The Debugger Summer 1997
Table of Contents
EDITOR'S NOTES
There are few articles in this issue. The student article
that I was promised did not materialize; and there is no article
from ISCC. It looks like I will have to do some nagging when the
students get back in the Fall. In her report from Tompkins Lab,
Nadine mentions that ISCC is undergoing a reorganization. This is
a vast understatement. At present, I cannot even determine who to
ask for an article from that sector of the University. Hopefully,
by November the picture will be clearer and the next issue will
include an article from the computing sector, as usual. But,
enough about what isn't here.
Carol has outdone herself in this issue. Huge numbers of
alumni have been in contact with her since April. She has put
together an impressive list of people who have called, stopped by,
or sent her e-mail. And, if you are looking for a job, Carol has
listed many alumni contacts who are to hire - a really wide variety
of prospects.
One alumnus who contacted Carol is Jesse Freese. He consented
to let me use the e-mail he wrote as an article in this issue. Not
only does Jesse provide some personal history, he also has some
words of advise for recent and soon-to-be alumni on finding the
right job.
Ralph Grove gives you a description of a new student living
environment for many Computer Science majors at IUP - the Specialty
Living Option. A substantial number of our incoming freshmen are
taking advantage of this opportunity to live near others in the
same major. Check out Ralph's description and compare this new
situation with the way things were when you lived in the dorms.
Jim Wolfe, Editor
Back to the Contents
From the Chair
Bill Oblitey
I'm sure you are enjoying your summer and you have been
looking forward to this issue of The Debugger. A few things have
happened since the last issue of came out. We graduated thirteen
students in May and August to join the ranks of our alumni and
what's more exciting is that all of them have jobs. Three of them
have already come to visit and informed me that their financial
contributions to the department will be arriving very soon. I,
once again, congratulate our most recent alumni.
Our freshmen enrollment for the coming Fall semester is again
a little lower than I anticipated but it is still a manageable
size. I am happy to announce that we have five students so far
enrolled in the Robert E. Cook Honors College as Computer Science
majors for the Fall 1997 semester. The Computer Science floor in
Mack Hall will open this Fall. Currently, there are about 25 men
and 10 women signed up to participate in this specialty living
program (see Ralph Grove's article for more information).
Dr. Shubra is now in charge of our internship program and last
semester, he placed eight students at internship sites. The sites
are: Latrobe Steel - one student, IBM Corporation at Poughkeepsie,
NY - three students, Systems Automation at Silver Springs, MD - two
students, and Westinghouse Electric - two students. Dr. Shubra
will be on sabbatical in the Fall and so I have to take over the
internship program until he returns. This means that if you are at
any of the above mentioned sites, I'll see you in late August and
late October and if things go well, we can do lunch or dinner,
whichever may seem appropriate.
Our Internet and Multimedia course was approved by the
University Senate as a Liberal Studies course and it came on line
with Office 97 this summer. It has been well received and all
sections are closed for the Fall. Many of the students in the
Summer classes helped to develop web sites on campus. We have
began offering Certificates of Completion in Computer & Internet
Literacy and Computer Programming. The certificate programs
constitute the start of the certificate program package that I have
explained in past issues of The Debugger and are meant to attract
and serve more non-traditional, non-major students. These pioneer
classes have been popular and five people have already qualified
for the certificate in Computer & Internet Literacy by taking our
summer sessions. Several of the students have chosen to embark on
a minor in Computer Science. This summer, we began offering a new
course, Dynamic Internet Programming, to attract local people from
the community. Sixteen people registered for this special Saturday
course.
We are also looking into designing a few distance education
courses and perhaps introduce some graduate courses on the web.
This is just tentative but I have the promise of financial support
from the powers that be to get it done. This summer, Dr. Micco
and I went to Vail, Colorado to discuss our endeavors and also
check up on what others are doing in distance education at the
National University Teleconference Network (NUTN) conference. As
usual, your comments and support on the issue are very welcome.
Dr. Gary Buterbaugh was at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)
this summer where he joined in a discussion on teaching Information
Technology. The ideas he brought back from the workshop will help
us in the design of the distance education program.
A paper of which Dr. Ralph Grove is the principal author was
published in the International Journal of Computers and Their
Applications. Dr. Gary Buterbaugh and Dr. Mary Micco both
presented papers on the Internet and Multimedia course at the April
Pennsylvania Coalition for Computer and Information Science
Educators (PACISE) state conference. Dr. Buterbaugh repeated this
presentation at the May Instructional Technology Conference at
Slippery Rock. The University, through the Provost, has awarded
Dr. Gary Buterbaugh professional development money in recognition
of the work that he has been doing with the Admissions Department.
This service is not only valuable to the University; but it is also
very valuable to our department in terms of recruitment.
On August 3rd. through 7th., Dr. John Cross attended the ACM -
SIGGRAPH '97 meeting with partial support from an Educator's Lab
Grant. This grant and the NSF graphics workshop last August were
direct benefits of the contacts he made at the SIGCSE/SIGCUE
conference in Spain and the panel presentation he did there. Dr.
Cross has received an acceptance for a presentation on "Computer
Literacy in the Liberal Studies Curriculum" at the annual
conference of the Association for General and Liberal Studies in
Toronto on October 23-25. The title of the conference is "Power
and Identity in the World Community." This presentation resulted
from his work with his synthesis class "Working Together Using
Information Technology."
Although so far we have only been awarded one grant, our
grants committee has been hard at work. We applied for an
Instrumentation grant from the NSF, for a lab grant from AT&T (the
money was given to the College of Education - perhaps because we
wrote it in conjunction with them), a link-to-learn (L2L) grant
from Pennsylvania Department of Education, and a software grant
from Microsoft. The latter was the one grant that was funded and
it has saved us a lot of expenditure on software for the Tompkins
lab. We will continue to keep trying for more grants.
