Computer labs offer a wide range of equipment
Some software available
at campus labs would be
too expensive for the
typical student to own
By Leanne Nelms
Associate Editor
Student fees fund many services,
but one that students use the most
is the campus computer labs. Even
at midnight, students can be found
in the labs reading e-mail, writing
papers, building Web pages or
working on architecture projects.
Although many departments have
labs tailored specifically for their stu
dents, there are five public labs on
campus accessible to students in any
major the EMU Computing Lab,
Knight Library ITC, Science Library
ITC, Klamath Computing Lab and
Millrace Computing Lab.
EMU Computing Lab
One of the most centrally locat
ed labs on campus, the EMU lab,
has undergone many changes dur
ing the summer.
Returning students may notice
the lack of dedicated e-mail termi
nals and older Macintoshes, which
have been replaced by new Power
Macs and Micron Pentiums.
The lab now has 51 Power
Macs, 43 Pentiums and 12 older
486 PCs. Two Macintosh scanners
are also available — one for color
and one for black and white.
Also, air conditioning has been
installed to provide a cooler envi
ronment. Doug Simpson, manager
of the EMU lab, said the addition
was more to keep users comfortable
than to prevent computers from
overheating. “We had several stu
dents feint in here last year,” he said.
Many students use the EMU lab
primarily for word processing and
other academic projects. Some of
the lab’s software includes Mi
crosoft Word 6.0, Microsoft Excel
5.0, ClarisWorks 4.0 and Netscape
3.0. Adobe Photoshop is also
available on the Power Macs.
Another major change this year
is the EMU lab's hours, which may
be extended significantly. The
lab’s potential fall hours are 8 a.m.
to 2 a.m., Monday through Thurs
day; 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday; 10
a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday; and
noon to 2 a.m. on Sunday.
Simpson said that the availabili
ty of lab assistants may affect the fi
nal decision on hours. He also said
the hours may fluctuate during the
first couple weeks of the term.
Knight Library ITC
Located on the second floor, the
Knight Library’s Information
Technology Center has 43 Macin
toshes and 28 PCs available for
student use.
The lab’s software includes Mi
crosoft Office, Netscape 3.0 and
Fetch, an FTP program. Adobe
Photoshop, Pagemaker and Illus
trator are also available on several
computers reserved specifically
for graphics work, along with
three color scanners — two for
Macintosh and one for PC.
For local network access, 3 X
terminals and 8 text-only termi
nals are available as well.
One recent change in the ITC is
that a block has been placed on
Web-based e-mail providers, such
as hotmail.com. “The whole library
system has decided to disable access
to outside e-mail,” said Andrew
Howell, ITC technical assistant. Ac
cording to Howell, easy e-mail ac
cess at the library was drawing an
increased number of community
members who were using comput
ers meant for student use only.
The lab’s hours are identical to
Campus computer labs
The five major public labs are located in high-use areas around campus.
All labs offer Internet access and are equipped with laser printers.
LEANNE NELMS/EmeraJd
those of the Knight Library. During
fall term, it will be open 8 a.m. to
midnight, Monday through Thurs
day; 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday; 11
a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday; and 11
a.m. to midnight on Sunday.
Science Library ITC
The Science Library, located in
the basement of the Onyx Bridge, is
the home of another ITC. This lab,
however, is designed for more high
end use than other campus labs.
The ITC contains 13 X-terminals
and 6 Power Macs. The Macintosh
es are equipped with graphics,
multimedia and video editing soft
ware, as well as modeling software
such as Mathematics and RasMol.
Two color flatbed scanners are
also available along with the only
publicly accessible scanner for slides
and negatives on campus. Jill Hol
man, the ITC’s coordinator, said a
new scanner capable of scanning
documents as well as slides and neg
atives is expected to arrive by fall.
In addition to the available com
puting equipment and software,
digital cameras can be checked out
for 24 hours. The pictures can then
be downloaded and edited on the
lab’s computers.
The lab and the Science Library
keep the same hours. During fall
term, it will be open from 8 a.m. to
11 p.m., Monday through Thurs
day; 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday; 11
a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday; and 11
a.m. to 11 p.m. on Sunday.
Klamath Computing Lab
This lab, located in the basement
of Klamath Hall, is composed of
three instructional labs and one
public lab. The instructional labs
are open for public use any time
they are not in use by a class.
According to coordinator Mary
Bradley, about 100 computers are
in the four labs — approximately
half Micron Pentiums and half
Power Macs.
The lab also has four scanners
—three for color and one for black
and white.
Klamath lab software includes
basic word processing programs
such as ClarisWorks and Microsoft
Word, as well as software like Al
dus Pagemaker and Microsoft
Frontpage, a Web publishing pro
gram. AutoCAD and PowerCAD
are also available, Bradley said.
The Klamath lab’s fell hours are 8
a.m. to 11:30 p.m., Monday through
Thursday; 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Fri
day; 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday;
and 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday.
Millrace Computing Lab
The Millrace lab may be one of
the most difficult labs to find, but
it has the newest computers on
campus. Bradley said she recent
ly replaced the Micron Pentiums
with 40 Macintosh G3s — 20 in
the public lab and 20 in the nearby
instructional lab.
The software in the lab is identical
to Klamath lab software, she said.
The Millrace lab is located across
the bike path from the urban farm,
on the Burger King side of Franklin
Boulevard. Its hours are 8 a.m. to 11
p.m. Monday through Thursday; 8
a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Friday; and 1 p.m.
to 9 p.m. on Sunday.
I Newman Center: 1850 Emerald Street, across from Hayward Field
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