The Debugger Fall 1995
Table of Contents
EDITOR'S NOTES
In this issue, we finally have articles from several alumni.
Usually, I have to scrape to get a single alumni article; and this
time there are three. I guess its true; when it rains, it pours.
The Fall issue has a thread running through it. I'm not quite
sure how this all happened; but it is rather interesting the way it
all fits together. The thread is actually a collection of
questions and suggestions contained in Karl Keller article (derived
from an e-mail message he sent me). Karl asks about many things
that affect computing, the Computer Science department, the alumni,
and The Debugger. And, as if by magic, all the other articles in
this issue are directly related to one or more of Karl's questions.
I did not engineer this; it just happened somehow. In my responses
to Karl's questions, I think I have referred to every one of the
other articles in this issue as an example of one sort or another.
Karl has also made some suggestions for information that I
expect to include in future issues of The Debugger, additions that
I think will make the newsletter even better. If other readers
have questions, complaints, or suggestions, feel free to send them
in. Letters to the editor are beneficial to everyone - you get to
express your opinions, I get new ideas, and (if I can publish the
letter) the alumni get to hear from one of their own.
In addition to Karl, Joanne (Jones) Asch provides an
interesting story about her transition to Human Resources manager -
it involves gold mining and events that occur on Memorial day.
Warren Hilton gives us a second poem and the perspective of one who
has recently entered the work force; he has discovered the two
secrets to success in the real world of computing - reading the
manual and knowing how to find help.
Jim Wolfe, Editor
From The Chair
Gary Buterbaugh
"We must be doing something right!" This was the comment in the
departmental office by Dr. Shubra as Carol told him about one of
our graduates from which we had recently heard. Indeed that is
true. Time after time, we hear from our graduates about how well
they are doing; intern companies tell how pleased they are with our
students and how well our students compare with students from other
schools; employers, particularly those on our Corporate Advisory
Board, tell us how very pleased they are with our graduates, and
more important, put their money where their mouth is. So I thought
it would be good to address this and to talk about what it is that
"we are doing right".
First of all, the type of student which IUP attracts is one
factor that makes our students look particularly good. The
university still attracts a surprising number of first generation
college students (the first generation in their families to attend
college). Add to this that, in spite of IUP's growing reputation
as a party school, IUP student's have a high work ethic and the
fact that Computer Science is seen as a serious discipline and the
end product is students who work hard and have a good work ethic
whenever they enter the work force.
Another factor is the personal interest that the Computer Science
Department faculty show in the student. Almost without exception,
9 or 10 out of the 11 faculty who make up the department know each
of our graduating seniors personally. Small class sizes and the
faculty's commitment to teaching really do make IUP a special place
to get an undergraduate education.
But perhaps the greatest thing the "we do right" is the
curriculum of the Computer Science program. It is my firm belief
that we do an excellent job in setting a foundation for the type of
learning that takes place in the computing environment. Our first
two programming courses, CO 110 and CO 220, are the cornerstones of
our program. The content of these courses varies little from
instructor to instructor and the educational goals are well
established by the faculty. For most students, this is the first
opportunity to learn detail at the level required of a computer
professional. This rigor, although seen by students as faculty
trying to weed students out, is fundamental to the learning process
in our discipline.
The fact that the core of the Computer Science program has not
fundamentally changed in the past twenty years is a tribute to our
department's founder, Dr. Howard E. Tompkins' keen understanding of
our discipline and those concepts which are fundamental. Oh, we
have made minor adjustments, adding seminars, adding a software
engineering course, dropping the numerical methods course, and
adjusting the content a little on all the courses, but for the most
part the "core" has remained the "core". Add to this core a good
variety of upper level courses, all taught with an applications
orientation, and the product is simply a program which gives our
students a good education.
I've saved the part of our program with which I am most closely
associated for the last - our internship program. When we
developed the internship program back in the late seventies, I do
not think that we ever dreamed of the impact that it would have on
the Computer Science program here. The requirements that it has to
be paid and must be for an extended period of time has meant that
our students who have had an internship have had excellent,
meaningful educational experiences. The requirement which assures
that students will come back for at least one semester and will be
enrolled in at least one higher level Computer Science course has
meant that we have students in all our upper level courses who have
just been out in the "real world". They are not hesitant to bring
that "real world" experience into the class room and to share their
internship experience with others who may not have had an
internship.
The internship has also meant that we have the involvement of the
corporate world in our academic program. This involvement has kept
us from acting like we are in an "ivory tower" and forced us to
continue to have an applications, rather than a theoretical,
orientation. It has also meant that the companies feel like they
have an ownership in our program which means that they have
contributed financially and with other kinds of support. They
often give preference to our graduates and are always there as
partners in the educational process.
So yes, we are "doing something right;" but, is that not what we
are supposed to be doing - equipping students with the fundamental
skills that will enable them to be educated individuals
contributing to our society and profession?
Carol's Corner
Carol Miller
Isn't this a strange Fall we're having? Or is it only Indiana?
Many of the trees here have never changed color, they're as green
as they were in August. But, the temperature is beginning to
dispute summer. It has really been chilly this past while. I, for
one, don't like it. I think I'll go back to Nassau for the winter.
Anybody want to come along? We can all have a big alumni party.
Before anything else, I owe an apology to Janie (Pike)
Kustaborder (5/92) for leaving her last name (married name) off in
my write-up about her. Janie isn't even speaking to me anymore.
But, I did have a really nice visit with Janie and Ron last month
so I have that to remember her by. I had a tour of their house
(which I really love), had lunch with them, met Doofus (the rabbit,
they don't have children yet and I think any children will have
more traditional names) and then we went to Altoona for the Blair
County Country Show (or something) where they had just tons of
craft booths. It was really fun!!! Thanks, Janie and Ron.