I want to end by encouraging all of our alumni to continue
with their support of the Department. We are as proud of you as
you are of us and we know you will continue to help us with the
resources we need to keep the Department moving toward the next
millennium.
Back to the Contents
Carol's Corner
Carol Miller
Hi Guys -
Hope you are all having a nice summer and got lots of good
vacation time. You'll have to let me know where you went and what
you did.
We're in the middle of Summer Session II and, so far, it's
been pretty quiet this summer. Bill Oblitey went to Niagra Falls
and Toronto and Jim Wolfe has taken a couple trips to Maine and
Canada, but I don't think anyone else in the department has had a
real vacation yet, including me. Charley Shubra is going on
sabbatical in the fall and has a trip planned. He and his wife are
traveling out west and will be gone about 3 weeks.
The Maples were here the other day and had lunch with us.
They love living on the lake and have now sold their house here in
Indiana and are feeling pretty good about it.
But, on to the news . . .
I had a card from Becky Salter (12/94). Becky still loves
Norfolk, and down there they have sun and clear skies. Her biggest
problem is she doesn't have time to go to the beach. Otherwise,
life is treating her well. Keep in touch, Becky!
Marian (Jakopac) Craig (5/85) called one day. She's still
doing consulting over in the Harrisburg/Williamsport area. She's
working in Client Server and she knows of some openings
in that area if anyone is interested.
Thanks for calling Marian - I've given your number to
a couple people, so hopefully, you'll be getting some calls.
Zack Howe (12/96) drove all the way from Atlanta to wish me
happy birthday (or at least that's what he told me - and I'm sure
that the fact that he's from Indiana and a week's vacation had
nothing to do with it). Anyway, he's working for LHS
Communications down there and really likes it and likes the area.
He is living in Don Wishard's (5/95) apartment cause Don is in
California working. I'll give you a report on him next issue
hopefully. Anyway, Zack, I'm really glad you stopped in and I hope
you had a nice visit with your family.
And, that same day, Dave Hogan (12/78) stopped in with his
family (wife, Mickie, and children, Katie, Eric and Alex). They
are living near Columbus, Ohio, and Dave is working as a senior
manager for Bell Labs. He is in charge of a group that does
testing for customers. It was really nice to see them and to meet
the family. Stop again, Dave.
I looked up from my desk one day and did a double take
(actually I did a triple take, but who's counting) and there was
Colleen Brawdy (12/95). She was passing through on her way to
guide a group of suckers (oops, I mean friends) on a white water
rafting trip down the Youghogheny River. Colleen is still working
at Lockheed on the Tomahawk Cruise Missile and still gets to travel
around some. She also was just honored with the President's Award
at Lockheed which is one of the highest awards Lockheed gives.
It's never been given to someone so early in their career. Of
course, none of this surprises ANYONE, DOES IT?. Our grads can do
anything!! And, a couple weeks ago, Colleen stopped in again on
her way to the Youghogheny to meet another group for white water
rafting. She brought pictures of the dinner where she was given
her award and pictures of the last rafting trip and...
One of the people on the raft was Matt Yonkoske (5/96). Matt
looked like he was having a good time. Then, he stopped in to say
hi a couple weeks later and said he did, in fact, have a good time.
Matt was here visiting his parents and his friend, Heather. They
were going to a wedding. Matt is still with Integrated Systems.
Hey, Matt, it was really nice to see you. I hope you stop in again
soon.
Matt also told me that Dave Dill (5/89) is no longer with
Integrated Systems. Apparently Dave and his wife both left the
company and have gone somewhere else. Maybe they'll let me know
where (that's a hint).
I did hear from Julie Roxby (5/92) now that she is settled in
Cleveland. She is working as a consultatnt for Ciber. Until
September 1, she will be at Alltel which is a local phone company.
Then, she'll have to wait and see where she goes. She and Darren
have set a wedding date for May 9, 1998, and she's pretty much
ready for it. They are also in the process of building a house.
It's right near the national park border; and they hope to be in
October 1. Congratulations on everything, Julie!!! Thanks for
letting me know.
Also had e-mail from Eric Murray (5/87), another of those
people I haven't heard from since graduation. So, Eric, it's about
time. Anyway, Eric was just finishing his last day of work at
British Petroleum in Anchorage, Alaska. He had been in San
Francisco when he found out he was being sent to Anchorage. He had
visions of what we all think Alaska is - snow, desolation, etc.
But, he was wrong. So, Eric started out (after graduation) at
Shared Medical but decided the world was too large for him to stay
in one place, so he moved to Vanguard (right across the street from
SMS) and stayed there for a year and then had the opportunity to
move to San Francisco where he worked at South California Edison
through a company called INDUS. And, then went to Alaska. Let me
know where you go from there, Eric. Thanks for the update.
Marc Hoffman (5/92) took a position with UUNET Technologies in
Fairfax VA. He provides technical support to the high speed sales
department. They sell everything from a dedicated 56k to a T3
lease line and resell several enterprise firewall packages and
Cisco routers. He says it is very challenging and he is learning
tons. Glad you enjoy it, Marc! Keep in touch.
Ed Broughton (8/93) dropped in a couple weeks ago. Ed is
living in South Durham NC and working in Raleigh in the Projects
Solutions Division of DB Basics, Inc. As you may remember, Ed's
father teaches in the Math Department here at IUP and Ed says he
never gets a chance to come visit cause his parents come visit him
often. Can you blame them? I would be down there too if I could.
Not to mention that both Ed's parents are from NC so he has a lot
of family down there. Really nice to see you, Ed. Stop in next
time you're in town.
