The Clackamas print., December 06, 1995, Page 3, Image 3

The Clackamas Print
Wednesday, December 6,1995
Opinion
Daedalus is a big hit in the English Department
Angela Corrie
Contributing Writer
As students pass by one of
the computer classrooms, they
notice a journalism class talking
to each other... without saying a
word.
The students are surrounded
in a “chat room” environment,
sending messages to each other,
and sharing their ideas on the
screen. This is the latest technol­
ogy buzz, and it’s possible
through a computer program
called Daedalus.
Clackamas Community Col­
lege is using the computer pro­
gram Daedalus on a test basis
through the month of December.
Daedalus is a computer program
used in the English department to
help students learn how to im­
prove their writing skills by in­
teracting with each other and their
instructors on the computer.
Jeff Knorr, English instruc­
tor, was asked to take on the chal­
lenge of familiarizing the students
of CCC as well as the English de­
partment staff with the program.
His involvement with Daedalus is
enthusiastic, and he had a lot of
positive words for the program.
“I love it. I think it’s great. It
sets up a collaborative situation
for a writing classroom, and I
think the most profitable situation
for a writing classroom is to be a
collaborative workshop so people
get to share their work with oth­
ers, and it allows the students to
work with ease,” Knorr said.
As an English instructor,
Knorr uses the program with his
Technical Writing classes one out
of the two days they meet. Knorr
also said that a few other English
teachers have used Daedalus for
quizzes, and it has been a big suc­
cess with the instructors, ut
Students who used Daedulus had
positive remarks toward the pro­
gram.
“ I enjoy the interchange sec­
tion a lot/’ Jeff Williams said.
“I like all the options that
Daedulus offers,” Ed Asquith
added.
Chris Buckland also had
high thoughts about the program.
“I like everything about it. It’s an
easy Word Processing program to
use,” he saild.
All English instructors have
been given an instructor’s guide
for Daedalus, and every Tuesday
from 12:30-1:30 p.m. in the En­
glish Computer room Knorr has
been holding an open seminar.
Although this has not been man­
datory, it is a chance for staff to
¿4--------------------------
I like every­
thing about it.
It’s an easy
Word Process­
ing program to
use.
________ 99
Chris Buckland
Daedalus user
talk about philosophical issues of
using Daedalus in the classroom.
“Daedalus is designed as a
writing program, so it’s designed
to be used in an English depart­
ment. This doesn’t mean that it
can’t be used outside of that, but
that’s what it’s designed for,”
Knorr said.
Aside from the problem of
many people not hearing about
Daedalus, those who have are still
working on figuring out the de­
tails of the program. Although
there is still much frustration with
the program, Knorr advises stu­
dents and staff to be patient.
“Because it’s a new program,
and there are people who are ven­
turing into doing it who have
never worked with computers be­
fore, it’s an entirely different ball
game,” he said.
Overall, the students and
staff of CCC seem to be giving
Daedalus a chance. Knorr com­
mented how he has been involved
with Daedalus at other campuses,
but he hasn’t seen the acceptance
that people have given it here,
where everybody has been truly
supportive.
Even though there are nu­
merous schools through the coun­
try using Daedalus, CCC and
Portland State are the only schools
in Oregon using Daedalus. Knorr
believes that this says something
about the vision of the instructors
here, and how they value the stu­
dents’ education.
“Because the students and
staff have given Daedalus an hon­
est shot, I think it will survive,
and hopefully it will be purchased
and not taken off the system,”
Knorr concluded.
Instructors receive
literary fellowships
Two English instructors
have been honored recently by
receiving Oregon Literary Fel­
lowships.
Instructor Kate 'Gray re­
ceived the award in poetry.
Her project is to write poems
about the Willamette River,
and to do photographs to ac­
company them.
Tim Gilmore received the
fellowship in the category of
Creative Non-fiction.
Gray and Gilmorg join
colleague Jim Grabill, who
was selected winner of the
Oregon Book Award for his
collection of poems.
Rewards of the ‘American Dream’ Finding ways to give
A capitalist's view of an economic system
Eric Eatherton,
Columnist
When I read a column that a
colleague of mine wrote, I decid­
ed some of my own commentary
was needed.
My commentary deals with
concerns about an article dealing
with a collection of entities my
colleague refers to as “the Man.”
In that article, he comments
about the things he feels are prob­
lems, then he advocates the “com­
plete, comprehensive unioniza­
tion of the world’s work force,”
saying it will “drive wages and
benefits up . . .Higher wages in­
crease the workers’ buying
power...”
Check those emphasized
words with those later in his own
article: “Prices for most consumer
goods would rise drastically,...”
If consumer prices rise, the in­
crease in buying power would be
negated severely, if not canceled
entirely.
Moreover, the increase in
consumer prices could be attrib­
uted in part, to the newly-inflated
labor expenses.
You enter business to make
money and how you do it is to pro­
duce goods and/or services for the
general public or for a certain tar­
get market. But you also have to
watch out for expenses. This
doesn’t constitute in any way a
defense of some of the tactics
which he considers “strong-
armed” and “intimidating.”
However, if your expenses
rise, doesn’t it only make sense
to find some way to regenerate the
lost profits? Towards that end, one
of two things would happen:
prices would have to rise to keep
up with the newly-inflated labor
expenses and/or companies would
have to “down size,” (lay off some
of its workers and not fill their
positions)—which, either way,
would defeat the purposes of even
organizing a union.