And, even though I didn't hear from her, I also owe Sharlene
(Clegg) Wattles (5/90) an apology. I not only spelled her name
wrong, I typed Clegg with a small c. I'm really sorry, Sharlene.
No wonder I didn't get many e-mail messages or phone calls from
anyone - you've all given up on me, right?
Editors Note: Carol should probably put at least part of the
blame on me for not catching these mistakes. Editors are
supposed to notice things like this.
John Sweeney is getting a rest while recuperating from pneumonia
he contracted while on vacation in Canada this summer. He was
hospitalized in intensive care for about a week, but is doing well
now, and will be off the rest of the semester to recuperate. He
stopped in the other day and I have to tell you, he looks great.
Really rested!
On October 16, the Corporate Advisory Board met here at IUP and
as you probably know many members of that board are former alumni.
Among those present were Dave Currence (5/79) who's now with WESCO
in Murrysville, PA, Carol (Dombroski) Young (5/76) who is with
Westinghouse in Pittsburgh, Steve Brehm (5/76) who is with PHICO
Insurance in Mechanicsburg, PA and Wendy (Cauffman) Scott (8/89)
who is with ALCOA in Pittsburgh. And, the big news is that Wendy
and Jeff (5/90) are expecting their first baby the middle of
January. Congratulations, Wendy and Jeff! I will be expecting an
announcement in January and pictures for the next board meeting.
Barry Day was also here. Barry is with DuPont and was a Math major
before computer science was computer science.
Homecoming is over and a nasty one it was. It poured rain all
day!! But, in spite of the weather, I think a grand time was had
by all. I had a few visitors on Friday,, including the inseparable
sisters, Pamm Gindlesperger (12/94) and Vickie Pearce (12/94).
They are both still with RPS in Pittsburgh which is moving into a
new building out by Ikea. Pamm got a new car - a Ford Contour -
and it has one of those little remote lock controls (I want one of
those even if it won't work on my car, I just think they're great.)
I tried to unlock it from here in the office, but Pamm told me it
wouldn't work that far away. So, Pamm, did you go back to your car
and the doors and trunk were open? Vickie had just gone on a 35
mile bike-a-thon around Pittsburgh. Somehow I don't think I could
handle all those hills, but Vickie had fun. Stop in and see me
again soon. No excuses.
Warren Hilton (5/95) stopped in on Friday, too. Warren started
with DuPont in Wilmington after graduation and really likes it
there. He's really busy, too. He's living in Philadelphia and
commuting from home. But, his mother takes good care of him,
doesn't she, Warren? (In other words, she has him spoiled, but you
didn't hear that from me.) Really great to see you, Warren!!
George Soares (12/94) was here, also. I didn't see him, but Gary
Buterbaugh did. George is still with Shared Medical in
Philadelphia. But, I hear George is going partying with the group
over the weekend. (The group being Bo, Brent, Dewey, Chris.)
There were also a few of the guys who were supposed to be here
and couldn't make it. Namely, Bo Gohn (12/94) and Brent Cramer
(5/95). I had e-mail from Brent last week, and he was planning on
meeting Bo and they were coming up late Friday night. But, it
turned out that Bo had tooooo much work to do and couldn't take the
weekend off and THEN Brent got sick and he wasn't able to make it.
I talked with Bo just the other day. He's still with Sheridan
Press in Hanover and just got back from a business trip to Atlanta.
Bo is now the intern liaison so we'll get to talk with him more
often. Sheridan is having its Board of Directors meeting in the
Bahamas in the Spring. Bo may get to go. Hide in the luggage, Bo,
it will be worth it. it's always nice talking with you, Robbie.
Brent called one day and we had a great little chat. He loves
his job with DuPont and loves the Wilmington area, but I think I
said all that before. He's been really busy learning, but
hopefully will soon have a little more time to relax, right, Brent?
Hope you had a nice a good weekend!
George Altenbaugh (5/87) is in Houston, Texas with Deloitte &
Touche Consulting Group. George got his Masters in Industrial
Administration from Carnegie Mellon two years ago and has been with
Deloitte & Touche since. Believe it or not, George was planning on
being at Homecoming. Thanks for the update, George. Sorry I
didn't get to see you.
I heard that Chris Claire (12/94) was in for homecoming, but I
didn't get to see him. But, I have heard from Chris, and he's
been really busy at work. And, I want to know why Dewey slept in
Chris bathroom. Spill, guys. Chris and Eric Hoover (5/95) were
in Mike Krynicki's (5/95) wedding at the end of July. Chris is
still with Keane and in the Philadelphia area.
Oh, I heard that two females were looking for me on Saturday
morning (homecoming). I don't know who it was, so someone give me
a hint.
Lisa Dillon (12/93) just moved from her little a-frame into a log
house. I saw it from the outside when I visited her and am anxious
to see what it's like on the inside. Lisa was in California for
HRB Systems, and I haven't talked with her in a while. There's a
lot I'd like to find out, though, Lisa.
Brian Pearson (12/93) is still at Princeton Financial Systems and
right now is rewriting DOS software from C to C++. The important
news is that he moved into his own apartment. He's living in
Levittown, PA (9071 Millcreek Road, Apt. 1411 to be exact).
Everybody send him mail, (or better yet, stop and visit him) he's
lonely. Keep in touch, Brian!! Come see us.
Had e-mail from Darren Marynchak (12/87). Nice to hear from you
Darren!! Darren is in Pittsburgh working for Fiserv. He had a
trip to Florida planned for September. I hope you had a REALLY
nice time, Darren. Please keep in touch!!