Last issue, I told you that Quinn Yost (12/96) had moved to
Chicago in the middle of a blizzard and I wondered if he made it.
Well, he did. He stopped in one day. Quinn is working for
Endeavor Information Systems Incorporated. He is a sales support
engineer and he was here on campus installing the new library
system. Big news for Quinn is that he got married on June 28 to
the former Rhonda Graham who was an elementary education major here
at IUP and is from Grove City. She had been teaching in Maryland
but is now in Chicago and looking for a job. Great to see you
Quinn. Hope your job sends you this way often.
Well, Marty Speranza (12/92) is in the news again. Marty, I
hope you read this and contact me. This time I hear he's on the
lamb from the feds. Something about an Alaskan whaling ship and
some native Alaskans. I also heard that he's managed to escape the
noose by fleeing to some tropical island. I wish I could say this
is a joke, and maybe by next issue I can; but as of right now it's
not. So next time you're on vacation to some tropical island and
you see some guy in his thong bikini sipping a pink drink with an
umbrella in it and surrounded by sea nymphs, ask him if he's Marty.
Just so we don't see him on America's Most Wanted.
Brian Lawton (5/93) called me one day. I haven't been hearing
much on the Lawton front these days, so Brian brought me up to
date. Brian still loves his job with RDA and they are looking for
a few good people. If anyone is interested, send Brian e-mail at
LAWTON @rdaconsultants.com. Mindi was leading jazzercize classes
for a while but has now started a day care out of their home.
She's just doing it on a trial basis right now but wants to start
full time, if all works out. The kids are doing great. They have
moved into a new townhouse - rent with an option to buy. It has 3
bedrooms, 2 and a half baths and a basement so they have a bit more
room to roam. Hey Brian, nice to hear how well everything is going
for you two!!
My grandchild's mother, Janie (Pike) Kustaborder (5/92) (Janie
adopted me), is still working (at HRB Systems). She is doing well
and the nursery is about ready for the new arrival. They don't
know yet if it's a boy or girl, but Janie thinks it's definitely a
soccer player. It isn't any wonder it's kicking so much, Janie is
taking him(her) to Denver, Toronto, and Wauseon. (S)he's probably
protesting all that running around, Janie. Keep me posted and I'll
be seeing you soon. And, YES, I'm still alive.
Lisa Dillon (12/93) is also still with HRB Systems. She's
been doing a lot of traveling and hasn't been spending a lot of
time at home. Lisa and I are having a baby shower for Janie in
September, so she'd better stay home then!! Talk to you soon,
Lisa.
I hear Sloan Seaman (8/96) just got a Saab. I expect to see
him sporting that baby around Indiana to give me a ride. What do
you think?
Tom Costello (MIS 12/88) is working at Cortec, he's a manager
or vice president in advanced tools. I got that info from Warren
Hilton (5/95) who is also working there, but will be leaving in the
fall to come back to IUP for a graduate degree. It will really be
nice to see Warren again on a regular basis. He does pop in once
in a while to say hi.
Lynn Styers (12/95) called and chatted one day and then sent
me e-mail. She really likes her job with Shared Medical and likes
the area. She's doing work on SETUP.EXE files. She will soon be
learning C++ and programming in it. Lynn thinks half the recent
IUP grads are down there. You could be right, Lynn. They were
looking at houses down there and wanted to get out of the apartment
by July. Britney would like to have a dog, too, and they can't do
that in the apartment. They have now found and have moved into a
3-bedroom townhouse in Downingtown PA. I can't believe Britney
will be starting school in the fall. Thanks for calling and the e-mail,
Lynn - let me know how you like the house.
Also heard from Donna Thompson (5/86). She's changed jobs
since I last talked with her. She is no longer working for
Meridian. She has gone over to Rodale Press in Emmaus. They
publish a lot of the prevention and health type books, etc. She
left Meridian when they were outsourcing to consulting firms and
before CoreStates bought them. She's been with Rodale for 2 years
now, and they are converting the database from mainframe to a UNIX
box and she's learning C++, ORACLE SQL, UNIX and Visual Basic. She
and Deanna Griffith (5/86) have a big trip planned for the summer.
They are going to Austria for 11 days in June (by now, I guess it
should be in the past tense). It's mostly a walking trip but one
day they will be white water rafting. They will be staying in
Zewll Um Zillar near Salzberg. I hope they let you guys back out,
I really do!! Donna has also taken up ballroom dancing and says
it's a great way to meet people. She says it isn't just for old _
_ _ _ s, either. Hey, Donna, great to hear from you. Don't wait
so long!
T. J. Hall (5/88) called me the other day, so I want everyone
who graduated with T. J. to listen up. He wants to have a reunion
of the class for May 88. He's wondering if anyone else is
interested in the same. He's thinking it can be an evening
affair, a day long affair or perhaps even a weekend. It could be
in Indiana, or it could be in Pittsburgh, it could be associated
with a football game or not. He's open to suggestions and I'm sure
also, that if enough people are interested, he'll need some help in
organizing it. So, I'll give you TJ's pertinent information and
all those who are interested get in touch with him. He is Timothy
J. Hall, 114 Hillendale Road, Pittsburgh PA 15237, phone is 412
367-7967, e-mail is tjhall@usairln.usair.com.
Dan Becker's (5/85) wife, Beth, stopped in May. Beth was a
math major here and was at IUP with a group of students from the
school where she teaches in Pittsburgh. Dan is working for GT
Systems. Right now he's at Station Square, but the company has
just moved into new headquarters in Jeannette. They are living on
the north side of Pittsburgh. Beth also corrected me on some
incorrect information I had. It is Dan's mother, Mary Kay, who
works here at IUP, not Ray's mother as I had thought. Sorry about
that, Dan and Ray. Beth, it was nice to see you. Dan, next time,
you come along!!
