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Show The Thunderbird Tuesday November 12 , 1985 Page 7 Computer age comes to SUSC Colleges terminal supply has increased by 1,000 percent in only three years. Randy Ortvin, a senior music education major from Provo, uses an Apple lie in SUSCs microprocessor room ivith music composition. BY SANDY GILLIES SUSC INFORMATION SERVICES SUSC has leaped into the information society age by increasing the number of microcomputers and computer terminals on campus by over 1,000 percent in just three years. SUSC Provost Terry D. Alger indicates that the college has gone from about 30 terminals and microcomputers in 1982 to an excess of 300 such machines this year. With not quite 3,000 students, this means that there is a ratio of about 10 students to every terminal or microcomputer at SUSC. Other institutions of higher education in the state, Alger notes, are attempting, through massive computer buying, to reach a level of 20 students per terminal. It appears that SUSC has already exceeded the goal that other four-yea- r colleges are attempting to reach, he said. SUSC offers a major in computer science through a bachelors degree in mathematics. It also has the first minor in computer science to be certified by the State Board of Education for students entering the teaching profession. And, Alger adds, almost every department and degree program on campus emphasizes computer literacy for its students. Since SUSC is a residential college, a large number of students work on campus, and many of them use y computers in the course of their job assignments. SUSC students, like their national counterparts, are more interested in careers than they computer-orientewere several years ago, but the college counselors are urging that they look realistically at what the field has to day-to-da- d offer. Ive had several computer specialists come into my career decisions class to talk realistically about the field, because while theres a big influx into computer activities, students must be geared into areas where the jobs are, said SUSC Counselor Bessie Dover. We tell them (the students) they shouldnt go into the field with a lot of preconceived ideas about what theyre going to do because the job they started out thinking about might not be there when they graduate. SUSC counselors, Dover says, also make a point to stress the importance of computer literacy. Everyone needs computer skills, not just those going into the industry, she says. If a person has computer skills, he or she will be a step ahead of other people in getting jobs, even in jobs we havent considered heretofore to be computer related. All students in SUSC business classes are required to take an introductory computer applications course, said Roger Hillyard, business department chairman. revised, and as Don L. Blanchard, head of the industrial education department says, No one will get through the department any longer without taking an introductory computer class. Computers are used in several of the colleges I.E. programs the computer-aide- d drafting (CAD) system, the computer-aide- d manufacturing (CAM) system and in electronics courses where students design and operate microprocessors, which Blanchard calls the heart of a computer. A computerized verticle mill, or milling machine, is also used by I.E. robot students, and a computer-operate- d is used as a materials handler in conjunction with the CAM system. The robots job, Blanchard says, is to move parts from one location to another. SUSCs ratio of 10 students to each terminal is among the most favorable to be found. processing, programming, advanced microcomputers, or machine transcription, and many of then, use the computer as a tool for problem solving, Hillyard said. At this point access is superior, the depafment chair said in regard to computet availability for the 560 declared business majors. Weve put in 40 terminals in our classrooms in the last three years and six in our business offices. Student employees, t.e said, get additional computer training m their departmental jobs. SUSCs course catalog is being Computers are also employed in the school of arts and letters, Dean Rodney D. Decker indicates, particularly in psychology courses and in word processing. In that school, too, students work with computers and terminals in their departmental jobs. Many departments on campus use computers and various software programs in addition to their regular academic programs. Participants in a weight control course, for example, are urged to use computer programs in the SUSC Library to determine the nutrients in their diets. Computers arent just number crunchers anymore, declares James M. non-cred- it Miller, dean of the SUSC School of Education. Everyone takes at least the introductory course, he says, adding that the dependency on computers is particularly heavy in the education departments elementary block program. There are a million little programs for naming states and state capitals, and there are just about as many for mathematics, geography, language arts, science and the development of reading skills, Miller says. In addition, potential teachers work with a number of software programs developed to make testing and other administrative tasks easier for educators. Naturally, the heaviest student use of computers is in the school of science which offers the majority of computer-relate- d courses. Physical Science Chairman Steven H. Heath indicates that the colleges first computer science major will, graduate this year and that many more will follow. I thought it would slow down, but I havent seen it yet, he says in regards to the heavy demand for the introductory courses. Practically everyone on campus will take Computer Science 101, he adds. Heath may be right, since registrars office statistics indicate that of the 1,081 individuals to complete C.S. coffrses fall, winter and spring quarters last year, 561 of them were enrolled in the introductory course. SUSC faculty member Merrell R. Jones has worked with computers longer than anyone on campus. Hes seen the field grow from its meager beginnings to its present status as one of the colleges most important academic areas. Jones has always been excited and enthusiastic about the possibilities of a computer-oriente- d society, but he adds, I dont think anyone could have foreseen how inexpensive and pervasive they (computers) were to become. Each year additional courses are added in computer sciences, and Jones (continued on page 11) |