The Debugger Fall 1996
Table of Contents
EDITOR'S NOTES
There is little that needs to be said this time to introduce the articles in the issue.
So, I thought I would use up this first page with an application for the Century Club. Also,
I couldn't find anywhere else in the issue that the application would fit.
The only other thing I wanted to mention is something Jen (Baldwin) Taylor
suggested to Carol. If you are someone who would like to forgo receiving the printed copy
of The Debugger and would prefer an e-mail notice and a URL for subsequent issues, send
an e-mail message to Carol or me. If there is enough interest, we will set up a mailing list
and save a few bucks on the distribution process. Even if there isn't enough interest to
bother changing the snail mail lists, we can notify anyone who wants to know when the
WWW version is available.
Jim Wolfe
Back to the Contents
From the Chair
Bill Oblitey
Hello Friends,
It's nice to call you friends just because that s what you all are to me and it's not
because I'm doing it to get you to continue to contribute to the Computer Science
Endowment Funds. I know you will continue to contribute because you just want the best
for your Alma Mater. For those of you who contribute $100.00 or more each year, if you
have not personally received a gift from me, as promised to all Century Club members, it
is because you have not as yet filled a form for us as a Century Club member. Please make
a photocopy of the Century Club Application form found on the first page of this issue of
The Debugger and mail it to the Computer Science Office so that we can include you in our
list of Century Club members.
I have almost gone through one full semester as Chair and as I look back to see how
my time went as Chair, I see myself doing just a little more than purely administrative
work almost all of the time. I teach two classes, CO 101-13 and CO 460. My 101 class is
from 1:00 to 2:00 and I always have to run across the street to Weyandt to make the class
on time. The 460 class starts at 4:45 and one time I went to one of my Wednesday
meetings and the meeting went a little overtime, but lucky for me, my students are so
dedicated that by the time I got to class, they were all seated and were busy reading the
class material (You have to believe it - it's true. Would I make up a thing like this?) At the
beginning of the semester, I told myself that on Thursday afternoons when I'm not
scheduled for any meetings, I'll go to the Stapleton Library and either read to catch up in
my field and use the time to write one or two papers for publication. Although I have only
been able to make it only once to the library, I still have not given up on my almost utopian
idea.
This semester has seen the initiation of the first honors class and the introduction
of C++ in both CO 110 and CO 310. Professor Tia Watts is teaching the pioneer honors
seminar and says that her class is going delightfully well. Professors John Cross and Tom
Cunningham are teaching CO 110 in C++ instead of FORTRAN Professor Jim Wolfe is
teaching CO 310 in C++ in the place of Pascal. I'm tempted to say that this is being done
for the first time at the IUP Computer Science Department except that Prof. Cunningham
took the initiative and taught the CO 310 course during the summer using C++. He had
such an exciting time dealing with the fast summer pace and helping debug student code
in his office. I haven't heard many complaints from any of the professors except that they
would prefer to use Borland C++ instead of the 16-bit Microsoft Visual C++.
In addition to teaching with new software, faculty have been busy doing other
things including going on conferences, taking students to conferences and programming
contests, and the like. Specifically, Prof. Watts took the programming team to the ACM
East Central Regional programming contest. The team solved two of the problems in the
contest. Professors Cross and Shubra took twenty eight students to the Software and Web
Developers conference in Washington, D.C. Prof. Wolfe did a Six O'clock series
presentation on "Surfing the Internet." He explained how the capabilities of the Internet
could be used to one's advantage. Prof. Grove traveled to Dijon, France to participate in
the Ninth International conference on Parallel and Distributed Computing systems. At the
conference, he presented his paper, "A Framework for Distributed Diagnostic Reasoning."
His paper was also included in the proceedings of the conference. Prof. Cross attended
two NSF workshops this summer. The first was at SUNY Geneseo, in New York, on CS-1
and CS-2 ( our CO 110 and CO 310). C++ and Java were hot topics at the workshop. Prof.
Cross reports amazingly positive results with C++ in CO 110, considering all the things
that could cause problems. The second workshop he attended was in Atlanta on
Computer Graphics and Scientific Visualization. Changes in Computer Graphics are
especially fast-paced. The machine of choice for undergraduate computer graphics has at
least settled down to PC's running 32-bit operating systems with lots of RAM and hard
drive space. The ACM Special Interest Group on Graphics has recommended that
instructors work out non-traditional, innovative ways to teach undergraduate computer
graphics which, in the short term, includes a lack of appropriate textbooks. Fortunately,
the Internet provides some helpful materials for students.
Dr. Grove and the Computer Science Club officers have revised the Computer
Science Club page on the departmental web page. I invite you to take a look at it. Also,
Dr. Cross has recently established a "jobs-offered" Web page. If you have positions open
or are looking to attract some of our graduating students to your establishment, send your
job announcements to him electronically (if possible) and it will show up on our pages.