Kathy Venturini (12/96) is working for a local (Leechburg)
company on a UNIX system writing Perl script. The nice part about
it is she's working from home. She only has to go into the office
for a few hours once a week to get assignments. Congratulations,
Kathy, keep in touch.
Matt Marze (5 /91) sent e-mail. He was actually recruiting
for Black Box Corporation, but gave me some history while he was at
it. After graduation, Matt went to Alcoa where he worked for two
years with MVS COBOL administrative systems. He got a great deal
of exposure to object-oriented development while working on an OS/2
/ Smalltalk project. He co-authored a simulation of a chemical
manufacturing operation to be used to teach Alcoa executives their
quality process. He also got other PC/LAN development experience
with FoxPro. Then, Alcoa started to downsize and offered a buyout
package. So, he let them buy him out and took a consulting
position at Deloitte & Touche within their Management Consulting
practice where he designed and implemented client/server technical
architectures. After finishing his last project, he took
four-months off and looked for his perfect position which he found at
Black Box Corporation which is a direct marketer of networking and
related equipment. They are considered a high value provider and
are showing potential significant growth. Matt's position is
Projects Manager, Client/Server Systems and was given the
responsibility for filling six positions in Lawrence PA from
programmer/analysts to senior systems analysts. So, if anyone is
interested, give him a call at 412 873-6932 or send e-mail to
mmarze@sprintmailcom. And, Matt, thanks so much for the info. It
was really nice hearing from you.
Jason Livingston (12/95) and his fiance, Jennifer Toward,
dropped in one afternoon last April. At the time, they were making
last minute wedding preparations. The just got a townhouse and
furniture. And, Jason has changed jobs. He accepted a position at
PHICO Insurance in Mechanicsburg and was going to be starting the
end of April. Since that time, they've gotten married (5/31).
Best of everything to you both! Keep in touch!
Our condolences to Terry Glasser (8/96) on the death of his
mother. Very sorry, Terry. Terry, by the way, is back in town.
He's now working for Commonwealth Systems. Terry had been in
Mechanicsburg with IBM, but maintained his home in Marion Center so
he could visit his children on weekends. He decided it was much
easier to work here and live here on a more permanent basis.
Nancy McLees (5/97) is working at Commonwealth Systems, too.
She just started the end of July. Nancy was really happy to find
something in Indiana. Her husband is with BioControl so she needed
something local. She really thought that something local meant
Pittsburgh and that long commute. Congratulations, Nancy, let me
know how you like it.
I had a phone call from Ed Boozer (5/86). Ed is working for
Dal Tile, Inc. in Lansdale PA. After graduation he worked form
U.S. Steel for 5 years and then moved on Dal Tile. He's been
married for 3 years to Marcia and they are expecting their first
baby in October. Like I said on the phone, Ed, don't wait so long
next time! It was nice to hear from you.
Wendy Liskey (5/94) left Shared Medical and started at PHICO
Insurance in Mechanicsburg in April. I haven't heard how she likes
it, but she had been looking for something closer to Hershey.
Congratulations, Wendy!
Talked with Ed Comstock (5/90) briefly one day. He is with
Management Science Associates in Pittsburgh and was looking for
interns.
Also talked with Sharon (Godshall) Myers (12/83). Sharon has
been working at Mellon Bank since graduation and part time since
her children were born. She really loves Mellon and she says she
has the best of all worlds. She has her job but is also able to
spend a lot of time with the kids, a nine year old daughter and a
six year old son. I forgot to ask their names. Her husband is an
IUP Marketing alumnus and works as a systems manager for Shadyside
Hospital. They were married in 1986. It was REALLY nice talking
with you Sharon. Keep in touch. Oh, and I also found out that
she was one of the people who was looking for me at Homecoming a
couple years ago. It's amazing how I find these things out. It
was Sharon and Julie Roxby.
I had e-mail from Dave O'Brien (5/89)one day. He's working at
Tyson Foods in Springdale AR and they're recruiting if anyone is
interested. E-mail is OBRIEND@tyson.com or phone is 501 290-7736.
Justin Streiner (5/97) got a job at Stargate in Belle Vernon.
I don't have a lot of info yet on what Justin is doing, but he had
several offers and put a lot of thought into taking this job, so I
hope it has turned out well. Let me know, Justin!
We had a couple visitors during finals week in May. One was
Doug Blystone (8/95). Doug was up for the basketball playoffs here
on campus. He's still with SMS in Philadelphia and is considering
graduate school. Good Luck to you, Doug.
The other was David Smith (81). I didn't get to meet Dave,
but I could yet. Dave has just bought a farm near Creekside, so he
may be stopping in from time to time. Dave was a triple major in
Physics, Math and Computer Science. He not only did an internship,
he did student teaching. He got a Masters in Computer Science from
the University of Central Florida in 1983. Since then he's worked
in industry doing systems programming. He's worked on the
internals of commercial relational database systems, object
oriented programming languages and 4GL's. Right now, he's working
on extending JAVA with Object Database features. Glad you stopped
by, Dave. Thanks for the info. Maybe I'll catch you next trip.
A couple people who were lost have now been found. Both had
been working at Westinghouse Energy in Monroeville. Justin
Streiner found them for me. They are Mike Krynicki (5/95) and I
have heard from him since. He has been with IKON USConnect
Pittsburgh since December. They are the leading systems
integration firm in the tri-state region. He does everything from
setting up routers to developing websites for everybody under the
sun. He decided to move from Westinghouse when they were having
all the layoffs and he had gotten a lot of experience there when
Westinghouse moved to the Web. He got married to Michelle (his IUP
love) in July of 95. Please keep in touch, Mike. The other lost
soul is Bill Smith (5/93) who is now with the University of
Pittsburgh. So when are going to get in touch with me, Bill??
