This issue of The Debugger is a little longer that most, which is somewhat surprising since some sources of articles (students) are not around as much in the Summer. Pamm and Vickie (the student editors who helped so much with the last issue) are off on internships so they haven't been here to help write or help nag writers of articles. Nevertheless, there is plenty here.
Gary has put together an alumni survey that occupies the middle section of the issue. Carol, who didn't think she had much to say, easily fills five pages with news about alumni. Don Rosenberger and Bill Creighton have a lot to say about computing equipment developments on campus - Don discusses the department's lab and Bill covers all the others. Kathy McKelvey makes a strong case for the use of Ada and wants to know if any of you are using it. And there are two student written articles: Benjamin J. (Jamie) Zettlemoyer (a Spring/Summer Intern) has acquired an appreciation of professors; and Bob Durbin tells us a sad tale about the Department of Defense and his experiences there. Finally, this issue gives the first listing of some recent members of the Century Club.
There is still no fiction in The Debugger (except maybe the cartoon). There wasn't room for Rob Cameron's fictional piece; but, next time is a possibility. There is another thing that this issue lacks and definitely needs - one or more alumni written articles. How about sending something in? We would like to know what is happening to you, in your own words.
Jim Wolfe, Editor
P.S. I know I cheated on drawing the cartoon; but I figured that reader recognition should take precedence over artistic authenticity.
Gary Buterbaugh
My contribution to The Debugger this time will be an explanation of the questionnaire you will find in the center of this issue. If you are one of the 800 or so alumni who receive The Debugger, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE spend the few minutes that it will take to fill out the questionnaire and return it to us.
The purpose of the questionnaire is to conduct a study to determine if the assertion that computer professionals spend most of their time on people-oriented rather than computer-oriented tasks holds for our alumni. We often make this type of statement in talking to potential students to counter the belief that you must be a "computer nerd" in order to be a computer professional.
Although questions 8 and 9 are the heart of the questionnaire, the remaining questions will give us the statistics about the respondents that will permit us to analyze and publish the results. The results will probably be published in the next issue of The Debugger.
Thanks for helping us out. Please fill-out and return the questionnaire right away. We would like to have your responses no later than October 1, 1993.
Carol's Corner
Carol Miller It's Summertime!!!! I hope the living is easy for
everyone. It is for me. I seem to be
working much more efficiently this
summer than last. You don't suppose it
has anything to do with air
conditioning, do you? IUP is relatively quiet this summer.
You probably heard that Gary is now
Dr. Buterbaugh. After several years and
a lot of hard work, he graduated from
Pitt in May and then threw a big party
in the Blue Room - lots of fun and good
food. The department took him out for
dinner to celebrate. We had a great
time at both events. The other big news is now semi-official. Mr. Maple is retiring in
December and we're really going to
miss him around here. The Maples
have bought a lot in Asheville, NC and
are debating the merits of living in the
south. I don't think there should be
anything to debate. Actually, I think
they just don't want to move so far
away from us. What do you think? Tia Watts is still working on her
PhD. She is planning a leave of
absence for Fall and Spring to devote
more time to that endeavor. Hopefully,
it will give her a big jump on getting
finished. I had some visits this
Spring/Summer from a few of you who
really believe I do want you to stop in
and say hello when you're in the
neighborhood. In the last issue I told you that I had
had a letter from Roy and Julie
(Paserba) Lampe (12/87) and that they
had a baby girl in December named
Kayla Marie, remember? Well, they
brought Kayla in to meet the Computer
Science Department (since she'll be
coming to school here in about eighteen
years). She is adorable and really a
happy baby. It was really nice to see all
three of them. I'm only sorry it couldn't
have been a longer visit. We miss the
pitter patter of little feet around this
office since the Lawton's moved (more
on that later). Julie's cousin Dan hasn't
stopped in yet. Bob Lackey (8/92) stopped in one
day. I mentioned Bob in the last issue,
too. Again, he says that if you're
looking for a job, bring your suit and
resume to DC and start pushing it
around. Scott Hollingsworth (8/92) also
visited on his way from a conference.
He is working for Intellex in
Mechanicsburg, PA and really enjoys his
job. I'm glad he stopped. It was really
nice seeing him. George Downs (5/90) dropped in to
say hello while he was in the area. I
hadn't heard anything from George
since he graduated. George is working
in Latrobe, PA these days. Deb (Greene) Fritz (5/79) attended
the Computer Science banquet in April.
