| OCR Text |
Show Computers important part of school By KAY JARV1S ; Davis School District Computers are an integral part of our lives that bring power and effi- f ciency with the touch of a finger. : Computer chips are remarkable : bits of technology, enabling com-putcrs com-putcrs to accomplish massive transactions in milli-seconds. For ' an organization as large as the : Davis County School District, rapid access to information is essential. : A Unysis machines ties the en- ; tire district to an A 12 central com- puter. Each school is attached via ; direct telephone line. Through the : computer there is access to im-: im-: measurable information. Available material stored in the memory banks include student accounting, grades, attendance, financial infor-: infor-: mation for the entire district, indi-i indi-i vidua! school budgets, warehouse information, and transportation data. There is also an educational resource program which automatically automa-tically keeps current on information informa-tion regarding infinite subjects. For example, if an inquiry is made about earthquakes, the computer com-puter will search for pertinent data and compile a list of material and programs currently available throughout the Wasatch Front area, ranging from television shows to books and exhibits at the universities. The Unysis machine has four times the user capacity at one-tenth the size of the old outdated out-dated system formerly used at the District. Without the data processing department, de-partment, this marvel of a machine would be useless. It is the department depart-ment staff, supervised by Dick Lemmon, who is responsible for writing the programs and keeping them running smoothly. It takes seven programmers, two systems analysts, four repair people, three main computer operators and two user support people who assist anyone who needs help working with the system, to keep things functioning the way they should. Data is continuously updated during dur-ing the day. The School Foods program tie-in with the computer is vital. State and Federal reports are summarized summa-rized monthly by Connie Chambers Cham-bers in the central office using data collected from the computer files. For the children who owe money for lunch charges, a letter is generated gener-ated automatically from the school and sent home to parents. Since sending notes home with children can't always be counted on as a method of absolute reliability, the computer is also tied directly to a phone line. At the end of the week, School Foods can ask how many children owe money. After the data has been assessed, a recorded phone call is initiated over the weekend to tell parents what is owed. There are three methods of record re-cord keeping in the lunch rooms. One is the conventional cash register regis-ter method that is categorized by class and entered directly into the computer. The second method used at some of the schools, including includ-ing Farmington and West Bountiful Elementary schools, is the bubble sheet. This is a sheet of paper with circles that are filled in by the cashier signifying those who did and didn't eat lunch. The sheets are then put through a scanner that transmits the totals to the computer compu-ter main frame. A credit card system is used at Knowlton and Adams Elementary. The students run a card similar to a library card through a scanner that assimilates and tallies the information. informa-tion. It is then transmitted directly to the district. In the schools, the computer records re-cords the number of servings every day according to menu items. From that number, a food order is generated from each school based on servings used. For instance, on a day that tacos are served, the computer analyzes the average taco consumption by school and forwards the information to the warehouse. The warehouse people then know how much of those ingredients ing-redients to send out to each of the individual schools. Overestimating Over-estimating the amount of a food order is much less likely, and it enables amazingly accurate record keeping. It is, of course, the people behind be-hind the machines that make it so extremely capable and efficient. |