You've always been so loyal. Is it because you are now at a
university and you think we are rivals.
I'm glad to hear Vickie Pearce (12/94) is on the mend. Last
time I told you about her heart problem and hospitalization. Well,
Vickie is doing very well - down to one medication and unlimited
activity. And, the psoriasis that went along with all this is
clearing nicely. Vickie was in town for the weekend and she and
her mother were going to the May Mart. Does everyone remember May
Mart? It used to be held at Rustic Lodge and they had a lot of
crafts and plants, etc. Now they hold it at Mack Park and they
have a lot of crafts and plants, etc. Hope you had a good time,
Vickie. I looked for you down there, but I think you were probably
gone by the time I made it. Keep up the good health work!! Keep
me posted.
And, I heard from Anthony "Stu" Storti (5/93). Stu is working
for a company called TSA/ADVET near the Pittsburgh airport. It's
a commercial software house producing mostly document management
software called FALCON/DMS. They have to produce something
flexible enough to handle various databases and also be able to be
used across different platforms from Windows NT to UNIX depending
on the user's preferences. And, on the side, Stu is working with
some lawyers producing tax related commercial software. You sure
are busy, Stu, but then, I guess you need something to keep you out
of trouble. I noticed you didn't mention anything about a personal
life! Hey, Stu, thanks for the update and please don't wait
another four years.
Karl Cherry (12/86) finished his Masters of Science in
Education at the University of Pittsburgh and is hoping to teach
some computer classes in the Fall in the Pittsburgh area. He's
still with Fiserv in Pittsburgh, though, just looking to branch out
a bit. Karl is interested in hiring some people who are interested
in Interactive Voice Response.
I had e-mail from Ron Howe (8/96). Ron is still on the west
coast with Bill (Gates that is). He's a database administrator for
a testing group in the Customer Support Division. He uses Windows
NT Server and DQL Server. He loves his job and wants to become a
millionaire so he can contribute a lot of money to the department.
He told me he had already saved $1.50 for my retirement fund.
(You see it here in writing, folks.) Before we know it, Ron will
be building a house into a mountain and he'll invite us all out for
a big reunion. Keep in touch, Ron! See you in October.
Valerie Bonito (12/93) is now working as an analyst for CBIS
in Cinncinnati (not WKRP) which deals with telecommunication
billing processing. They are hiring too, if anyone is interested
in mainframe and COBOL work, she's at valerie.bonito@cbis.com. In
her spare time, she's been rollerblading and biking along a park
trail. She's going to be back in the area on August 19 for a
friend's wedding. Thanks for the info, Val, and do keep me posted.
Also got a message from Derek Ochs (12/95) at Shared Medical.
Besides working, Derek has been running and mountain biking. He
and his brothers had a 30th anniversary party for his parents in
April. I can understand his parents being surprised that their
"boys" managed to organize a party and that didn't involve beer and
throwing up. I'm proud of you, Derek!
Neil Steiner (5/88) also sent e-mail. Neil has been living in
Coconut Creek Florida since 1989 where he's been working for G Neil
Companies as a Senior Software Product Developer. G Neil is a
direct marketing company selling human resources products by
catalog. Neil creates the software that is sold through the
catalog. He's using Borland Delphi 1.0. Prior to working for G
Neil, he was a contract consultant and site manager for Decision
Consultants, Inc. where he developed software using Delphi 2.0 and
Microsoft SQL Server for Citicorp Services and Peoples Telephone
Company. In 1991, he married Melanie who is also an IUP graduate.
Thanks, Neil, for the update. Keep in touch a little more often,
now.
I think I mentioned this before, but in case I didn't, Jimmy
Maple (5/86) has started his own company along with a friend (I
think they're still friends). It's called Trusted Computer
Solutions, Inc. in Herndon VA. I don't know all the details (Jimmy,
you can give them to me), but they are doing extremely well. I
wish you continued good luck, Jimmy. Please, do keep in touch.
I heard from a couple of those people I love to hear from -
you remember - the ones who graduated before I came. One is Mike
Ragan (12/82). Mike has been married for seven years and they have
2 sons, Michael Jr. and Christopher, ages 2 and 1. Christopher had
open heart surgery at 6 months to repair a congenital disease
called Tetrology of Fallot. He is doing great which we are really
glad to hear! And, Mike broke his neck at the beach seven years
ago, but fortunately has no lasting damage. He and his wife teach
Sunday School at the high school level and are both actively
involved in the church's youth ministry. On the professional
level, Mike worked for one year after graduation at M.P. Software
in Lebanon PA where his main accomplishment was the design and
development of a custom system for a Harley Davidson Motorcycle
shop. He developed in MAI/Basic 4 platform. Then, he joined AMP
Incorporated and that's where he is today. One of his greatest
accomplishment since joining AMP was the development of a custom
manufacturing system written in COBOL at their German subsidiary in
Lagen, West Germany. Currently he is a project manager on a global
SAP implementation project where his team is responsible for all
the Production Planning functions. So, it looks like Mike may have
to travel to Italy or Japan - what a shame, Mike. It's too bad
they give you such horrible duties! If you want me to go instead,
I would be willing to make that sacrifice for a former student of
the Computer Science department. Mike has also been to IUP on
recruiting trips. Stop in next time you're in town, Mike! Thanks
for the info. I really do appreciate it.
The other person I heard from is Jesse Freese (5/75). You
will hearing more from Jesse in an article in this issue of The
Debugger, so I won't repeat, but I do have a request from Jesse.
He is looking for Pat Conroy. So, Pat, if you are out there or if
anyone knows where Pat is, contact Jesse at
Jesse_Freese@Fissure.com. Again, thanks for contacting Jesse!