A great time was had by all. Deb is a
member of the Computer Science
Corporate Advisory Board which had
its meeting that same day. She brought
pictures of Timothy John. He is
adorable and just celebrated his first
birthday. Next time, bring him in
person, Deb. We had a graduation announcement
from Kim Davis (5/87). She just
received her Master of Science in
Computer Science from Johns Hopkins
University. Kim worked here in the
office, and I, for one, am real proud of
her. Congratulations, Kim! Brad Moyer (5/88) sent email and is
still working at Kodak in New York.
He had just gotten back from a trip to
Ft. Lauderdale which he received as a
recognition award from Kodak. Brad is
married and by now may have three
children, a little girl who is three, a little
boy who is one and they are expecting
their third on August 1. By the time
you read this I'm sure number three will
have arrived. Brad also let me know
that Lynda Schmidt (5/87) is expecting
her first. Brad figured I already knew
that Lynda. Does that tell you
anything? I think I should at least get a
birth announcement. Tom Campbell (5/87) is working at
DuPont Merck in Wilmington. He has
also become a father. He and his wife
had a little girl on October 23, 1991.
Hope things are going well for you,
Tom. Off and on I keep giving you news
of Mike Gutzat. (Mike really keeps in
touch guys, so I hope it makes some of
you feel guilty.) Last issue I told you
Mike was job hunting. Well, he is now
working for Jan Abbotts & Associates
which is a financial computer software
consulting firm down in Delaware.
Mike's wife, Mary is at DuPont as a
toxological Associate and is preparing
to work on her masters. Good luck to
both of you and keep in touch. Mike Csuy (5/85) sent a nice long
fax catching us up on his life since IUP.
I will give you a condensed version.
After graduation Mike moved to
Columbus, Ohio to work for
Nationwide Insurance. A year later he
moved to Philadelphia to work for GE
Consulting and worked at Lukens Steel
while free lancing at night for the City
of Philadelphia Payroll Department.
After that he worked for another
consulting firm named Comp-U-Staff
where he was contracted to DuPont
Textile Fibers Department. Then to
ARMS, another consulting firm where
he was sent to Merck & Co. While at
Merck he formed a partnership with a
friend and they began a firm called
ASK; and they both were contracted to
DuPont Merck. After his partner
moved to North Carolina a year and a
half later, Mike formed a corporation
called Intellex (hey, is this the same
Intellex the Scott Hollingsworth is
working for?) which specializes in
ADABAS/Natural and Software AG
products. He has three individuals
working for him at various sites while
he has been contracted to DuPont. He
even found time to get married in
January of 1991, and if I understand
what Mike has said between the lines,
she has really whipped him into shape.
Mike, you have really done it all since
you left IUP. You've really gained a
tremendous amount of experience and I
hope everything continues to go well
for you and best of luck in your
marriage to Elizabeth. She sounds like
a super person. Mike's business
number is 215 873-0584 for anyone
who is interested in his services (or to
say "hi"). Ed Meinfelder (8/89) also keeps me
up to date on what he is doing. I heard
from Ed just the other day. He is
working at the National Radio
Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank
WV. Initially, his job was to write
software to track a satellite and point an
antenna to it to receive astronomical
information. Now, he is working on a
subsystem for the new Green Bank
Telescope which is like a BIG Satellite
(495 feet tall and 328 feet wide). Ed is a
programmer on the project and really
likes his work. However, Green Bank is
really remote. It's an hour's drive to the
nearest supermarket. What happens
when you have a Big Mac Attack?????
Wonder if Big Mac's freeze well. That's
another program. Ed also gave me an update on
Denise Cattley (8/88). Denise is
married to Jeff Hornberger, living in
Ohio, just bought a house and is
changing jobs. She will be working as a
programmer for the financial division of
an encyclopedia company (Ed thinks, so
if Ed is wrong, it will give Denise a
reason to write and let me know). Matt Fuller (12/90) has started his
own business in Pittsburgh along with a
friend he met while working at Pitt. It
is called Twisted Pair and focuses on
bridging the gap between PCs and
Macintoshes which they both feel is an
area that has been neglected. Their
Internet name is: twistpair@aol.com
and the phone number is 412 488-0828
for anyone who is interested in
contacting them. Or, call me and I can
give you the info. On June 26, Janie Pike (5/92)
married Ron Kustaborder in Erie. They
had a beautiful wedding and a gorgeous
day for it. Janie is still working for HRB
Systems in St. College and she and Ron
bought a house in Tyrone. They
honeymooned in the Poconos; and, so
far, the marriage seems to be working.