I am delighted to announce to you that the Computer Science Dormitory has been
approved and students intake will start in the Fall of 1997. This is the beginning of a new
living arrangement that Computer Science majors may choose to participate in. A
dormitory floor (or section of a floor) is set aside for only Computer Science majors so that
our students may choose to live adjacent to other Computer Science majors. Brochures
announcing this will be distributed to students and prospective students by November or
December of this year.
Dr. Micco has proposed, and started teaching, an Intranet Managers Certification
Program for students. To be certified, a student would have to complete courses from CO
110 - Problem Solving and Structured Programming, CO 201 - Internet and Multimedia,
CO 310 - Data Structures, CO 345 - Data Communications, CO 441 - Data Base
Management, CO 444 - Fourth Generation Languages and develop a full fledged web site
for a campus client that utilizes appropriate technology and be reviewed by the Computer
Science Department.
As usual, I wish you all the best and I encourage all of you to contribute generously
to the department.
Back to the Contents
Carol's Corner
Carol Miller
Happy Winter Everyone -
Yes, I know, it isn't really winter yet. But you know what a pansy I am - as soon as
the temperature drops below 70, that's my cue to hibernate. If I only could!
IUP is still buzzing right along. I don't really have any big news to report to you
in that regard. I guess I can tell you that the Maples have actually left Indiana and are
living in Bemus Point, New York. Their house is on the market, but considering its
location, I think it will probably sell pretty fast. And, I can tell you the Tia Watts took a
programming team to a conference at Notre Dame the end of October.
I do have one piece of good news - I got my pentium back. One sure does get used
to the speed of those pentiums quickly. (I think it's called being spoiled.) Nothing has
been done as far as prosecuting the acused thief yet either, but I think it's a moot point
since the others who were caught stealing computer equipment merely got probation. Not
much of a deterrent is it? Too bad they won't let me past judgment and give him his
sentence. What I have in mind, would not be good for him or his future family.
While I was off in August, Jason Moyer (5/96) and Dewey Miller (12/94) called, so
I didn't get a chance to talk with them. But, I've heard from them since. Dewey just
changed jobs, but I haven't heard where he is. It's somewhere in Maryland and I have
been waiting forever for the info, but it just doesn't seem to be forthcoming. Is that enough
of a hint? Jason is getting ready to move from Lancaster to York and won't have as long
a commute. Christine has found a job as Director for Gifted Children in the area. Now,
they can start working on the wedding plans. Jason also just bought a Grand Am. Keep
me posted on all the plans, Jason.
Terry Glasser (8/96) stopped in one day before starting his new job in
Mechanicsburg for IBM doing programming in SAS. Since then, Terry has called and the
job has really worked out well and he likes it a lot.
I talked with Raquel Osborne (8/94) one day and a couple weeks later, she dropped
in for a visit. Rachel is working for Management Science Associates in Point Breeze
(Pittsburgh). She's been there for a couple years now. Everything else in Raquel's life is
going well, too. Please keep in touch Raquel.
Mike Elder (5/94) called not long after the hurricane hit in that area. He said they
weren't bothered much at all, but there was some damage in the Winston-Salem area.
Mike likes his job with Wachovia even better now that he's been with it for a bit. Lori has
had some job offers come in and will be accepting one shortly (maybe with USAir).
Monica is growing like a weed - can you believe she's going to be two in March. Mike's
going to send me a picture (right, Mike!). Their big news is that baby #2 is on its way. To
be delivered by the stork in March. Congratulations you two!! I'll enter my request now
for pictures - then maybe I'll get them before the baby's first birthday.
Derek Ochs (12/95) called me one day. Life is treating Derek well. He enjoys life
in the eastern part of the state, and at Shared Medical. He's living near Matt Yonkoske
(5/96). Matt is at Integrated Systems and had training in VB and, thanks to the fantastic
education he got at IUP, the training was all review for Matt. AND, Colleen Brawdy
(12/95) is down that way, too - at Lockheeed. Everyone who knows these three knows
exactly what I'm thinking. Well, they went white water rafting in Philadelphia and I guess
Colleen wasn't able to drown those two. They probably hoisted a few before they hit the
water if I know them. Colleen was also here for Homecoming. She dropped in around
8:30 Friday morning and we had a wonderful visit. Colleen's sister was receiving an honor
from IUP and Colleen was here for the celebration. Colleen has gotten to do some
traveling on her job - out west and then she went to Virginia and went out on a ship - one
of the ships that launches the missles she is working on.
Jen (Baldwin) Taylor (5/91) sent me a nice e-mail letter. Jen is becoming a little too
domesticated if you ask me. She's hanging wallpaper and installing ice makers. Yeeks!!!
Pretty soon she'll washing windows and stuff like that. Jen almost had to wash the cats,
though. They had a little run-in with a skunk but fortunately were not sprayed. Whew!!!!