Mike Everett (5/97) is working at IBM in Poughkeepsie. I had
e-mail from him and everything is going well. Kerian has adapted
well to his new home and new environment. Ann has transferred her
Casual Corners job as a manager up to a Casual Corners in the area.
Mike is applying to graduate school for Fall. So, things are going
well for the Everetts. Please keep in touch, Mike.
Mike Gutzat (5/87) has been sending so many jokes (which I've
really enjoyed) that he needed a reminder that he had a wife and 2
children that we wanted to know about. Rachel is growing like a
weed and is sitting up and starting to eat people food. She loves
her big brother Ryan. Mike said she just lights up when she sees
him. Meanwhile Ryan is doing well and is growing REAL tall. Mike
said he'd soon be taller than his mother. They will be celebrating
their 5th wedding anniversary and are hoping to get away sans kids
for a long weekend. Keep me posted, Mike!
Also heard from Jane (Cunningham) Harnagy (5/87). Jane is
still in Michigan and still with Perot Systems Corporation where
she's been for seven years. Since Jane started, the company has
gone from 1000 to well over 5000 employees and is expected to
double again in the next couple years. She has moved from Coding
to Training in anything from custom Perot Systems Applications to
Windows, Word, Excel. Then moved to soft skills training, project
management, customer service, etc. Then, about five months ago, she
was asked to head up a team of 25 associates in the Customer Care
Center. Jane says they have a very cool phone system for the
agents and nearly 100 associates in the call center overall. Jane
said she and Bob are not yet ready to venture into the kid realm,
but eventually. I get the feeling the Jane would like to be
further south. She says Michigan is nice and they really love
their new house, but they prefer the DC area, AND, if they win the
Publishers Clearing House, they will go to the Tampa/St. Pete area.
Hmmmm...... that sounds like a good plan. Thanks, Jane!! Keep
in touch.
Talked with Rick Joslin (5/85) the other day when he was
looking for a phone number for someone on campus. I was really
pleased that he called me for the info. It was nice to have the
chance for a chat. I also had e-mail from him. Rick is still with
Service Ware in Oakmont PA and is now V.P. of Operations. Although
he is in the management end instead of the programming end of the
business now, he is still involved in the software industry and
consults with their programmers on designs and strategies. He has
managed various software development teams from mini's to micros,
a training and documentation department, an IS Help Desk, knowledge
engineering department, and now a large support management
engineering department. We're hoping Rick is going to get involved
with an advisory council on campus and we'll be seeing more of him
(maybe I should say we'll be seeing him). Thanks, Rick!!
Rick also told me that Freddie Bauer (5/87) is no longer
working for Cutler-Hammer. He is now working with a consulting
company in Atlanta. Freddie, you better contact me! I need to
know who is running the train.
Anita (Costa) Louttit (5/88) and Mike (5/86) have moved into
a new house in Plum Boro (near Monroeville). They walked into the
model home, loved it and bought it The only thing they had to pick
was the carpeting. They have lots more space for them and lots
more space for Cameron's toys. Mike is still at Mellon and Anita
is still working part time for Paragon Solutions. They are hiring
for an Oracle consulting position (it may be filled by now, but if
anyone is interested, send email to mlouttit@usaor.net).
Jim Huston sent me new baby news for them. He and Chris
(Goda) (5/88) had a baby boy June 21. His name is James Christian
Jr. They have moved into a bigger house in East Fishkill NY so
they'd have more room for J.C. and Indiana (in case you've
forgotten, Indiana is their dog). Chris is taking the rest of the
year off to be with J.C. You can look at him at
http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/7373/. As I probably told
Jim, I don't have access to the internet right now. I've been
having my computer updated and I think I've been moved to the
bottom of the priority list (you know which list I've been moved
to, don't you). So, anyway, I tried to look at them on the old
server in the back of the room. Well, J.C. is gray and has red
spots all over his face and has a red tiger. So, I'm going to wait
until I can get a good look at him. Anita says he's really cute
(she said he looks like his mother, but since I don't want to start
any trouble between the Louttits and the Hustons, I won't repeat
that).
Jim also had a good idea and that is that we should publish
the internet sites for our alumni. If the rest of you feel that
way, let me know and I'll talk to the boss about expanding my
column.
I heard from Mark Reed (5/94). He was looking for Eric Hoover
and Mike Krynicki. I was able to help with Mike, but not Eric.
Anyway, Mark didn't give me much info about what he's been up to,
but he's working for IC Consulting.
Previously, I told you that Tammy Smith was doing the ride for
AIDS in Washington DC. Well, I've heard from her with the results:
She completed 338 out of 350 miles. There were 1400+ riders and
they raised 3+ million dollars. The rode through a lot of small
towns. In some of the towns, the people came out to cheer them,
some of the towns had red ribbons and some of the towns had squirt
guns and hoses to spray them. That part doesn't sound like a lot
of fun, but might have been refreshing. At any rate, glad you made
it so far. Congratulations, Tammy!!!
Brent Cramer (5/95) has recently started working with UNIX
Administration, AIX and HP-UX at DuPont and likes that a lot more
than what he had been doing. And, life is treating Brent with a
great deal of respect these days. Thanks, Brent. Maybe you'll
stop in some day for a visit?
Jeff Senley (5/94) is still at Shared Medical. He recently
got a promotion. Congratulations, Jeff!! In addition to work, he
went to California to help engineer the most recent Keystone Winds
recording. He is also writing the majority of the program notes
and we should see the recording in the music stores around
November. I'll be looking for it. Jeff's performing engagements
outside of the group have been pretty limited, but not non-existent. And, in addition to all that, Jeff is taking a
correspondence course in Discrete Math through the University of
North Dakota and will be starting his MS in Computer Science at
West Chester in the fall. You sound busy, Jeff. If you ever get
a chance, let us know how it goes.