Randy Warren (5/85) stopped in one day. Randy is from Indiana
and was here visiting his family (Randy's mother and father have
both had recent illnesses). He stopped in to say Hi . I still
have your e-mail address in front of me, Randy, and I am going to
give it a try. Stop in again!
Wendell Hoover (12/80) was in touch. Wendell is in Harrisburg
working with AMP in the Corporate Telecommunications Department.
He's been there since he graduated. Thanks Wendell, for the
update. it's always nice to meet the people who graduated before
I started here.
Angel Wyche (5/90) stopped in one day when I was out, so I missed
her. I'm really sorry, Angel, I would have loved to have seen you.
Angel is living in Willingboro, New Jersey and is working for the
Internal Revenue Service. Don't wait another 5 years, Angel!!
Dayle Hodge (5/84) is still in DC where he tells me all is well.
I'm glad to hear it! Dayle is working for a small software firm
and makes software for postal presorting (better known as junk mail
AND he tells me he CAN't get our names off the lists, folks!)
Anyway, it was still nice to hear from you, Dayle. Oh, Dayle's e-mail address is dayleh@clark.net. So, drop him a line when you
have a minute.
Kevin Hunter (5/89) is back in DC for six weeks (or more). They
finished their contract at the USGS in September, so Kevin had to
come back North to another CSC facility until they find him
another job. Always nice to hear from you Kevin, let me know where
you end up!
Bill Oblitey got e-mail from Tanya Muir (8/90), and he shared it
with me so I could share it with you. Tanya has been working for
BDM since July of this year. Prior to that she worked for Robbins-Gioia, Inc. for five years. BDM is a defense contractor in DC and
she is doing testing and evaluation, semiconductor systems
integration and environmental remediation. Right now she is
developing a program to integrate data of the military branches.
Nice to hear from you, Tanya, keep in touch.
I had e-mail from Duane Aylsworth (8/89) and before I tell you
anything about him, I have to send him a message, "I've been trying
to send you e-mail since I got your second message and it keeps
coming back. I have tried sending independently and answering your
mail and nothing seems to work. The message I got said there was
a temporary problem, but I've sent several times. I don't quite
understand what is happening since I did manage to get a first
message through to you. Have any suggestions?" Now, Duane is in
St. Petersburg, Florida living on Tampa Bay with the sun (and the
storms and the floods). Duane had a tornado last year that ripped
the roof off his convertible, and another time had to have someone
in a truck drive him home cause the water was too deep for a Miata.
This doesn't sound like fun! He just finished a project that took
three months of 70 hour weeks. Whew!!! Hey, Duane, it was really
nice to hear from you, I'm really sorry you didn't hear anything
back from me; but it's not because I was ignoring you.
Mike Gutzat (5/87) and Mary stopped in a couple weeks ago. They
were on their way to Pittsburgh for a wedding. They brought
pictures of Ryan. He is SOOO cute I could just about keep him. It
was great to see them even though it was a zoo in here and I didn't
get a chance to spend much time with them. I'm really sorry about
that, guys. Don't let it deter you from stopping again.
Peggy Mogush (5/87) is still hiding in Mike's attic. As of the
last time I talked with her, she didn't have a job, but had some
interviews, so her jobless condition may have changed since then.
Let me know when that changes, Peg! I'm still trying to help.
Drew Senko (5/89), who drives a neat little convertible,
volunteered for the Homecoming Parade this year. He was supposed
to drive the mayor of Indiana, but it was raining and the mayor
didn't want to get wet, so he drove two student congress people.
If you saw him, I hoped you waved. He's going to try to do it
again next year, so try to be here to cheer him on. I'm not going
to repeat what I told you in my e-mail to you, Drew, about not
seeing you. Anyway, keep in touch, and I'll see you next year! If
you want to see Drew's car, it's on his home page at URL
http://members.gnn.com/senko/
I was sitting here one day and in the door came this really good
looking guy. Slim, well muscled, you know. He said You don't
remember me do you? I had to admit he looked familiar , but I
didn't recognize him. Well, it was Skip Benamati (5/89) and to say
that he's changed is an understatement. Skip stops in every couple
years or so, and I didn't recognize him. But, he is still in
Louisville, Kentucky on leave from IBM and working on a PhD. and
he's still single (for any of you gals who might want to make plans
to go to the Kentucky Derby in May and just sort of bump into him.
We're trying to lure Skip back to IUP when he has his PhD finished.
Since he has family around here it shouldn't be too difficult.
Anyway, Skip, it was great to see you. Please stop in any time
you're in town!
Jane (Cunningham) Harnagy (5/87) is still with Perot Systems
Corporation. But, she is in their Auburn Hills, MI office. She is
doing training on custom applications they develop and teachs the
basics of Windows, Word, and Excel. Her husband of almost one
year, Bob, is with Perot, also.
Brad Peiffer (12/85) is with MRJ, Inc. where he is a Senior
Systems Consultant. They are a consulting firm and have offices in
Fairfax VA, Conshohocken PA, Boston MA, Chicago, Atlanta, New York
and Charlotte. They have openings if anyone is interested. You
can contact brad at bpeiffer@ent.mrj.com. Thanks for the info,
Brad, I'll be waiting for your complete update!!
Keith Vaughn (5/90) stopped in to see us a couple times. I told
you last time that Keith was back in the area. He's enjoying his
long distance job. I don't blame him. He has the advantages of
the big city in the little town environment. Stop in again, Keith.
I heard through the Geography Department that Don Wishard (5/95)
is going great guns at Sprint. Last issue I told you how Don got
to Sprint. Now, I hear he's had two or three offers from other
companies, one offer better than the next. Give us an update,
Donny.
