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Show 1 (J, USU Apply Joint Effort to Computerize Bookstores Tbe University of Utah and Utah Slate University haw joined forces to solve a mutual problem The two schools are When grotad rules developed t&e system and the controller s functions were established and "agreed to disagree ' which are different for when the respective the two institutions, are responsibilities divided the U developed the text- needs conflicted Built challenging," he says book package and USU isla the vesture was the "The problems of credit devised the accounting ability to modify the card usage and to process such items as dable requisition and purchase orders, receiving, invoicing and expense transactions combined into a e monthly and preparinga and comthe project system totally package report, tales accounting department A bookstore's acputerized bookstore began m earnest. purchases add to the an auditing scheme and system that includes textManagers of the two counting system is com- complexity of the security system books, inventory, point-of-sa- bookstores identified plex. "The problems of The task of developing system." a terminals, specific requirements, interfacing the bookstore Over doiea the project and whittling r" chasing, receiving and then project leaders accounting functions with "modules" were devised down the cost to an affor accounting for sales and expense nth prtfit ind loss information at the department level. "It's an awesome ve- - ii year-to-dat- le Smith, assistant director for systems development at the U of U The U campus community of about 22.000 students has a bookstore sales volume in excess of & million. The USU stu- natural resistance to anything new. particularly when computers are involved There is still the have cuottdeace in fear that computers w .11 "solo" on the computer future.'' emphasizes universities with replace people, Terry this summer and expecU-tion- s ouiiia. divergent needs can work says. Brooks Terry, director together and develop a for success are The system will not of the U bookstore, con- strong program high. replace any people. Smith "It isn't easy at this siders the project to be a My staff is reailv exsays, it will probably aspoint to quantify the cost success from two stand- cited about the new sist in having a reduced effectiveness' of the points "We have a good system There is the inventory " program that is Better than either one of us could have developed alone In addition, we the learned that two different 1 o dent body numbers around 9,300 and U0Q bookstore sales are over million. 5 system, but the directors of the bookstores and the data processing departments at both institutions says Ronald nture," $2-2- sue while fulfilling all requirements, has bees eeormous. says Smith However, the system at the U will The catalyst for developing an automated bookstore system was the on-li- ne manual operation q80D re- quired in handling textbooks, says Smith. "Now rote Q km oflbsfi cdjjxkdi (tMKfoooQlMl Gxnx3QQ mcteoQQDdteo all information is entered into the computer and immediately broken down into a wide variety of categories. "At the same time a purchase order is automatically produced and a running inventory is maintained as we go. As soon as one more feature is added to the system, we'll get an automatic sales report," he says. The strength of the system is ADMINS, a new concept in computer software. ADMINS is not a ii ft programming language, which makes it easier to use, even for persons not familiar with computers. When ADMINS was first discovered, both schools conducted a detailed evaluation of the productivity tool, concluded it was excellent and purchased the system. The two unive- rsities already owned identical computer hardware. ADMINS flexibility permits hundreds of operations (jobs). "Actually, the system is difficult to explain, even to a programmer," Smith says. "It is not the nor- mal programming approach, it is a tool With ADMINS, I can retrieve information at about the time it takes in conventional programm- one-eigh- th ing. v 1 "Another advantage is quickly retrieving data and changing it to suit your purposes at the terminal, thus eliminating laborious desk work," he says. "Once a user u- nderstands how the ADMINS tools are used, he is bounded only by his own creative ability to apply those tools to his uses." People Turn To Alcohol After College Seventy percent of college students in the 1950's who were alcohol beverage abstainers in a followup study 28 years later became drinkers while only 4 percent of drinkers became ab- - StaiilrS The Coltage Program and the University of Utah are sponsoring a training program to begin on April 1 in response to research findings of Dr. Selden Bacon, director emeritus of the Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies in Brunswick, New international Jersey. Drinking behavior among college students was first studied in 1930 and restudied 26 yean later, in 1976. The study reveals several aspects of alcohol beverage use which are relevant to programs for controlling problems. The study showed a marked decrease in the quantity of alcohol consumed by the 1950 cohort and general increase in frequency of drinking. The students labeled as problem-drinker- s during 1930 showed a marked decrease in drinking behavior over the 23 year span. One of the most prevalent myths exploded by Dr. Bacon's research was that severe or chronic drinking by parents, parents' sibl- ings, and grandparents has little on no predictive value (or determining their children s drinking behavior. mmm mum unm 110 Years Of Understanding V'W"- r . |