Close one, Jen. Jen also had an idea for The Debugger - that is to keep an e-mail list of
people who want to look only at the on-line version rather than the paper version. I think
it's a wonderful (and money saving) idea and something to really think about. [Ed: I like
this idea too.] Right now (as many of you know) we get our mailing list from the Alumni
Office. It goes to the post office and The Debugger is delivered there when printed and
then just sent out. So, it makes life easy for us to continue to do this, but it isn't written in
stone. We'll definitely put some thought to it. Oh, and Jen, Netscape so far hasn't let me
look at your pictures. It keeps telling me I don't have access. But, I'm going to keep on
trying. Thanks for the info, Jen - do that more often!
Last time I told you that Trifon Dalson (8/85) wanted to come back to the area.
Well, he did. He's now working for the Carnegie Group in downtown Pittsburgh. So far,
he really likes it and thinks he'll be happy there. Good luck to you Trifon!
Marcia (Lill) Arcuria (5/84) sent me e-mail. Marcia's been working for IBM since
she graduated. She's been transferred from Poughkeepsie, New York, to Boca Raton,
Florida and then Austin, Texas. She works in the Personal Software Products area testing
software developed for the OS/2. (Their products compete directly with Microsoft.) On
a personal note, Marcia is married and has three children, ages 5, 4 and 11 months, and is
working 20 hrs. per week which allows her the best of both worlds when it comes to
family and career. They have openings in Austin, too, if anyone is interested, give me a
call. Thanks, Marcia and don't wait another 12 years to write!!
Valerie Bonito (12/93) is now working in a daycare center. She really loves it and,
since she's engaged, she's getting a lot of experience for the future, right, Val? Meanwhile,
she would like to relocate to somewhere in Colorado. So, if anyone knows of openings,
let me know. Thanks for calling, Val. It's always great to hear from you.
Just the other day George Soares (12/94) called from Shared Medical. But I learned
something I hadn't known before. George works for HDX, not SMS. HDX is a subsidiary
of SMS. Just thought I'd pass that along cause I'm sure there's someone else who didn't
know and you never know when it might be one of the questions on Jeopardy. Big news
for George is he's now engaged and getting married next September. The bride-to-be is
also an IUP grad but in the College of Business (Accounting?). George was also calling
about openings down there. And, I understand George was here for Homecoming. Sorry
I didn't get to see you, George.
Bonnie Slowik (5/96) is a programmer at New England Funds in Boston which is
a subsidiary of The New England Insurance Company. They are presently using Visual
Basic but are probably switching to Power Builder. She is living in New Hampshire and
commuting. Bonnie says there are tons of jobs open up in that area for Visual Basic 4.0 and
Unix and C. Thanks for the info Bonnie, and thanks for getting in touch!
Sloan Seaman (8/96) is working for FORE Systems. They make high speed
asyncronous transfer mode networking cards, routers, etc. It's a large company with about
2000 employees and was in the top four of the fastest growing companies in the world in
1994. Sloan runs their web site. His official title is Internet Application Technician. He
does a lot of coding in HTML, PERL, JavaScript, etc. He also does a lot of systems
administration work. They run Silicon Graphics computers for the web. Sloan loves it
there. I don't want to say this very loud BUT one of reasons he likes it so well is because
they let him have green hair (now I don't know if he actually has green hair, but he can),
wear shorts and torn shirts, listen to loud music AND he has flex hours. He's starting grad
school in the spring at Pitt probably majoring in data communications which FORE is
paying for AND they may be sending him to Silicon valley to learn Netscape API
programming. SO, Sloan, I guess that means you aren't interested in coming back here and
working in the lab? He also bought a motorcycle (Suzuki Katana 600 F) and plans on
buying a Jeep before too long. Whoa, Sloan, you do like your job!!! (And it sounds like
they like you.) Please keep in touch and let me know how things continue.
And, speaking of wearing jeans and the like, Ron Howe (8/96) is working for a
consulting firm called SDC and is currently contracted to work at Microsoft doing testing
for Microsoft Accesss. Ron is in Seattle and loves it out there and loves his job. What more
could you ask for??? Thanks, Ron!
I heard through Ed Moore (5/95) that Aston Au Yeung (5/95) got married in
August. To Christine who, if I'm not mistaken, is the girl he was dating while he was here.
Congratulations, Aston!!
I have news from Jeff Michna (12/93). Jeff is still in Mississippi and loves it there
just as much as he always has. He is getting ready for three weeks of travel, first to PA,
then Denver, then back to Mississippi for a few days, then to Detroit and then to Virginia
for a week. Work for Jeff is going to be really hectic through February and I feel really
sorry for you, Jeff. I do know that there is a special lady in Jeff's life which makes living
in Mississippi a little more bearable. Jeff hasn't stopped in too recently when he's been
home, but he has called and I'm always glad to hear from you, Jeffrey. Please stop in when
you're in town!! Hope things start looking up soon.