I saw Brian Lawton (5/93) in August when I went over to his
parents for Briana and Kevin's birthday party. Brian is extremely
happy with his new job! Briana is getting so tall and is a real
sweetie, as is Kevin who just walks around with a big smile on his
face. Great to see you Brian and Mindi!
Mike Hautz (12/90) stopped in last month. Mike is working in
computer services for the Cambria County Emergency Services. He's
also doing some EMT work for them. Mike was over visiting his
sister who is a student here. I'm glad you stopped in, Mike, since
you're so close, stop in more often.
Paul Danko (5/86) called us not long ago. Paul is in Buffalo
working for the National Traffic Service as a Transportation
Software Developer. That sounds interesting!!. He uses FoxPro in
Windows. He is getting married shortly and his fiance is a
household engineer (I love that term, thanks Paul).
Congratulations, Paul. Hope all goes well. Keep in touch!
I had a postcard from Valerie Bonito (12/93).Val is in Marshall,
Minnesota. She and Roger Hughes (12/93) got engaged July 13 and
both are working in Marshall. Val, you didn't tell me when the
wedding is!! I've been meaning to drop you a line but just haven't
done it. Sorry!! Thanks for the card and please keep in touch.
Just this morning I had e-mail from Dave Murphy (12/92). I had
heard rumors that Dave was no longer with RPS in Pittsburgh, but no
one seemed to know where he went. Well, the big news is Dave is
consulting for Perspective Technology Corporation in Tyson's
Corner, VA. Right now his client is Marriott International in
Bethesda, MD. He's working with a variety of platforms and
languages on a project involving Fuji Bank of Tokyo. Great
hearing from you, Dave!! And, there are job opportunities at both
Perspective and Marriott if anyone is interested.
Bill Oblitey heard from Shivon Holmes (12/93) and passed the
information along to me. Shivon is working as a programmer for PA
Blue Shield Medicare Department in Harrisburg. She sent pictures
of her daughter, Shivon Alyssa, who is now seventeen months old.
SHE IS ADORABLE!!
I talked with Sean Sell (5/94) not long ago. NIST is moving to
Fredericksburg so it will be a little out of the rat race although
I suspect the rat race will just spread. Sean is also working on
his masters at Johns Hopkins. Good luck, Sean. Thanks for the
info.
And, Becky Salter (12/94) also called the other day. Becky is
now the Assistant Manager of an NAPA Auto Store in St. Marys and
has moved into her own apartment and is doing great! Everything in
general is going well for Becky. Thanks, Becky, for calling.
We talked with Shawn Murphy (5/84) one day. Shawn is working for
GTE in Florida as a Technical Products Manager. He's working in
Mobil Lynx software. Shawn is married and has two little boys,
Zachary, 6 and Jacob, 1. It was nice hearing from you, Shawn.
Don't be a stranger.
I think that's about all I have for now. I'll be talking to you
again, probably about the time the snow flies in the Spring,
although I hope I can say that the flowers are starting to bloom.
Please keep those e-mails, letters, cards, and calls rolling in.
If you don't, I won't have a column in The Debugger, and you won't
know what everybody is up to.
News from Tompkins' Lab
Nadine Tatarko
Well, this time I definitely have some news to report; both
professionally and personally. First things first -- the work
stuff. If any of you have been keeping up on what goes on in the
Tompkins Computer Lab, you know that a lot has changed! First of
all we rearranged a bit. My student workers and I have physically
rearranged some of the systems. We've made more space available.
The place looks twice as big now! Also, we've finally surplused
the ancient and humongous Digital Microvax printer. It was just
taking up space because the old Microvax had been surplused long
before I came onto the scene.
Oh, this is great! Anyone who hates having a spaghetti mess of
computer and network wiring will appreciate this: NO MORE CHIEF
LINES! We've successfully configured (with the help of Paul
Grieggs, IUP's Data Communications Manager) all the units in
Tompkins to run Kermit via the IP Protocol. We no longer need the
ancient slow dedicated serial (async) cables that ran from the back
of each unit's serial (comm) port directly to the CHIEF (located in
the Machine Room in the basement of Stright). The VAX is now
accessed using Kermit over the building's ethernet wiring now.
it's much faster and much more up-to-date .
One of my senior student workers, Lance Tost, has successfully
setup a LINUX server through the supervision of Dr. John Cross. As
funds become available, we hope to be able to setup at least six
(6) LINUX Work Stations with this new system. Accounts are
available upon request. Anyone interested should stop in and fill
out the appropriate request forms.
GOOFY has been brought back to life! Yes, Dr. Micco's Dec
Station has been moved from her office down into Tompkins Lab.
Justin Streiner, another student worker, and I have been working to
re-set this system up. It will soon become the Department's World
Wide Web Server.
We are still awaiting the new version (4.1) of Novell NetWare.
Tompkins is currently using version 2.2 of Novell NetWare; which is
severely outdated and no longer supported by Novell, Inc. I've
been experimenting with a DEMO copy of version 4.1 that I received
at a Novell Workshop. I can hardly wait for the "Real McCoy"!
Some of the equipment that the Department has purchased in order
to donate to some minority community organizations has arrived. As
soon as all the stuff comes in, I will be setting it up and getting
the units ready for delivery.
Well, I think that's about it. On a personal note, I finally got
moved into my new home. As of 10/20/95, I officially moved! it's
really great!
[Editor's Note: Nadine didn't have a new picture of the house;
I asked.]
The Calendar and the WWW
Bill Creighton, ISCC
Autumn is a bit of a melancholy time for me. The falling leaves,
the pending doom of winter, the shorter days, the rainy weather,
and the thought of cold all serve to make me take on a gloomy mood.
