the
play. They were going to end [our ver-

¥‘l have this internal debate about
how much to closet myself. When I
was single it was easier. Now that I
have a partner I can't really make
small talk without saying ‘we.”’

I 0 ’ C - .IAY SCHUSTER

sion] before then. Dan and I were just
going to go off in a comer of the woods
for our ceremony, but then the Faeries
found out and they segued [the play] into

our handfasting.” ‘

Dan, who is HIV—positive, has been a
volunteer in working on sexuality and
 prevention with queer youth through
Outright (see “Hometown Hero,” OITM
October 2004). “I met Dan at a.party in
Burlington the night before Christmas
Eve 11 years ago. I actually met two guys
Fwas interested in, and one had an email
address. That was Dan.”

-Jay said his sexuality is not an issue at
work. “I hate coming out to people. I’ve
had the same job for'23 years, so I

haven’t had to figure out whether to come"
‘out in a job interview. ’

“Some clients know, some don’t, some
I wouldn’t want to know. Some clients
are ridiculously conservative, like
American Family Association-conserva-
tive. I have this internal debate about how,
much to closet myself. When I was single
it was easier. Now that I have a partner I
can’t really make small talk about my life
without saying ‘we.’ A bunch of clients
know about Dan and his illness. He used
to take photos at our user conferences, so
we’d identify him as a ‘PCC spouse.’ Sol
guess I’m in the ‘constructive engage-

— ment’ approach rather than ‘in your

face.”’
>> continued on 33.8