Brian Pearson (12/93) is still at Princeton Financial Systems but is now a Senior
Software Engineer. He's still single, too. He didn't say this, but I'd be willing to bet he's
still partying hardy, too, right Brian??? Brian is looking for some C++ people. Hey Brian,
really great hearing from you. Hope all goes well and please say hi once in awhile.
Jason Livingston (12/95) stopped in one day. He was on campus to see Jennifer
Toward (his fiance - they're getting married the end of May). Jason still likes his job and
is looking forward to married life. (Don't write to me, write to Jason.)
Ed Meinfelder (8/89) is now working at Origin Systems, Inc. which is a game
company focusing in CD ROM titles for the IBM PC. He's working on Origin's first public
Internet game. He works on server software and created a web site for the game. Ed feels
that this game will become very popular - he has even been interviewed by two
magazines. He says there is a lot of pressure in the entertainment industry and he loves
it. He also has another article coming out in Game Developer this December and reviews
games for a Web site. Ed wants all his friends to drop him an e-mail at:
edmond@owo.com. So, drop him a line!!! Thanks for the info, Ed, I always enjoy hearing
what you're up to.
Chris Eberly (5/81) always keeps me posted on what he's up to which I really
appreciate. Chris and his wife had a baby boy, Alexander, on April 23; and I think
fatherhood has changed Chris forever. (You guys out there who have kids know how he's
feeling, right?) Then, a month later, Chris defended his M.S. thesis and graduated on June
15 and is now in the Ph.D. program at the University Georgia (which is also where he got
his M.S.). He will be working on habitat models and GIS (spatially explicit habitat
models). He started a year-long research project with the National Biological Service this
fall which will be part of his PhD research. Chris and his family also attended some of the
Olympic events, both in Athens and Atlanta which they enjoyed immensely. Chris would
like to get back to IUP and take a look around, particularly to see the "Eberly College of
Business". Ya know, Chris, if you get rich and famous and donate a lot of money to the
Computer Science Department, you could have the Eberly Hall of Computer Science or
something equally as flattering! Chris, once again, thanks for keeping us posted on the
new developments in your life.
Jane (Cunningham) Harnagy (5/87) is alive and well and, I understand from her
father, she is traveling to Reston through the week and returning home to Michigan on the
weekends.
Dustin Allensworth (8/95) e-mailed me the following information and I will quote
what he wrote me: "After I received my degree from IUP I began working for Tartan, Inc.
in Monroeville PA. I started off as a Test and Integration Engineer for the Ada Compiler
Team. Later on, in May of 1996, Texas Instruments acquired Tartan, and I continued my
career as a Runtimes programmer for the Ada C3X/C4X floating point compiler and TI.
Working with and learning about Digital Signal Processors (DSP) has lead me to strive for
new goals in my career and I plan on going for my masters degree in the near future.
Special thanks to my advisor Mr. Thomas Cunningham." Thanks for the info Dustin.
I heard from T.J. Hall (5/88) since his move to US Air. He really likes it there, and
he and Patty have been able to do some traveling - to Greensboro NC, Charleston SC, New
York to see Jim and Chris Huston, New Orleans, and Toronto for Patty's birthday to see
Phantom of the Opera. T.J., that is not traveling SOME. They are also trying to sell their
house and build in Cranberry. Any luck yet???? T.J. is also trying to work out an
internship at US Air with the department. That would really be nice. Thanks, T.J. and, as
usual, please keep in touch!
JC Caler (5/90) moved to Park Avenue - in West Mifflin Pa, that is. I just really
think it's nice to be able to say you live on Park Avenue - it must be the snob appeal. JC
just got back from a wedding in NJ (it was the sister of the guy she is seeing - hmmmm,
does this mean it's getting serious????). JC is still with the same company; but her son
changed jobs - he's now a System Administrator at LYCOS, Inc.
Jeff Bertrand (5/94) stopped in on the Friday of Homecoming. Jeff took a day off
and came to visit. Jeff is looking good, doing well and seems to be happy. It was really
nice to see you, Jeff. You aren't that far away now, so you can stop in once in a while.
Wendell Hoover (12/80) sent me an e-mail. He also was planning on coming to
Homecoming and wondered if we were having anything for Computer Science Alumni.
Alas, I'm sorry to have to report we didn't. I hope you got to see some people though
Wendell.
Drew Senko (5/88) was going to drive his convertible in the parade again this year,
so you may have seen him zipping through. Drew had a car show to be in on Sunday, so
he wasn't planning on staying the entire weekend. Thanks for the e-mail Drew. I always
enjoy hearing from you.
Pamm Gindlesperger (12/94) and Vickie Pearce (12/94) were also here for
Homecoming. They dropped in and visited for a while on Friday, too. Since then, they've
each been in a wedding and it sounds like they had a LOT of fun. They're both still at RPS
and the good news at RPS is that they have instituted a casual dress code and Pamm and
Vickie don't have to dress for work anymore. That sounds like something I could use here
at IUP. What do you think? But, other than the hectic pace, everything is going well for
those two.