But the weather isn't the only cause for my mood.
It seems as though right now, there are too many things hanging,
too few things reaching completion, and a lot of expectations that
are seemingly out of line with the resources available to address
them. It would seem that a fair number of the things we need and
want to do are dependent upon those things that are currently
"hung-up." Let me give you some detail about just one thing that
is hung-up, a graphical user interface to the World Wide Web (WWW).
We have been aware for some time of the desire by faculty and
students to have a more highly developed access to the WWW. We
were able to settle on Netscape as a product to meet that need
without much difficulty. It is, after all, a software product that
is free to educational institutions. It is also full-featured and
highly regarded by users. Netscape requires the installation of
companion software though. The companion software is needed to
deal with the IP aspects of the WWW. Generically called IP-stack
software, it is a primary source of my current frustration.
In order to put this software out and about campus in a
ubiquitous manner, we had to buy the rights to a install a rather
large quantity of IP-stack software. The SysComm group, i.e.
Systems and Communications, under the direction of Mark Strawcutter
dutifully identified a product that would work well in our
situation. They negotiated with the vendor and established a
reasonable price. The vendor and SysComm together established a
process through which product concerns and usage questions, i.e.
software support, could be addressed.
The hard part would have seemingly been done at this point.
After all, the legitimate need of faculty and students had been
determined, software products required to address the need were
known and available, a vendor was identified who could provide the
product at an affordable cost, and a funding source for the product
was available.
If this were a normal consumer/vendor environment our troubles
would have been over. We'd simply buy the product, install it,
make our user community aware of its existence, and watch all the
happy folks out there use the product. Our faculty users would be
contentedly able to teach about the WWW using a highly regarded
interface. Our student users would be taught to use a current,
state-of-the-art software package which would facilitate and
enhance their use of the WWW.
But our environment is not a "normal" one. The paperwork which
is integral to the process of buying the IP-stack software has been
grinding its way through the bureaucracy since early August.
Periodic checks on the status of the order make us wonder if it
will ever be available, let alone get here in time to be installed
and useable during the Spring 1996 semester. Faculty have become
irritated because they want to begin planning their course work for
the Spring and we can't even begin to predict the availability of
this software or when our right to use it will be established.
It's not as though our faculty and students can't use the WWW.
They can. Lynx is fully available to all on the VAX mainframe; but
it can provide only text access to information. Hardly what our
users want when all about them are talking about the beautiful
graphics and art work they've found or about some wonderful sound
clip they came across.
Sigh!
That's Autumn though. The only promise it carries is that things
must get worse before they can get better. What's next, Winter?
At least Winter, with all of its cold weather, snow, and bluster
promises to bring Spring! Ah, Spring! Now there's a season with
a reason! Maybe we'll even have Netscape available by then.
Questions and Suggestions
Karl Keller (5/85)
[Editor's Note: Karl sent this personal update with a collection
of suggestions and questions as e-mail to me. I thought these
would be of interest to many alumni. So, I asked him if I could
convert it into a sort of give and take article with Karl posing
the questions and me supplying the responses. The result is the
following.]
For the past 3 years I have been the project manager working on
development of a strategic client/server development team to build
a decision support data warehouse product. The product, called
InformEnt (information enterprise), is built using Oracle 7.x,
Powerbuilder, C, Unix, all running on HP 9000 hardware platform.
Current plans are to port to other databases such as Sybase, SQL
Server, etc. as well as operating systems such as Windows NT and
Sun Solaris....
Well, that is where I have been over the past few years. I now
write this note to you after reading the current copy of The
Debugger. Please don't take my comments as total dislike for The
Debugger; I think that it servers a good purpose of communicating
with alumni; however there are a few things that I would like to
suggest.
1) Perception of the Comp Sci Department - After reading The
Debugger, I could not believe that the Tompkins PC lab did not have
up-to-date hardware/software!!. 386 PC's, can I be reading this
incorrectly. Also, it said that the profs had Pentiums on their
desks but the students got their leftovers? Back when I was in
the lab, I thought it was Hi-Tech. I was one of the first people
to learn WordStar and thought I was on the leading edge. While
everyone was typing papers on typewriters, I was using a word
processor. What happened here? How can the Comp Sci department
turn out quality people without having the latest and greatest
tools. I thought I would hear that you folks had P5 133 PC's with
Windows 95. From what I saw in The Debugger, there probably is not
one PC that will run Windows 95.
Your perception of what Tompkins' lab was when you were here is
probably somewhat enhanced by the passage of time. There is no
point in time when Tompkins truly had up-to-date hardware and
software. The lab has always been limited to what the department
needed to support several courses taught to Computer Science majors
and to what money was available. It is not necessary to have "the
latest and greatest tools" to turn out quality graduates. We have
always relied on having sufficient resources to provide conceptual
understanding of Computer Science. The resources we have in the
lab are constantly in the process of being upgraded within the
context of money limits and new currucular needs. You are correct
that several (not all) faculty do have Pentiums - for some time, we
have had to operate on the basis of providing new hardware and
software to the faculty first and to the lab second because the
faculty needed to understand the new resources before they could
teach about them and there was not enough money to provide new
hardware and software for even all of the faculty.
Also, what about Unix and client/server? Client/server
applications are the largest growing area for development. Is IUP
teaching or offering any hands on classes that include touching
Unix or Relational databases? What about OLAP and multi-dimensional databases? Are any courses being offered on how to
build models for relational or multi-dimensional databases?
We are covering all of these topics. There is a course on Unix;
and relational databases have been emphasized for some time.
Client/server applications have become part of the Database course
(although this is a recent change - see Warren Hilton's article).