Just kidding, Janie and Ron. I have no
doubts. Best of everything to both of
you. Last issue I told you Julie Roxby
(5/92) was now working at Mellon
Bank. Well, I saw Julie at Janie's
wedding and it seems all is going well in
Julie's life. The bad news is she is
working for the portion of Mellon that
has been sold, so her future is a little
cloudy. It was really nice seeing you,
Julie. Keep in touch. I heard from Mike Bigrigg (5/91)
recently through email. Mike just
finished his MS at Pitt and is working
full time this summer Tartan
Laboratories before starting back this
fall to continue his studies. It was really
nice to hear from you Mike, even if you
did have an ulterior motive. Tonya Jeschonek (5/92) and Jen
Baldwin (5/91) are renting a house at
the beach for the summer. They plan
on living it up on the sand for the
summer. Have a great time and take a
dip for all of us. Adam Beck (5/92) is living in
Amherst, New York at the present time.
His girlfriend, Lisa, is finishing her
masters, and Adam is working at
MAILBOXES, ETC until Lisa is
finished. Brian Lawton (5/93) is working
System Automation in Silver Spring.
Brian likes his job, but I think the area
leaves something to be desired. As I
told you earlier when discussing Kayla
Lampe, our office has been very lonely
since Brian left. His daughter, Briana,
had become the office mascot, and
we've become very close friends with
Brian, Mindi (Brian's wife) and Briana.
On July 10, I attended Bri's second
birthday party at Brian's parent's house
and had a really great time. But, the
office IS empty these days. Heard from Mark Lacy (5/87) who
is presently job hunting. His job with
the PA Fish & Boat Commission did
not work out quite as well as he had
expected, and he is seeking another area
of work. Other than that, things are
going well for Mark. So, if I hear of
anything, Mark, I'll let you know. That reminds me, thanks to
everyone who has sent me information
about jobs that are available within their
companies. I really appreciate it and I
can get the information out to those
who are looking. We haven't been
getting much from companies these
days. I don't know if they have other
sources or if no one is hiring. I do
know as I said earlier, for those of you
who are interested, that it is fairly easy
to get a job in DC if you have the time
to go down and spend a week or so.
Go down, get a paper and start sending
out resumes and hit the pavement and
take them to companies. David Science
(5/93) did this immediately after
graduation and had a job within two
weeks. Not only that, but he was
staying with a friend and one of the
neighbors stopped them one evening
and asked if they knew of anyone who
was looking for an apartment, his
roommate was leaving to start grad
school, so Dave got into a town house
with two other guys. He spends his
weekends in Indiana anyway. He
doesn't know I see his RX7 parked at
Angie's house every weekend. Not only
me, my mother saw them sunbathing
when I was taking her to the mall. I
thought she was going to have a stroke.
Guess I don't have to go into further
details on that one, do I? When I started this letter, I thought
it was going to be one of the shorter
ones. Now I think I'd better stop
before Jim Wolfe decides he has to edit
it and since we all know how important
this entire letter is, we don't want that
to happen. Please, please keep in touch. Don Rosenberger Once again, it is time for an update
on Tompkin's Lab. I am concerned
that many of our readers may become
bored with my regular status report.
However, the editor and I are having a
hard time thinking of interesting new
topics to address in this corner. If you
are curious about a topic which you
know we deal with in the lab, and
would like to see more information
concerning the topic, please send your
recommendation to Jim Wolfe or
myself. The Novell network has a new
server. The added disk space and
power will allow us to get Windows on
the air, and have enough room to add a
few Windows applications. We are
currently installing and/or testing
Turbo Pascal 7.0, Microsoft ACCESS
for Windows, and Harvard Graphics for Windows. To
prepare for the use of Windows, all
faculty PCs have been upgraded to at
least four MB of RAM. For PCs, we
have tried to standardize on DOS
version 5.0 and Windows version 3.1.
Faculty will be getting new DELL 486's
with 8MB of RAM in the near future.