I also hear Brent Cramer (5/95) has been in touch with Vickie and Pamm. That's
certainly more than I can say. Warren Hilton (5/95) though has been in touch and tells me
he and Brent are staying out of trouble (that could certainly mean a lot of things).
I hear from Mike Gutzat (5/87) on a regular basis. Everything is going well for
Mike and Mary. Rachel is growing like a weed and is well loved by brother Ryan. Thanks
for the continuing info, Mike (and thanks for the jokes).
Melanie Stewart (5/96) stopped in the other day. Melanie is working at National
Mine here in Indiana and really loves it. She's now looking for an apartment in town so
she won't have the commute to Brush Valley every day. Best of luck, Melanie. I hope all
goes well and, since you're in the area, we do expect visits!!
Janie (Pike) Kustaborder (5/92) was in town recruiting for HRB Systems in State
College. I had lunch with Janie in the Oak Room and then we went out for dinner. We
had a REALLY nice visit!! I wanted to try to make it up to State College this past weekend
and go to a craft show with Janie and Lisa Dillon, but family stuff kept me in town.
And, speaking of Lisa Dillon (12/93). Lisa is working hard at HRB and with her
candle demonstrating. She's making some changes in her life, too; but I'll wait and tell you
about that next time. Thanks for straightening out the mess with my candle order, Lisa.
I'll be seeing you one of these days.
Sean Sell (5/94) spent a day with us at the end of October. He was here recruiting
for NIST. Sean has lots of good news. He got married in June to Beth Krill. Beth is an IUP
grad. She majored in Education for the Hearing Impaired and now working with autistic
children. They are the proud parents of a husky and just bought a townhouse in Frederick
MD. They are moving from Gettysburg where they are currently renting an old farmhouse
(over 100 years old) that is located on 3 1/2 acres of property with a pond and a stream.
Sean isn't sure they want to leave it, but Beth just changed jobs and Gettysburg is just
tooooo far a commute. Anyway, we really enjoyed having Sean here for the day and hope
he comes back another time. He had a good day full of interviews, so I think it was
productive for Sean. It was really nice, Sean. Keep in touch.
Steve Blough (5/92) was in touch. Steve is working for the Pittsburgh Board of
Education. They were looking for a programmer analyst. Did anyone contact you,
Steve??? It was great to talk with you, please keep in touch.
I looked up from my desk one day and there was a handsome gentlemen standing
there. I said "I know you". And, he said "Yes, you do, I'm Brian Daughtery." And, of
course, I knew that as soon as he said it. Brian graduated in 5/87. He was here recruiting
for FORE Systems where he now works. He is a systems engineer. They are located in
Warrendale PA. AND, he didn't have green hair (maybe Sloan is the only one). After
graduation he worked in Virginia at SETA Corporation doing consulting, then Microsoft
as a systems engineer and now FORE Systems. He's been married for eight years to Pam
Boyd and they have three children, Cameron - 3, Megan - 2; and Sean - 1. I'm really glad
you stopped in Brian and this does prove what I keep telling people. I may not be able to
put your face with your name, but I DO remember you guys.
I talked with Ray Becker (5/85) one day this summer and the day I talked with him,
he told me Sharon was expecting THAT WEEK and he'd let me know all the details. Well,
Ray???
Our corporate advisory board met in October, and Carol (Dombroski) Young (5/76)
was our only alumna who made it to the meeting. But, we have great news about Carol.
She is now the associate director of student and employer services at Carnegie Mellon
University's Heinz School of Public Policy and Management. Congratulations on your
new position, Carol. Hope all is going well. See you in the Spring!
Dan Emig (5/89) was here recruiting for Shared Medical and, when Dan is here, he
usually talks to some of our classes. This year was no exception. As always, Dan, it was
great seeing y ou.
Nicole Koger (5/96) called one day. She was interviewing for a new job and needed
some references. So, Nickie, let me know what happened!!!
Well, I guess that's about all the news that's fit to print for this issue. I hope you will
keep me updated on your lives and maybe some more of you who haven't written in a
long time (or ever) will surprise me for the next issue. Have a warm and profitable winter.
See you in the Spring!!
Back to the Contents
News From Tompkins Lab
Nadine Tatarko
Hi All. Not too much to report this quarter. I believe that I reported last time that
the Computer Science Department had been awarded an Instructional Lab Grant from
Microsoft, Corp. It included Windows 95, Project 95, Visual Basic 4.0, Visual C++ 4.0, and
Office Professional 7.0 for Win95. The department decided to implement these
applications in the Tompkins Lab. Things are semi-working. I'm still in the process of
getting the two programming languages (VB and VC++) to work properly over the
Network. I'm also trying to incorporate some security in regards to Win95.
Speaking of Win95, the SysComm group is planning a Pilot Project for STR220 (The
Classroom of the Future) for this coming Spring Semester. They (SysComm) want to
install Win95 on each client computers in this facility as the new operating system.