A new course on 4th generation languages and GUIs is being
developed. Visual Basic is part of the Large Files and Database
courses; OLTP is being addressed in the new course and the Database
course; and multi-dimensional databases are already being
demonstrated (although we aren't quite ready yet to assign them as
projects for students).
2) The Debugger - Most of the booklet is written by Carol. I like
to hear about where people are and what they are doing in their
life, but I would rather see more information about where IUP is
taking the Comp Sci Department. What is the current offering of
classes? What are you teaching students that graduate now?
Actually, from the feedback we get, alumni seem to want as much of
Carol's Corner as Carol can write (see Joanne Asch's article in
this issue). Over the past couple of years, The Debugger's form
has more or less standardized to include an article from the chair
(his choice of topics), Carol's Corner on alumni news, news about
developments in Tompkins' Lab, an article from ISCC about computing
developments across the campus, and an article from a faculty
member (on various topics). Whenever possible, there was also at
least one article from an alumnus, an intern, and a current student
- these articles were often hard to come by because they were
rarely volunteered. Some faculty articles and some editor-written
articles have discussed curricular and facility developments
(including John Cross' article in this issue). The curriculum does
not change very rapidly (discussed in Spring '94); but we can
certainly include more information about department directions in
the future.
3) Internet - I was browsing out on the Internet to find IUP and I
could not believe that the Comp Sci department was not driving the
Home Page? I think the Finance department was driving it? I can't
believe that the Comp Sci department does not have some creative
talent to get hopping on creating a home page that is innovative as
well as informative.
The Computer Science department is just one department at IUP. It
has had some input to a university-wide committee regarding to the
design of the IUP home page. However, it is that committee which
has taken on the responsibility of design the home page and
controlling the links from it to other pages at IUP. The
committee's report was written last August; but little or no action
has been taken on it to-date (already two of the proposed deadlines
have passed). On the home pages that can be controlled from this
department, Mary Micco and some of the other faculty have done some
interesting things, starting with the department home page
http://www.iup.edu/co/ See Bill Creighton's article for a sample
of how slow things can happen at IUP.
4) Job opportunities - As a suggestion, your alumni are starting to
move into management positions. Why not have an area where alumni
can send you info on job openings so you can print them? This may
be useful for your graduating seniors as well as others who want to
make moves in their career.
The Debugger has not had job listings in the past primarily because
of its infrequency of publication. We hear about job openings more
or less continuously; but to announce them in a publication that
only appears three times a year would not be an effective way of
letting the alumni know about them. The students who are here can
read about the jobs in other announcements that appear very
frequently. Information on jobs is available to students (and
alumni too) through the Career Services office on a much more
timely basis that we could provide here (although Carol
occasionally mentins job openings in her Corner). Incidentally, we
have been considering opening The Debugger to company advertising.
It costs about $3,000 a year to publish this newsletter and we
thought charging for advertishing would help defray the costs.
What do you think of this idea?
5) Funding - It seems to me that if you need funding and want to
get alumni to send money to support the Comp Sci department, you
have to create a cause/goal. Say you want to get money to update
the Tompkins lab to P5 130s and Windows 95 capability. Set that
goal, determine how much it will cost, and then drive a campaign
via The Debugger or the Internet to get the alumni to send money.
The biggest way to get even more is to have each alumni check with
their employer. Most employers have a matching program in that
they match 100% what an employee gives. I think alumni would
really come together if they have a cause rather than knowing that
the money will just be put in some account without knowing what it
will be used for.
The Computer Science department is actually quite restricted in
what fund raising it is allowed to do. The office of Institutional
Advancement and the Foundation for IUP have the job of getting
funding from outside the university. The department's Century Club
(advertised in almost every issue of The Debugger) and a few
associated scholarship funds are the limit of what the department
may do. We are actually very pleased with the current level of
contributions to these. Generally, the descriptions of how these
funds are being spend have appeared in the article from the chair.
We can do more in the future to document in The Debugger how these
monies are spent.
6) Alumni as a resource - In my opinion, the Comp Sci alumni
represent an unused resource to help you out with direction on
where the technology jobs are going. I can tell you exactly from
my point of view where the jobs are going to be, as well as what we
are looking for (qualities, skills, etc.) when we look to hire a
new employee. Why not poll and ask questions of your alumni to get
a grip on where the technology job market is going? Ask questions
like, "What Comp Sci positions is your company currently searching
for?" I would think this would help you see where the market is
going, and so focus the college courses in the right direction. In
most cases, I have always thought that the name of the game is to
be skilled enough out of college to gain employment. However, the
skills have to be current in the areas that have demand. For
instance, COBOL is nice to have as a language and there is still
lots of code out there to support, but the real growth is in
client/server, Powerbuilder, Visual Basic, PC applications etc.
For about four years, the Computer Science department has worked
with a group of people from industry to get input on what changes
they think we should be making in our program. This group is the
Corporate Advisory Board and about 2/3 of its members are alumni
from our program. (Carol makes a brief mention of the board in her
article.) This board (as well as an Educational Board made up of
high school teachers) meets with the department twice a year to
discuss future directions. We are always looking for additional
industry representation from someone who has a strong interest in
improving our program. We also have many other ideas on how the
alumni can help our program - see Bill Oblitey's article.
7) Internships - Do you have a current list of internship sites?
This past summer I got one person approved for one from Penn State.
I would like to have IUP in Fiserv if there is interest. Where are
your current interns now? What companies, cities, etc.
Currently there are six interns: Terry Glasser working for JCCEOA
Inc. in Punxsutawney; Ron Howe working for PPG, Mike Hritz working
for SmithKline Beecham, and Sloan Seaman working for Westinghouse
all in Pittsburgh; Harry Mears working for PHICO in Mechanicsburg;
and Tosha Fadness working for The Prudential in Montgomeryville.