Their Zenith 386's will come to the lab
at that time. The original Novell server
(from 1989) was temporarily placed into
use as a student workstation. I am
planning to reactivate it as a Novell
server (version 2.1) in the lab to support
CO345 more aggressively, and to
provide a platform for Novell training
for the lab staff. We will also be surplussing some of
our older equipment when the faculty's
current PCs come to the lab. The
AT&T 6300 XTs, the Zenith XT model
158s, the IBM PC model 5160, and the
Macintosh 512Ks with the 400KB
drives will all be exiting the lab. If
possible, I would also like to replace the
Digital VT220 terminals with Zenith
159s wired to the Novell ethernet. This
will permit students to do their
homework in Pascal, etc during those
periods when a faculty member reserves
the back room of the lab. The NeXT network is still an active
training environment. CO362 (UNIX
and C) is currently using the
workstations for classwork. I have
plans for my staff to produce some
multi-media demonstrations on the
workstations. We are also trying to
configure an HP Laserjet series II
printer for use with the NeXTs. The Macintoshes have undergone
several significant upgrades. We have
installed After Dark and Fileguard.
Fileguard will help us to protect the
MAC hard disks from accidental or
intentional system reconfiguration by
our student users. For protection from
computer viruses, we have upgraded to
Disinfectant version 3.2. New equipment continues to come
in. The deliveries this summer include a
ROLAND desktop color plotter, a
TEKTRONIX Phaser 200e color
printer, and a WANGTEK tape backup
system. The tape backup will be
connected to my PC to backup the
Novell network. We are still looking at
alternatives for sites for the plotter and
printer. ISCC plans to re-wire Stright Hall
shortly. Twisted-pair ethernet hookups
will be available to all faculty. Since our
current coaxial cable segment for the
third floor is twice the length
recommended for ethernet segments, I
have recommended that all PCs on that
floor convert to the twisted-pair
cabling. The conversion should reduce
packet losses and signal noise, and
result in greater PC response times.
ISCC will also provide asynchronous
hookups to communicatons servers,
permitting faculty to get rid of their
DOV boxes, and communicate at much
higher speeds. The ethernet and
communications drops can also be
installed in classrooms, permitting
faculty to login to Novell/Pathworks
from the classroom computers on carts.
This should enable the faculty to
perform demonstrations of applications
which are the same as the performance
in the labs, not merely similar. As always, the lab staff and I are
striving to provide the best support
possible to our curriculum. If you find
yourself in the neighborhood, please
drop in. Using Ada to Implement an Abstract Data Type
Katherine McKelvey Some of you, perhaps, remember
me as a classmate. However, I didn't
exactly belong to a particular year as a
student since my classes were scheduled
to fit with my children's times at school.
CO110 was my first course, 1978
January; and CO220 was my fifth
course from the core, 1979 January. Some of you remember me both as
a classmate and as a teacher. During
the 1979 Fall semester, I was
concurrently a half time teacher of
CO250 Numerical Methods and a
student in the department. Most you were acquainted with me
as a teacher. In 1982 Fall, one of the
years in which the department admitted
about three hundred new students, I
joined the department full time and was
one of the three faculty advisors for the
Freshman class. Prior to 1978, I was trained in
Mathematics and earned a PhD from
Carnegie Institute of Technology in
abstract algebra. I taught Mathematics
for nine years including several years as
a graduate teaching assistant and two
years in the Mathematics Department at
IUP. My principal contribution to the
curriculum of the department is the
CO419 Software Development with
Ada course. One of the reasons that I
enjoy working with Ada is that its
features lend themselves very nicely to
the implementation of abstract data
types. Of course a former algebra
teacher revels in data abstraction. The generic units of Ada allow the
programmer to implement a Stack data
type, for example, without specifying
the type of element to be placed on a
stack. Then a program can declare an
instance of the stack type, instantiate
the generic, for any kind of element
which is appropriate to the application.
A tower of Hanoi program could
instantiate stacks for records
representing disks of various sizes,
while another program might instantiate
stacks for integers. The combination of Ada packages
and private types permit the
encapsulation of an abstract data type
the way high level languages protect the
integer data type. In a high level
language you cannot access and change
the individual bits of an integer variable
and you can only perform the usual
arithmetic operations with integer
variables. An Ada package may contain
both a type declaration and procedures
and functions having arguments of that
type. If you declare the type to be
private then the compiler will hide the
structures used to implement it from
programs which make use of the type.
