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■
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.
ALIlMiyiAJ'UUlWWLUI
COLLEGE ARCHIVES
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