There’s even been an attempt
to organize the workers into a
union earlier this century. The
idea was developed in the last cen­
tury by Karl Marx, a German so­
cioeconomic philosopher; it was
called “Communism.” There are
many theories as to why it was
disproved as an ideal economic
system. They range from lack of
incentive to creating social classes
while trying to create a classless
society.
Speaking of unionization,
how many unions would make up
his ideal unionized global work
force? He never said how many,
leading me to consider two possi­
bilities.
One, that there would be one
union, consisting of the whole
world’s work force. Did you ever
attempt to rally roughly 2.5 bil­
lion people on a common cause.,
especially knowing they speak nu­
merous languages and hold just
about as many beliefs?
The other possibility would
be having many unions, as dif­
ferent workers do different tasks.
If that’s the case, who’s going to
speak for whom? I won’t say my
colleague advocates an alternative
economic system; however, it is
meant to make him—and you—
think about those things.
Capitalism has its flaws. To
say that it doesn’t would be mis­
leading on my part. But I’m will­
ing to live with those flaws if the
strengths outweigh the weak­
nesses—which I think they do.
Capitalism is incentive-oriented,
which is why we reward those
who build the proverbial^ “better
mouse trap.” We honor achieve­
ments in science, medicine, aca­
demics, etc. We reward those who
aren’t afraid to risk their shirts in
the search of the “American
Dream.”
They have one thing in com­
mon—they have dreams. And
they are willing to work toward
the realization of those dreams.
And when those dreams are ful­
filled, there’s a sense of pride
knowing that the rewards they
get—be it money, merchandise,
the Academy Awards—for all
their efforts they earned.
Where’s the incentive in
other systems? The government
sets up programs for those who
need them. These programs in­
clude cradle-to-grave health care,
maternal leave, etc., but at a steep
cost. The problem is sooner or
later, these “safety nets” end up
being hammocks. Also, have you
seen the tax structure of some of
these European nations?
When the writer complains
that “‘the Man’s associates in Sa­
lem ,or any other state capital, and
Washington, D.C. pulled [30% of
his gross wages] away,” he should
not be griping. This percentage
could easily be a lot higher in Eu­
ropean and other socialist nations.
In fact, workers in the United
States pay less in taxes than do
their peers in Europe or Japan.
And to raise taxes because
someone thinks we need to be
more like Europe, would in my
opinion, lead to a new economic
Dark Age. “The next time you
get paid, consider the trade you
make with ‘the Man.’” Yes, and
while you’re at it, consider what
that trade would amount to in
Europe or Japan.
Useful parties continued from page 2
tect the victims of abuse.
It was asked that the dona­
tions not be wrapped, as there is
an event in which the women
come and openly choose what
they want.
Anyone can host a party like
this. However, it is effective to
coordinate your efforts with a
charity of your choosing. Each
organization has their own
Christmas programs and their
suggestions will ensure that
your donations are the most use­
ful to the people in need.
This season, try and think
of creative ways in which to
give. Each of us has something
to contribute. You can volunteer
your services to the handicapped
or offer free baby-sitting to a
good friend. There are many
ways in which to give. Just re­
member to have fun with it.
The effects of computer piracy
Letter continued from page 2
on which social values and mores are established, in the type of society we
have chosen to structure.
Now for some facts regarding software piracy.
The software industry loses an estimated $15.2 billion worldwide
because of software piracy. Software piracy being the illegal copying of
software for retail sale or internal organizational use.
The United States loses $2.8 billion annually from software piracy.
China is one of the worlds biggest software copyright offenders. Ap­
proximately 98% of software used in China is pirated, with losses to U.S.
publishers at an estimated $526 million.
A program that reflects years of effort by a team of software develop­
ers, and millions of dollars of investment, takes only a few minutes to
copy.
Why should we care? An increasing percentage of businesses and
industries in this country, and in our local area, are based on information
and service. And the foundation of these businesses is software. Soft­
ware, be it good or bad, is the result of research, creativity, industrious­
ness, and thought. The reward in this country for engaging in these activi­
ties has always been recognition, profit, and advancement. If the product
is bad it is weeded out naturally, or improved by added shots of creativity
and industriousness by the manufacturer or competitors.
Therefore to steal, or pirate, software is to tell all of those people who
invested their time, money and expertise, that Your investments are worth­
less, and you should not be rewarded for it. It is my right and duty to steal
your work. If developers continue to create products that are stolen, and
receive little or no monetary gain, they will stop creating. There in lies the
inherent danger of software piracy. The thwarting of inventiveness and
creativity. The denial of just rewards for a job done, be it a good job or a
bad one.
Mr. Zimmerman would have you steal other people’s work, just be­
cause it has not passed his standards of testing. I exhort Mr. Zimmerman
to examine his words carefully, and also to examine the possible ramifica­
tions of them in light of his present position, and his future goals. And if
he is having any further thoughts about the rightness of his proclamations,
to please contact the Business Software Alliances Anti-Piracy hotline at
(800) 688-2721, and do a little deeper research into the side effects of his
ideas.
Terence M. Shumaker
Drafting Technology Instructor,
Barlow 269,
657-6958 ext. 2365