Furthermore the only operations
permitted for the type are the
procedures and functions contained in
the package along with the type
declaration. If you implement a stack using an
array, an application program would not
be able examine the individual array
components of a stack or change them
just as you cannot change the bits in an
integer. If you only include PUSH and
POP procedures and EMPTY and
FULL boolean functions, these would
be the only operations available for the
type. An application program could
only clear a stack by including a loop
which POPs the stack until it is
EMPTY. It could only find out what
the third element from the top was by
using three POPs, et cetera. In Ada the operators like + and mod
can be overloaded. If you define a
Polynomial abstract data type, you may
define a function, named "+", which
will add two polynomials. Under
appropriate conditions, in a line of
code, you could use the plus symbol as
an infix operator between two
polynomials, P + Q, so that expressions
involving addition of polynomials can
be written the same way they would
appear in mathematics. You can declare and raise
exceptions. Just as the attempt to
divide by zero will abort a program with
a system error message, in Ada you
could declare an EMPTY_STACK
exception and write your POP
procedure in such a way that a program
will be aborted with a system message if
it attempts a POP of an empty stack. Ada is an ideal language to use for
implementing abstract data types.
Packages containing private types are
fundamental in this process and generic
units facilitate the creation of a template
for an abstract type which can later be
instantiated with a specific type
parameter. Some of you have been using Ada in
your work; one alumnus recommended
Barnes' book in a letter to The
Debugger. I used the second edition of
the book this spring and liked it very
much. I would appreciate hearing from
any of you who are using Ada in your
work. For what sort of applications are
you using Ada? My bitnet address is
"lnewxab@iup" or internet
"lnewxab@grove.iup.edu". Working for Allegheny Power Service Corporation
Benjamin J. Zettlemoyer, Spring/Summer Intern In my view, college should mean
growth. As a student, I never really
believed this. I doubted my professors,
their experience and their incessant
stories about the "real" world. As an
intern, college and growth take on
more meaning. Each day, as an intern, I
find wisdom and truth in what those
professors said while struggling to solve
the day's challenges. As a future
alumnus, I am sure to continue realizing
just what those professors were really
trying to say. In the past, my feeling was that
professors were more interested in
pursuing status and degrees to be
concerned with the average student.
After all, through the eyes of a
professor, most students have enough
trouble just getting to class much less
learning. At least that is what I thought.
Being on an internship has changed
this however. The faculty at IUP really
are aware of the "real" world. For the past four months, I have
been "on assignment" with Allegheny
Power Service Corporation. (APSC)
An internship really is a remarkable
experience and for me, a milestone.
APSC could not have been a better
place to work. The people there are
friendly and helpful. (The people in my
area also became good friends.) The
atmosphere is relaxed but serious; a
perfect place for an intern to learn the
fundamentals of true batch
programming while becoming
aquainted with an effective and
professional information services staff. At the start of the internship, work
was tough. I was new, nervous, and
thought the DEC VAX was all of the
computing that I would need to know.
This turned out to be a tremendous
weakness for me. A lot of students at
IUP are "weaned" on a DEC VAX. I
was no exception. Even though some
of my projects were in batch mode,
most were on-line. Having everything
on-line is an incredible luxury, only
realized when one moves into a
completely batch environment. One of the best things about APSC
was the area that I fell into, EDP
Operations Support. From here, I saw
most of the company; from a different
perspective than other interns. One of
the most challenging aspects of this area
was its unpredictability. As an intern,
each day brought a new task and a new
challenge; I was never bored. I like to
think of this area as a fire department.
People there were constantly solving
the day to day problems of keeping the
systems up and running. These people
were highly skilled and highly adept at
making things work and happen. The
cruel irony was, however, if things were
kept running smoothly, nobody noticed
this incredible resource. A lot of interns who write for The
Debugger say that the money is nice. I
suppose my feelings are the same but
the most valuable benefit for me was
the tremendous, personal and technical
growth potential. From early on, (the
second day, I think) I followed a
philosophy of "Carpe Diem!" (Seize the
day!). I spent approximately ten hours a
day in the office, trying to learn as much
as possible, on top of the workload
given to me. One thing I have come to appreciate
is the value of teaching. As a student, I
viewed this as just another job to do.