Jeff Michna (12/93) has finally made it out of Mississippi.
He's back in DC and likes it a lot better. Thanks for the info,
Jeff. I'll be talking to you!
I saw Michelle Hart (5/91) at the New Growth Arts Festival.
Micki is now working at IUP. She's in Development Services in
Sutton Hall. She said she would stop in one day and chat for a
while so maybe next issue I'll have more to report.
And now, I think I should probably call this to an end.
Everyone take care and please keep in touch - like I keep saying,
it's job security.
Back to the Contents
News from Tompkins Lab
Nadine Tatarko
It's hard to believe that the Fall term is about to begin (in
a few weeks). Not too many things have happened over the summer;
however, there are a few items worth telling you about.
Unfortunately, the Tompkins lab was broken in to again. It
happened sometime over Memorial Day weekend. We lost two hard
disks and 32MB of memory from one lab Pentium; which has put this
machine out of commission until funds can be allocated for
replacement parts.
Also, the cart system that the Computer Science Department
stores in Weyandt Hall (for teaching/demos when lecturing in that
building) was also stolen. They left the cart and overhead
projector; but took the computer, monitor, and zip drive. This
amounts to an even bigger chunk of change about $2500.
It has been decided that a Pentium from Tompkins will be used
to temporarily replace the Weyandt cart system. This means now
that the lab will be down two Pentium systems -- unfortunate for
our majors who depend upon the speed of the faster processors for
upper-level course work.
So far, we've heard nothing from Campus Police about the
missing items. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
On a more positive note, the Win95/NT project in the Classroom
of the Future (Str 220) was in full "beta test" mode both Summer I
and Summer II. Dr. Mary Micco tried out the new OS in her CO201
and JAVA courses. Dr. John Cross used it with his CO101 students;
so did Dr. Gary Buterbaugh. In the beginning of Summer I, there
were a few bugs to work through; but overall, I believe it has gone
very well. Reports show that the students seemed to like the new
operating system and have adapted easily to the new look and feel
of Windows 95.
In support of the Win95-based labs in the CoF; the Tompkins
Lab was configured to mirror Str 220. The lab was heavily used
this summer by students needing to use Win95 and Office 97 for
their homework.
In other news (just to get your spark your curiosity), the
ISCC is in the process of going through yet another reorganization.
Details haven't totally been worked out; but change is on the way.
The Public Lab Upgrade Project is underway. I have been
heavily involved along with Raj Murthy (College of Business Support
Rep). Also, each lab will be re-wired with UTP cabling and
switched 10 to the desktop. The pathworks servers are being phased
out. We hope to have all the DOS-based and Win 3.1-based apps
installed on the new NetWare Servers that will be in each Public
Data Center. Each Public Lab machine will have a dual boot option
-- Win95 or Previous DOS (which will be the Windows 3.1 stuff). I
believe this will be a great improvement in the labs; especially
with the new wiring.
In a nutshell, that's about it.
Back to the Contents
Finding the 'Right Work'
Jesse Freese, '75
I graduated from IUP in the Spring of 1975 with a handful of
other people with majors in Computer Science. I am very proud to
have been one of the first people to graduate with a BS in
Computer Science from IUP. Other than bringing those interested up
to date on my last 22 years, I would also like to re-establish
contact with Pat Conroy, who also graduated with that Spring class.
Pat, if you are out there, or if someone knows where he is, e-mail
me at: Jesse_Freese@Fissure.com.
After graduation and several months of job searching, I
started work with Sperry Univac in September of 1975. Having gone
from punching cards and PL/1 to programming from terminals in
FORTRAN during my four years at IUP, I was obviously disappointed
when I went back to punching cards and assembly language in my work
with Sperry. As it turned out, I was very fortunate to have had
assembly language experience (PDP & IBM) at IUP, even though at the
time I didn't see much use for it.
My job with Sperry was developing software enhancements for
the Airport Terminal Air Traffic Control Software that still runs
at many of the major airports in the US today. Writing in
assembly language for a real-time system soon became very
challenging and debugging right on the actual system turned out to
be great fun. I spent four years in Atlantic City at the FAA site
there and then two years helping the Air Force put an Air Traffic
Control system at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas. From there,
I transferred to Minneapolis where the Air Traffic Control group
was headquartered. I became a team leader and eventually a
manager, managing several long term air traffic control and radar
systems projects.
Working with the government, we were well ahead of the rest of
the software development world in terms of estimating, planning
and managing projects. I became one of several people within the
company with expertise in the latest software cost and schedule
estimation tools and project management tools. I also recognized
that managing software projects was only part technical (tools and
processes). A big part of managing a successful project also meant
dealing with the soft side, or human side of management
(leadership). I experienced building high performance teams, and
knew it required more than just using a big stick. But it seemed
the further up the ladder I went, the less important the soft side
mattered and the less I fit in.
About this time one of my best friends, mentor and director,
asked me to join him in starting our own business. In 1989, we
started Fissure and today we have a family-oriented business that
is based on using breakthrough technology and focusing on the
human side of project teams. As a result of our experience and
our customers desire for us to provide training vs consulting, we
now focus on delivering project management, leadership, and
software measurement and estimation training via computer
simulations. Computer simulation for learning purposes is not
new. But the application to technical and soft skills is very
new. I apologize if this is too much detail, but I think from a
software development standpoint the readers might be interested in
what I mean by a computer simulation. For example, in our project
management simulation training, the participants actually plan and
manage to completion a 25 week project. The computer simulates
the company, the project, and the people (project members,
customers, and senior management). Each week the participant team
makes decisions around task assignments, education, overtime,
customer relations, team and individual feedback, and then they run
the week. The computer, based on the decisions and randomness,
tells them how well they did and the cycle continues until the
project is completed.