Computer Science has agreed to be the prime "beta testers". The plan will be to then
convert the other Public Data Centers on Campus to Win95 which will replace regular
Windows 3.1 and DOS (FALL 97).
ESF Funds are here! The Department's Facility Committee has made it's decisions
on how to spend this years money. Tompkins Lab will specifically get five (5) new
Pentium Systems and a new Pentium which will be used as an upgrade to the existing
NetWare 486 Server. The DPR's have been submitted...now we wait! Hopefully, the
equipment will arrive before Christmas break.
There is one more issue that I'd like to bring up; however, I don't wish to get into
a lot of "IUP-Political" details. However, many readers of this newsletter are alumni and
should be made aware of what is going on. There is a possibility that the Computer
Science Department will be losing part of the Tompkins Lab space to the IUP Graduate
School. There is a catch 22 situation that is going on which basically goes something like
this (note: my own opinion as I understand the situation plus a little sarcasm thrown in):
Some higher-ups think that we (Comp. Sci.) aren't utilizing our lab space very
efficiently or effectively; so they say that we don't need all that space.
Our argument is that we (the Department) don't have enough money to buy more
computers/equipment to furnish the lab properly in order to use the space more
efficiently, etc... If we had more money, we could/would make better use of t he space.
Then they (the higher-ups) say, well show us what your Department is doing that
would make you "worthy" of more money; i.e. show us that you are making good
use of the space and then we'll let you keep it....Get the idea???
Okay, okay, all sarcasm aside: this issue has seriously been discussed at various levels.
The Computer Science Department is awaiting a decision from the Provost. More to come
as news develops.
That's it for now.... Until next time....:-)
Back to the Contents
Numerical Methods in Transition
Katherine McKelvey
Due to the change in the programming language used in CO110, the adoption of
the Fortran 90 standard and the need to incorporate the use of graphics software, the
Numerical Methods course is undergoing a number of changes. Beginning in the fall of
1997, a prior knowledge of Fortran will no longer be a prerequisite. Furthermore, since
C++ is being taught using microcomputers in CO110, Numerical Methods may be the first
course, for some of the students, in which they use the VMS system for programming.
Some of the major changes in the Fortran standard include dynamic memory
management, derived types, modules and extensive array handling features. With the
addition of dynamic memory management, it is no longer necessary to guess the largest
size array that will be needed in a program. After reading the required size, space can be
allocated for an array which has exactly the amount of space needed. Furthermore, work
arrays for a subroutine don't need to be declared in the main program and passed to the
subroutine as an argument because local arrays can be declared which conform to the size
of a dummy array.
Fortran's new array handling features make it easier for the compiler to take
advantage of the parallel processing capabilities of supercomputers. Whole array
operations and assignments can now be written as a single statement and most of the
library functions permit the use of array arguments as well as scalar arguments thus
eliminating many of the loops that used to populate numerical programs. There are
several new array processing functions similar to some of the APL functions and array
constructors make it possible to declare array constants. The new assumed-shape dummy
arrays allow the programmer to write subroutines in which the dummy array will conform
to the shape of the actual array in the main program so that the horrible debugging
problems associated with arrays which are viewed differently in the main program and
the subprogram no longer occur. The older style assumed size arrays which allowed one
dimension to be declared with an asterisk has now been deprecated.
Derived types give the Fortran programmer the ability to declare heterogeneous
structures with named components similar to the records of other languages. Along with
pointers and recursion, it is now possible to write linked list programs - we could have
used Fortran 90 in all three of the CO110, CO250 and CO310 classes!
Modules make it possible to group a number of related declarations and/or
subprograms together in one compilation unit. Other modules, subprograms and
programs can access the facilities of the module simply by including a USE statement
before their declarations. Combined with public vs private declarations and the ability to
write functions which are named with the symbols for mathematical operations, abstract
data types and objects can now be implemented with Fortran.
With the wide availability of mathematical and engineering software packages
which include graphic capabilities, we now include a brief introduction to the array
construction and plotting commands of the Matlab program as part of CO250. Some of the
programming assignments include the use of Matlab to graph the functions and/or point
files from the project.
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Department Seeks Support for Awards
Gary Buterbaugh
The Student Recruitment and Retention Committee is establishing eight awards to
be given on an annual basis to the best students in each of the following courses: CO 105,
CO 110, CO 220, CO 300, CO 310, CO 315, CO 319, and CO 441. Our underclass majors,
freshmen and sophomores, show little evidence of having a sense of belonging to the
department; and it is hoped that this recognition will foster a sense of the department
thinking that they are important. It also just seems appropriate for us to recognize
academic excellence.
The recipient of each of the awards would be decided by the faculty member
teaching the course and in normal circumstances would be that student with the highest
grade or points in the class. Where more than one faculty had taught the course in the
previous year, the Student Recruitment and Retention Committee would coordinate the
selection among the faculty involved. Except for maybe the first year, the award would
be given in the Spring Semester and would cover sections of the course taught the previous
spring, summer and fall.