As an intern, I have come to realize that
through teaching, one never stops
growing and learning; an important
point to consider for those thinking of
graduate school. In conclusion, I would like to try to
convince as many students as possible
to participate in the internship. The
benefits far outweigh any possible
detriment. My advice for intern
candidates is not to worry about the
money aspect, the techinal and personal
growth is what the internship means
and is about. Looking Backward with a Forward View
Bob Durbin After more than 10 years working
for the Army I came to IUP for a
second undergraduate degree in
computer science. The increasing
impact of the computer led me to seek
an education that allows me to use the
computer as a tool and not be used by
it. I offer this little story to The
Debugger about the chaos experienced
by users who attempted to apply
computer solutions with little or no
knowledge of computer science. In 1981 when I graduated with my
first undergraduate degree, computers
in the home and small office fell
somewhere between science fantasy and
the realm of the dedicated hobbyist.
The basic Apple was available at over
$2400 and a person could buy a
Commodore 64 for $650 without
monitor or disk drive. My only course
in computer science involved typing
simple programs on punch cards.
Interactive computing was possible on
an IBM typewriter terminal using
continuous feed paper. It was more
novel than practical with most users
trying to discover the latest cute (read
insulting or vulgar) replies programmed
by the operator. Time magazine named the computer
"man of the year" in 1981 and I took
my first army correspondence course
on computers. I wanted to learn at least
enough to fake my way through all the
fuss. I soon learned that the
Department of Defense had a
bureaucratic policy that made it all but
impossible to get new technology prior
to obsoleteness. The last major upgrade
was in 1966 when Honeywell installed
standardized Department of Defense
Mainframes. (By the way the
Honeywells are still in service on at least
one classified interactive data network.)
The government's idea was to buy only
proven systems and solutions. The
review process took years and
technology being used lagged 15 to 20
years behind what was available. Only
the largest and most important offices
had any type of automation equipment
beyond the mechanical calculator. Then the micro computer revolution
changed everything. Suddenly a
government worker could spend $500
at K Mart and have a micro computer
that made work easier and his boss
happy. The primary application for
these crude systems was primitive word
processing. The improvement to
productivity was sudden and dramatic.
With greater productivity came greater
expectations, supervisors who used to
accept manual corrections now
expected perfect documents. As a
result of the continuous corrections,
productivity began to decline again;
office automation created a burden
rather than a benefit. However, nobody
was about to give up his word
processor. More problems started appearing.
Micro computers and word processors
owned by individuals moved when the
people moved, and with the equipment
went all past work, formats, and
procedure. Even when the new clerk
owned the same equipment he often
trashed the previous person's work
because he could not figure it out. The
result was chaos that grew worse with
the number of users and dependency on
automation equipment. And the
problems that were to come as a result
of unstructured amateur programming
had not even happened yet. For those of you who have not
figured it out, the government's first
recourse to problem solving is to spend
more money. Try to imagine a finance
officer coming to your boss (or to you)
and saying, 'Here is money to buy
computers and you can have more
money for computers if you ask.' No
one turned down any money. That
happened 1982 to 1984. All of the rules
for acquiring automation equipment
failed. Lots of people bought lots of
different computers. Micro computers
became status symbols gathering dust
behind the desks of supervisors. Many failures came about among
which were attempts to use the TRS-80
to support a repair parts system and
64K Apples to keep maintenance
records using CPM and Ashton-Tate's
Dbase. Now enters into the fray the
amateur programmer and his
unstructured applications. Those who
advocated abandonment of all
automation and a return to the days of
the manual typewriter began to gain
some voice. By about 1985 or 1986 all
Department of Defense automation
problems became the local computer
science professional's problem. Never
mind that the CS pro had nothing to do
with the situation. Never mind that the
CS pro was doing a good job
maintaining and running the
government's large systems. The CS
pro got the blame. Typical government
logic is that the blame for any problem
of this magnitude belongs to the person
who could have prevented it if he had
known about it. The good news was that the CS
professionals (i.e., "Experts" -- The
government always has to have
experts.) got involved. New rules came
fast. Personally owned computers and
printers were forbidden in the office,
and the use of a personally owned
computer to do work at home was
discouraged. The IBM PC became the
standard for every office in the Army.
