print ■ Wednesday, February 13,1980 »«««»» Computers may become main tools in near future By Sandy Carter WThe Print I Mike Aronson and Tsuyoshi Inouye are two men at the cen ter of the rapidly changing Lnputer scene at the College tho have very different per- Bectives. | Aronson, a physics instructor kw on sabbatical for two ter- k is a firm proponent of Ihiversal computer literacy, on lie grounds that, “In general, lople with no experience in Lnputers are fearful of them. I lave to try and persuade Iveryone that they should be led not only in science and ■ectronics, as they are right low, but in English and lierywhere.” I He describes the purpose of |s sabbatical leave. “I’m Eudying ‘computer-managed Itruction’,” he says. “That’s a Itch-all phrase that covers 29 ■erent things. So far, I’ve had k month, and I’ve accom- ished two of them. Right low, I’m working on 10 ■ore.” I His accomplishments so far life been the initial publication ■ a monthly faculty “Com- iter Utilization News” bulletin ■tinted by a computer), and |f submission of a budget joposal involving purchase of ken new video terminals for MAKING A POINT—Tsuyoshi Inouye, data processing officer, explains use of video display terminal. Photo by Duffy Coffman. says Inouye. “The biggest push is to get on (the new system); after that, it will be a matter of fine-tuning it for maximum ef ficiency.” Aronson’s main complaint with the College’s approach to computer utilization in the past systems, and second emphasis has been, “there’s no one per on support of computer in son on campus who’s in charge struction and utilization, to the of instructional uses on the extent that we can implement computer.” it.” Now, “I’m acting as the cen Working with a staff of two tral place,” he says simply, but programmers, one com it is not a simple job. Com bination computer operator puters of different types, | and keypunch person, and a shapes and sizes are virtually full-time keypunch operator, scattered over the campus, and Inouye is currently supervising when Aronson lists their i the installation of the College’s various locations and uses, he ■ new Eclipse M600 Computer, hastens to add that there may the largest of the Data General be others he doesn’t know line of computers. Eclipse’s about. According to him, the cost was $230,000 for “har terminals are dware,” and $30,000 for “sof following tware,” which might be con available for use on campus: sidered the “logical” part of the one Radio Shack computer in system. It has a maximum the math department, four memory size of two million more Radio Shack units in “bites” of information, of which electronics, one Radio Shack 512,000 are being used, giving unit in auto parts, one Apple II the College programs “a lot of stand-alone unit in machine room for growth,” according to shop, and four, terminals which tie into the MET-COM time Inouye. College needs are now being sharing computer in Mult served by two systems, the new nomah County, located in Data General system and the machine shop, the community older Burroughs computer center, Orchard Center, and which it will replace. “We have McLoughlin Hall. The College a ’major goal of leaving the pays a maximum monthly fee Burroughs by the first of July,” to the MET-COM system for students’ “hands on” use. Induye, College data processing officer, describes his job as “basically, being in charge of information systems for the College, with the first emphasis on administrative the number of hours logged in on it through the College code. Aronson praises the College’s present use of infor mation systems in a business sense, saying, “the computer is used well by the ad ministration,” but wants to see its uses expanded and made more familiar to the students. In an era when pocket calculators have become ac cepted as toys and prices on them have dropped so drastically that he says, “Nowadays, you can get one for $10, or 10 gallons of gas!”, Aronson emphasizes that a computer should be considered just another educational tool. “I don’t believe a computer can teach an entirely new thing,” he says, “but I think it’s possibly a good testing in strument.” He outlines something called a “hidden an swer” multiple choice technique, in which the student would only be presented with one possible right answer at a time, which he says could make “multiple guess” tests much more useful. To sum up his feelings about the instructional uses of com puter systems, Aronson says, “Humans do some things very well and computers do some things very well. Our different uses or skills make us com patible.” Inouye, looking at the possible business uses of the new computer, sees it taking over massive amounts of responsiblity in the areas of payroll, accounting, registration, and inventory. In stant, “on-line” uses in registration will save time and money, and a possible future hook up with the Statewide In formation Sharing system would allow necessary infor mation pertaining to the College to be automatically fed into the proper state agency. The new Data General system boasts 12 CRT (cathode ray tube) video display terminals, which will be assigned to accounting, registration, and financial aid departments, and six printer terminals. It will accept programs in any of several computer languages. “Because the technology in this field is very volatile,” says Inouye, “systems generally become obsolete in five or six years, but the new technology allows savings of money and provides more responsive and accurate information.”. Inouye and Aronson, as the two central figures in the changing College computer scene, work simultaneously toward a campus goal of in creased computer use and awareness. What’s happening I This issue of The Print has to be the sweetest. On Page 12, catch a bit of Cupid’s arrows as students and staff send their loved ones a Valentine’s Day wish in The Print’s classified sec* ¡lion. Find out about the heated debate that went on as students con* ducted a draft forum, Page 9. Turn to Pages 2 and 3 for the opinion section and find out what 11 students and faculty think about the draft and war. All you non-smokers will be pleased when you read the article on Page 9 about the new no-smoking area in the cafeteria. On Page 8, Cupid strikes again. This time, he’s not too pleased. Read and find out why. Turn to Page 10 to find out all the latest scores and sports news on campus. Remember to get firsthand news in* formation both on campus and off by turning to The Print. 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