We hope to have each of these awards sponsored by a company and to name the
award for the company and the course content. For example the CO 220 award could be
the American Widget Corporation for COBOL Programming Excellence; the CO 310 award
could be the ABC Software Inc.'s Data Structures Award. In order to sponsor such an
award, the company would have to provide a small annual gift to cover the award ($25 or
$50). The company may also want to provide a plaque for us to put in the hall the would
have the annual winners engraved on it.
Since the amount of money will be small, we are hoping that some of our alumni
might take it upon themselves or get together with other IUP Computer Science alumni in
their company to sponsor a particular award in their company's name.
We will eventually go out to our intern companies and the companies that recruit
here, but would like to give you the opportunity to sponsor an award first. This will be
done on a purely first-come-first-serve basis. You can choose the course you would like
to sponsor and the name for the award.
Please contact Dr. Gary Buterbaugh at 412-357-3000, glbuter@grove.iup.edu, or the
Computer Science Department, IUP, Indiana, PA 15705 immediately if you are interested.
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Computer Science Club
Megan Kowalski
This year in the Computer Science Club... Well, it sounded like a good start. Hello,
I am the new President of the Computer Science Club, Megan Kowalski. The club is
starting anew this year since all the old officers either graduated or (for one reason or
another) did not return to IUP. The new officers are as follows: Vice President Tony
Matous, Secretary/Webmaster Drew Dormann, and Treasurer Jason McCombie.
This year so far, we have only had two meetings - one about hardware (by me) and
one about HTML by Drew Dormann. In the future, I see great things. I am currently
trying to plan a trip to tour either a supercomputer center or at least a VAX facility. Also
on my agenda are contests between students, and (hopefully) contests between faculty
and students. We are planning, of course, to have a games night or two, and I am also
working on getting a few guest speakers.
[Ed note: We are expecting an update on these plans in the Spring.]
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ACM Programming Contest
Tia Watts
On Saturday, October 26, two teams of IUP Computer Science students competed
valiantly in the ACM East Central Regional Programming Contest at Notre Dame. Team
A, "Still Sleeping", consisted of Zack Howe, Dennis Hall, and Jason McCombie. Team B,
"AGPT", consisted of Tim Jamison, Milt Ferguson, and Tony Matous.
Teams from Michigan and CMU took the top honors in the competition and will
compete in the international contest in San Jose, CA in the Spring of 1997. About 50 teams
competed at the regional contest.
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The Pace of Change
Bill Creighton
I think there's a thread that's common to each of us working in a technology field -
the pace is at the same time exciting and threatening. Before you ever fully get to
understand a piece of hardware, software or technological entity of any sort, it's time to
replace it and move on to the next one.
In the past, change was evolutionary. Ideas were given time to grow and develop.
We could afford to look back and use a sense of history to avoid mistakes. References to
"paradigm shifts" were vague; and the phrase itself was not a part of day to day
conversation.
In our current environment, change is rapid and seldom is an idea given time to
mature. Paradigm shifts occur constantly and it has really become quite difficult to get
through a day without learning that yet another paradigm has shifted! As far as
developing a sense of history goes, I've seen it written that this is the Mario Andretti
period of technology. A period in which we're travelling at the speed of light, and there's
no point in having rear view mirrors.
In a previous newsletter I described how we've reorganized academic technology
services here at IUP to function in a distributed manner. That change was very positive
and it has produced some effective results. By aligning support personnel with the areas
to which the support is provided and getting the colleges, departments, and faculty
involved with the priority setting we've been able to make significant progress with
relatively few staff. Presumably, because the user community is involved with
determining what gets done and what waits, there is a sense of involvement and
ownership.
In fact, that initial experience with distributing support staff seemed to work so well
that we distributed more folks over the summer. The staff who formerly focused their
efforts on computer repair were also aligned with colleges and are now helping to address
technology issues in a distributed manner. One of the beauties of this second step into the
world of distributed support is that these folks are now able to use their skills and talents
in more ways than they could in the former organizational model which was more
restrictive.
These changes have been essential to our ability to support faculty and students as
they become involved with increasingly complex and rapidly changing equipment and
software. It is very unlikely that we will ever reach levels of staffing that would allow us
to do all that everyone wants us to do, and since discretion must be used, the people most
effected by the decision to do one thing instead of another, need to be fully involved in the
decision-making process.
Software is becoming much more complicated to deal with in the public lab
environments. Product suites, hardware upgrades, network planning, building wiring
schemes, access to the Internet, . . . the list of challenges goes on forever. Setting proper
priorities and deciding in which order needs are to be addressed are issues that require a
solid working relationship between the user community and the staff charged with
providing support to that community.
Distributing support personnel was a good decision. Now, if I could just figure out
what happens when you're traveling at the speed of light and you turn on the
headlights...?