A limited number of Apple
Macintoshes were permitted for some
offices having special needs. With
justification, purchasing an office
computer became a routine action
separated from the bureaucratic
requirements of the larger systems. The moral of this story is that
standardization and conformity can be
good things. The sad news is that it had
happened at least once with mainframe
standardization in 1966. The bad news
is that revolutionary chaos may come
again when amateurs start applying
LAN solutions to small offices. The
good news is that there is no need to
worry about the computer science
professional. There are enough
amateurs (and some professionals)
applying computer solutions to
problems they do not understand to
keep honest computer scientists
employed about as long as they want to
work. I wonder if that had anything to
do with the result? Upgrading the Academic Computing Labs
Bill Creighton, ISCC This Fall term, for the first time in a
long time, students at IUP will have
access to a reasonable amount of
current microcomputing technology in
four public computing labs. Over the
course of the summer Academic
Computing has been quite busy
installing new 486 level systems from
Dell in the labs located in Johnson,
Leonard, McElhaney, and Mack. These
microcomputer systems operate at
33mhz and all are networked to
facilitate the management of software,
access to the mainframe, and the use of
wide-area networking services, i.e. the
InterNet. The Johnson facility will expand to
70 microcomputers. We have
completely reorganized the layout of the
facility in order to accommodate the
additional equipment and to improve
the organization and access of all the
equipment in the lab. The bulk of
additional space was gained by
eliminating the program preparation
and debugging area. The manner in
which students work has changed over
the years. Most of the work, both in
the creation of a program and in the
debugging of a program, is now done
on-line. The need for additional micros
far exceeded the need for table space
and we decided to respond to the
equipment need. The Mack facility is being
completely refocused. In the past this
lab was used to provide access via
terminals to the mainframe. Our plan is
to have 60 micros available for use in
Mack when it is completed. The lack of
electrical power will force us to open
for the Fall term with some lesser
number of micros, probably about 40.
We hope to have the electrical problems
resolved and the lab fully populated by
the end of the Fall semester. Each of the labs will have access to
the mainframe. Johnson's proximity to
Stright allows it to connect via an
ethernet segment. Each of the other
labs will be connected using an ISDN
line and communications bridges. With
these devices we will be able to run two
64kb channels and emulate 128kb
throughput. Having the ability to use
the mainframe for file access,
communications, and the use of the
Stright laser printer for output of a
high-quality final copy of printed output
will improve the overall services
available to student users of the labs. Improved printing capabilities will
also be available in each of the upgraded
public labs. Epson dfx5000 printers
have been installed. This printer was
selected because of the service it has
provided while in use in the Davis
computing lab. In that facility it has
operated with very little downtime in
spite of heavy use and it produces a
good near-letter quality output. Having
a similar unit in each of the labs allows
us to maintain a plentiful supply of
ribbons and also allows the repair
people to become better able to
recognize and repair the problems that
do come along occasionally. The improvement of these lab
spaces has taken a great amount of time
and energy over the summer. The goal
has been to provide improved
equipment and access for all student
users of these labs as they perform their
computer related work beginning this
Fall semester. We realize that there is
the need for continued improvement.
Not all labs have been upgraded to an
ideal level and there are still not enough
units in public spaces to meet all of the
needs for computing that exist on
campus. Specifically the institution
needs to persist in its efforts to create
additional facilities in which faculty can
effectively present computing concepts
to students. The increasing emphasis
on the use of computing by all
departments across campus makes the
competition for the equipment in the
labs and the facilities in which faculty
can conduct classes quite intense at
times. It is our belief that this most recent
microcomputing upgrade will be
appreciated and used by both students
and faculty. Remember We are always looking for alumni articles
- send one in for the Fall issue. You can become a charter member of
the IUP Computer Science Department's
Century Club. Membership in the
Century Club is obtained by pledging at
least $100 to be given through the
Foundation for IUP for the Computer
Science Department. Century Club
members will receive a gift (tee shirt,
mug, glass, etc.) for their membership
each year. 1993 Century Club Members So Far
Beverly (Green) Landry 1985
Mark Landry 1985
John Paladino 1985
Matt Arezina 1986
Alvin Rearick 1988
Jennifer Baldwin 1991
A pledge of $100 is less than $10 per month. Please consider this opportunity to help. To join, cut off the form in the next column, complete it and commit yourself to giving $100 for the 1993 calendar year.