In recent years with the decline of popularity of Computer Science
nationwide, we have had fewer majors and consequently fewer intern
applicants. For the current interns, there were about 25 potential
internship positions to choose from. Because of this shortfall,
the department has not been actively looking for new possible
internship sites. However, if any companies would like to offer
internship positions, a representative should contact either the
chair or the internship coordinator (call Carol). Incidentally,
the number of Computer Science majors seems to be picking up so we
should have more interns in the future.
Well, that is my cut on a few items that came to mind. I am
currently on a plane to Phoenix going to a data warehousing
conference. I have been wanting to write this letter for a few
weeks, but never had the time. I felt really great in coming out
of school with a job offer. I can only hope that is still the case
with your graduating seniors. Technology is moving too fast to get
one step behind. As a university, I would think you guys should be
trying to stay one step ahead.
We are at least keeping up, although maybe not one step ahead; see
From the Chair and Warren Hilton's article in this issue.
Getting Involved
Bill Oblitey
Help!
The Computer Science Department (the Recruitment and Retention
Committee in particular) is asking for your participation in
several ventures. We have begun to develop several ideas to keep
our current students interested in pursuing computer science as a
career and in attracting incoming students to our program. Each of
these ideas provides an opportunity for you to become involved.
The first area that comes to mind is our Colloquium program. For
many years, we have been inviting individuals to come to the
department and give informal talks (colloquia) about various
aspects of computing. You may participate in the Colloquium
program by sending me your interesting topic and I'll start with
the arrangements. Topics can include such things as what computing
opportunities there are in your company, what you do within the
company, any computing topic that excites you, or any research you
are doing. The Colloquium program serves as a nice way for our
alumni to come back and visit us. It also lets faculty and
students know more details of the activities of our alumni. Note:
due to budget limitations, the only compensation we can offer is
taking you out to dinner while you are here.
A new program in the Department that calls for your immediate
participation is the Alumni Mentor Program. This program is newly
set up to link current students with willing alumni. We would like
our alumni to serve as mentors to students, help and guide them
through their undergraduate years, and ensure success for them.
Since you, the alumnus, have been through the student's experience
and you have also been successful in the real world, you could, in
a cordial, mentoring atmosphere, help guide a mentee to success.
You can give the student an idea of what life is like once s/he
gets the degree and assure the student that all the work is worth
the effort. We would expect the mentoring to be handled remotely
for the most part (through e-mail or over the telephone), although
visitations would also be possible. If you are interested in being
matched up with a student mentee, simply contact me.
The third program that we want to encourage your participation in
is our recruitment program. (Actually, this program is for both
current students and alumni). We think that many of you have ties
to your high schools and that some of you go back to visit. We
also believe that your high school teachers and counselors are very
glad to have you come and visit the school. You are an
encouragement to the students. So, our plan is that if you get an
invitation to visit your high school, we would like to go with you
and explain our program to the students and show you off as a
successful student or alumnus. We will also enjoy the fun of
getting together with you again.
If you are interested in any or all of these programs, and I do
encourage your interest in them, or if you can think of more
programs on which we should embark, let me know. Send me e-mail
and let me know what program or programs you want to be a part of
and I'll pick it up from there.
From Databases to Human Resources
Joanne (Jones) Asch (5/88)
I wanted to e-mail you to let you know that I love The Debugger.
I think about my days at IUP quite often with very fond memories.
You guys do a great job of keeping us alumni informed. It sure
seems like there have been a lot of changes since I was there.
I was very glad to start reading about more PC usage. That's one
thing I found myself a bit lacking since I didn't go into the
"normal" career path. I still have never written a COBOL or
FORTRAN program in the real world! I got a job working for a Human
Resources department right out of college in 1988. They wanted me
to set up a Human Resources Information System for them. It was PC
based and they wanted me to use Microrim's RBase. RBase uses SQL.
I always thought that was amazing since I spent 4 years making sure
I would never have to take the database class at IUP because
everyone said it was soooo hard!
I am proud to say that, although the first version of my database
was not the best version, the current version we use is very
helpful. I am now more into the Human Resources side of things.
My title is Sr Human Resources Representative. I still work with
my database and I am on the computer 80% of the time. I also seem
to be the one that everyone in the office comes to with their
application problems, I love that! I love working on the PCs, they
make much more sense to me than the Honeywell ever did!
The company I started with in 1988 was a fortune 500 company,
NERCO, Inc, and they were into gold, silver, and coal mining as
well as oil & gas. It was headquartered in Portland, Oregon. I
worked there for each of the subsidiary companies, as well as the
corporate office for about 4 years. Then one Memorial Day, a
geologist from the gold mine in Colorado (Pikes Peak Mining
Company) came to the corporate library to do some research. By the
next Memorial Day, he and I were engaged and I moved to Colorado.
The following Memorial Day, we were married (and if all goes well,
next Memorial Day we will have our first child!).
I tried to quit NERCO when I moved to Colorado but they asked me
to stay on temporarily to help them change their HRIS system to an
Oracle based database. (I really like Oracle also.) My 2 weeks of
temporary turned into 10 months. I was supposed to work over the
WAN. That worked for awhile, then the company went up for sale and
they asked me to go back to Portland to help put together
RIF/severance packages. Fortunately or unfortunately, one of the
things my HRIS system did very well was strategic planning
including all of the many reports and letters which go with a
layoff. I spend 3 months flying to Portland on Monday and back to
Colorado on Friday.