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Internship Sampler
Laura Wojciechowski at PHICO
Most of my programming is done on an IBM AS/400 midframe. Although much
to my dismay, I had started on a terminal, I now access the AS/400 through an IBM PC.
The PC runs Windows 3.11 and Novell Netware, but many of the company's PCs run
OS/2. Lotus Notes is used for accessing company databases which include discussion
forums, documentation, plus many others. E-mail is handled by both Groupwise and
Lotus Notes.
Programming is mainly done in COBOL; but there are FoxPro and Lotus Notes
applications that have a smaller group of programmers assigned to them. Visual Basic is
also making its way into PHICO; but I'm not sure if there are any programs in use yet.
COBOL tools for programming are not much different than what is available on the IUP
mainframe. But, one thing a new programmer right out of school may not completely
grasp is the depth of testing that is necessary before a program is moved to production.
After the programmer tests the program, the analyst will look it over again, then it is
moved into production. Hopefully, all will go well; but, if not, all troubleshooting requests
take precedence over new requests.
The majority of my work is maintenance, some small development, research on why
errors have occurred, and research on how a new insurance code or function may effect
a multitude of programs. Maintenance works involves working with the AS/400
command language, screens, report layouts, report programs, extract programs (a program
which "extracts" useful data from one or more sources and creates a new database for the
program's use), and dispatchers (a program that control the screens and submission of
jobs). If research on errors are given to me, it is usually important that I handle them first.
Many times my analyst has come to me to find the cause of these errors and have them
corrected by the end of the day. I actually enjoy doing that since I get to do the analysis
myself.
I have also had some experience programming on Lotus Notes for the library. Lotus
Notes programming involves creating new views for data, forms for entering and/or
displaying data, and sometimes creating the database. Notes programming is less time
consuming since there is no compile time, but the error messages can be cryptic at times.
Aside from the programming experience, I have also been exposed to corporate
policies, and have seen how to act to fit into the corporate culture. I think that is one of the
most important things to be learned if anyone plans on succeeding in a corporation.
Everything, from the people to the work I was assigned, was excellent and has made my
decision to do this internship well worth it.
Jason A. Smith at JCCEOA, Inc.
I have dealt with only a few platforms during my sojourn here. My workstation is
a 486DX4-100 with Windows 3.11 and MS-DOS 6.22; it is part of a Novell 4.2 Local Area
Network (LAN). I have also worked with Windows 95 several times, as well as various
other versions of MS-DOS and Novell. Even though my experience has been somewhat
limited, I have gained much familiarity and experience with Windows 95, MS-DOS, and
Novell that I did not have prior to my internship. In addition, I have gained much
familiarity with 286's, 386's, 486's, and Pentiums, because I have dealt heavily with each
of these hardware systems. The software I have relied upon includes WordPerfect 6.1 (for
report writing) and MS Access 2.0 (for the creation of a clientele database). I have also
become familiar with MS Access Basic during my work in creating the clientele database
and related graphical user interface (GUI ).
My principal task has, in fact, been the creation of a database to store client
information and a GUI to simplify data entry. As I have already mentioned, I have used
MS Access 2.0 almost exclusively for this project. Although I had trouble starting the
project (I did not understand data normalization because I did not take the database
course, CO441), I quickly read some basic information and taught myself the needed
information. I then got instruction books for using MS Access from my supervisor and
began the actual creation. This task would probably have been easier if I had taken CO441
before my internship.
My only other task of significance was report writing - my technical writing class
helped there. Although I did some network and system troubleshooting, I never did much
of this line of work, and I do not know of any IUP class that teaches hardware
troubleshooting, anyway. So although there is much I have yet to learn and do, I have
learned a great many things here at JCCEOA, Inc., which will be useful to me in my future.
Michael Benninger at Mellon Bank
I started working there on a TSO IBM mainframe. My first projects were in
COBOL. I was involved in the maintenance of programs as well as writing report
programs. I used a couple of different tools while on this system. One was called file-aid
which is a tool that makes it easier to create test data. This tool allows you manipulate
data so that it is much faster to make good test data that can cover many situations that
the program might run into.
After about two and a half months on this system, I started working on a UNIX
system. This was a lot more interesting to me. On this system, we are currently using the
Solaris operating system version 2.5. The main part of our system is the running of
Market Vision applications. The Market Vision applications are used to bring in real-time
data to the people working in the bank. Mostly the data is currency rates from around the
world that the traders use. With this system, I write programs in C++ which is a lot more
interesting and challenging than COBOL. I also write a lot of UNIX shell scripts which
are little programs written to automate a task that is usually done manually.
I am involved a lot more in the development of programs than before. Before, I was
just told what the program was supposed to do; but now I get a chance to put my ideas
in too. I am also getting a chance to take on the responsibilities of being a system
administrator. I help in bringing up new user's machines in addition to helping out in
solving some of the problems in the system. All in all, my internship is turning out to be
a lot better than I thought it would be when I first started there.
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