As a college student, I never dreamed I'd be a teacher some
day, and now I love it. I get to help people develop new skills
and have fun doing it. My days are spent running the business,
developing customers, developing simulations, and guiding
workshops - I have found my "right work!" And I owe a lot of that
to the great education I received from a very young computer
science department. For you recent graduates, think about Dr.
Buterbaugh's age when he walked into my first class with him back
in 1972-3. Many of us thought he was a student until he walked to
the front of the room. I don't know if Gary remembers Pat and I.
I never believed he thought we were serious enough to be very
successful; but I think that made us work even harder to prove him
wrong. This was probably his plan from the beginning - very smart.
Thanks Dr. Buterbaugh and good luck to all the graduates reading
this in finding your "right work." It is out there.
Back to the Contents
The Computer Science Specialty Living Option
Ralph Grove
Over the past few years, the IUP Housing and Residence Life
folks have been encouraging academic departments to take part in a
new program to develop special dorm floors for selected
disciplines. The purpose of these floors is to enhance academic
life for students who choose to take part in the program. This
means different things for different disciplines, of course. The
SLO floors offer programs such as peer mentoring, study sessions,
faculty visits, seminars, social events, club meetings, etc., and
each one is designed in conjunction with the floor residents to
meet their particular needs. So far, specialty dorm floors have
been created for students in Nursing and Allied Health Professions,
English, Biology, Education, Anthropology, and Business, involving
several hundred students.
In the fall of 1997, the newest SLO floor, for Computer
Science students, will open on the 3rd floor of Mack Hall. The CS
floor will provide accommodations for 31 female and 33 male
students, including one Resident Advisor (RA) of each sex. Computer
Science majors have first priority for space on the floor, while
other interested students may sign up for remaining accommodations.
Most of the rooms will be doubles, though a few single rooms exist
as well. Each room will provide a high-speed Ethernet connection to
the IUP network for each resident. In addition, Mack Hall has a
computer lab on the first floor for general use. Later, a special
lab may be added to the 3rd floor as well, to house special
equipment. For the fall semester, a total of 42 students have
signed-up for the CS floor. The remaining vacancies (all female) in
the fall will be filled by overflow students from Mack-2, the
Education floor.
Governance of the floor involves the HRL administration, the
CS faculty, RAs on the floor, and students. The hall administrator
is Ron Shidemantel, who is new to IUP, from Penn State. I will be
the initial faculty advisor, though I expect lots of help from the
other faculty as well. The RAs for the coming year will be Shelley
Jefferson (CS) and John Howard (MIS). Another important person will
be Hugh Brown, who is responsible for technical facilities at Mack
Hall, and will be living there as well.
Planned programs on the CS floor include a social event to
start off the semester, informal visits from faculty members,
special talks and seminars, Computer Science Club meetings, etc.
The "etc." is especially important here, because the SLO floors are
self-managed to a large extent. Part of the commitment made by
students who sign up for these floors is to take part in designing
and carrying out the program for the year. Early in the year,
students, RAs, and the faculty advisor (me) will get together to
plan in more detail the years events. So, anything is possible (as
long as we can get Dr. Oblitey to pay for it!).
What we hope to get from the SLO program is an added dimension
to the CS program. We hope that the CS floor will be a place where
students can find mentoring, tutoring, emotional support, and
friendship. We hope that the floor residents and other CS majors
who take part in programs there, through the synergy of their
combined presence, will experiment, share, and learn in ways which
would not be possible if they were living separately. We hope that
incoming female students, who often feel marginalized in our
majority-male program, will feel more at home by virtue of having
their own space on the floor. And we hope that everyone will have
fun!
I'll try to keep you all updated on events on the CS floor as
the year goes by. Meanwhile, if you're at IUP for a visit, stop by
Mack-3 and say "Hi" to the CS floor crew.
Back to the Contents
Odds and Ends
Check out the May 1997 graduates (or at
least those that came to the department's graduation ceremony, held
in Breezedale). The new alumni are: (back row, left to right) Dave
Ritchie, Justin Streiner, Nancy McLees, Jae Kang, Mike Everett, and
Matt Ficco; (front row, left to right) Sherri Soltis, Jason Smith,
Matt Zinicola, and Jim Spaid. Several of them are already
mentioned in Carol's article.
. . .
On October 17, we will have our next meeting of the Computer
Science Corporate Advisory Board. The board members give us
valuable feedback about what is currently happening in industry;
listen to the department's plans regarding curriculum, facilities,
and recruitment; and give us advise regarding how our programs can
best meet the ever-changing needs of industry.
. . .
Bill Oblitey reminds me that he is soon going to be compiling
the names of alumni who have qualified for membership in the
Century Club for 1997. So, if you are someone who has given only
$99 to the Computer Science Department through the Foundation for
IUP, check out the form on page 28. For a donation of one more
dollar, you too can be a member of the Century club.
. . .
One final tidbit: Homecoming this year will be on October 18
and is using a different schedule from years past. For those of
you coming to the parade, note the new time: 2:00 pm. And for
those of you coming for the football game, note the new time: 7:00
pm. The game is against East Stroudsburg.
Back to the Contents
Century Club
You can become a member of the IUP Computer Science
Department's Century Club. Membership in the Century Club is
obtained by pledging at least $100 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.
A pledge of $100 is less than $10 per month. Please consider
this opportunity. To join cut off the form in the column to the
left, complete it and commit yourself to giving $100 for 1997 (or
1998). As mentioned in a previous issue, the department is
considering the establishment of another scholarship. Your
contributions will help greatly in such a venture.
Back to the Contents