In the end everything worked out for the best. The Human
Resources Manger at the gold mine couldn't take the stress of
having the company up for sale so he found another job and the
general manager asked me to take over HR until things calmed down.
Up until that point, I hadn't done the real HR stuff just the
computer side of it. When we finally were sold, they kept me on as
Manager until they found someone that had a bit more experience and
then I became second in command. And that's where I am today.
360 Degrees (Okay Maybe it was only 180 Degrees) From
Programming to Client/Server Support
Warren Hilton (5/95)
360 Degrees
Technology - ever changing
the vast majority of us just fall behind.
Too the few that keep up the pace
the rewards are rich and fine.
Macs, PCs, LANs - and the list goes on
to most of us we can not comprehend.
But for those that stay on top
Your world of opportunity never ends.
Now as Computer Science majors, what are we taught about Local
Area Networks, PC applications (such as Microsoft Office,
Reflections, Netscape), and Apple Macintosh? Very little! But
oddly enough, my first career choice after graduating in May 1995
deals with all of the above and more. I am very happily employed
at E.I. DuPont Co. in Wilmington, Delaware. DuPont is an
international company that manufactures just about everything under
the sun. At DuPont, I am a member of the Escalated Server and
Applications Support Team. My job at DuPont does not involve one
ounce of programming (that's right no programming).
Now many of you may be thinking Warren why did you waste you
time working so hard to get a degree in Computer Science, and now
you do not write code? My answer is plain and simple OPPORTUNITY.
As technology changes and evolves, opportunities become more
readily available. As we are in the age of Client/Server, I did
not want to be left behind. Still some may think Warren were
you able to work successfully in the client/server arena? In
response, I say Yes. The main reason for my response is the
experience that I gained during my internship experiences as an
Inroads* intern and as an IUP intern prepared me for success in the
client/server and the PC world. Also in addition to my internship
experience, reading major journals and periodicals helped me to
prepare for the PC arena. Even now some may think Your education
in computer science is not being used. That is absolutely
incorrect. Two of the most important things I learned from IUP's
computer science program was how to read a manual and how to find
help. These two things are extremely important in the real world.
It is impossible to know everything; therefore you must be able to
access information that will assist you in doing your job.
Although programming and LAN/PC Support are different, the
fundamental concepts are similar. Remember no matter what job you
have, the bottom line in the real world is productivity.
Everyone does not have to take a 360 degree turn; but all of us
need to keep up with technology changes.
*Inroads is a national minority career development organization
designed to develop and place talented minority youth in business
and industry and prepare them for corporate and community
leadership.
The Change to C++
John Cross
I have a reputation for using the Internet to hammer at any task
that comes along. I enjoy the Internet, so let me add to my
reputation by using it in my comments.
I try to document whatever I am doing in my home page (URL deleted).
However, I don't know which of you are
"haves" and "have-nots" on the Internet. I have set up a short
survey to determine how many of you fall into each category. If
you have Web access, you can take the survey at the URL at the top
of the survey form. If you prefer or are limited to e-mail, postal
mail, you may respond to the survey using the form at the end of
The Debugger. Results of the survey will be available online at
the same URL and will appear in the Spring issue of The Debugger.
Now on to news about a big change in our curriculum :-)
Last Spring, the faculty voted unanimously to move CO 110 and CO
310 to C++. During the summer I was awarded a quarter-release
grant for the Spring 1996 semester to prepare for our new version
of CO 110, which will begin in Fall 1996. CO 310 (Data Structures)
will move to C++ later. This Fall, the Departmental Curriculum
Committee prepared and forwarded the necessary documents to
university committees. So far this process has met with enthusiasm
from students, faculty, and anyone else we talk with about changing
from Fortran and Pascal to C++. Now the challenge is to do it
well. Let me share a few concerns with you.
We have to pick an appropriate C++ programming environment. It
must be affordable, friendly, and a good medium in which to grasp
basic concepts of problem solving, structured programming, and data
structures. Borland's Turbo C++ is an obvious consideration.
However, students are likely to want to do things that require
Visual C++ once they move beyond core courses. Also, Borland is
constantly releasing new versions. (I heard about version 5.0 today
for the first time.) We cannot afford to constantly upgrade
software.
Visual C++ strikes me as a good environment, but it is much
larger than Turbo and there are few books that use it for a first
programming experience. I anticipate that we will decide on enough
licenses for Turbo C++ to support CO 110 and CO 310 and a smaller
number of licenses for advanced projects in Visual C++.
We do not plan to introduce object-oriented design or coding
until CO 310. I am concerned that object-oriented thinking will be
more difficult for students who begin programming without it; but
our plan still looks good to me.
Your comments are welcome; in fact, the last two questions of
thesurvey solicit your opinion. The opportunity that the change
to C++ entails is also welcome. I expect many good moments and a
few frustrations for all of us. (^_^) (a smiley you don't have to
lean over to see)
Internet and C++ Survey
Available online
(URL deleted) thru here
or fill it out below and send it in to John Cross.
Who are you?
Who do you work for?
Where do you live?
Do you have access to Internet e-mail on the job? (Yes/No)
Do you have personal access to Internet e-mail outside of your job?
(Yes/No)
Do you have access to the World-Wide Web on the job? (Yes/No)
Do you have personal access to the World-Wide Web outside of your
job? (Yes/No)
How does the Internet add to your productivity as a computing
professional?
(Not at all | Occasionally | Regularly | Reliably | Wouldn't do
without it)
How does the Internet add to your enjoyment of computing?
(Not at all | Occasionally | Regularly | Reliably | Wouldn't do
without it)
Do you approve of our move to C++ in CO 110? (Yes/No)
Do you approve of our decision to delay object-oriented design and
programming until CO 310? (Yes/No)