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Show Take Note: 5 Wednesday, Sept. 28,2005 The president of the Population Institute will speak to students at 3 p.m. in the TSC Ballroom. 797-1769 features@statesman.usu.edu It isn't all swiping cards . BY LIZ LIVINGSTON Staff Writer Being a computer lab consultant may not ; appear to be the most exciting job on campus. .However, according to three consultants in three •different labs, the job is not as simple as swiping 'cards and taking care of printouts. Aside from making sure computers run : smoothly, handling the printer and making sure •everyone has a turn, consultants also have to } deal with what students bring in and out of the labs. •; "Cell phones are our number one complaint : and if somebody is talking too loud, we need to jask them to take it out of the lab," Al Lambert, •consultant at the TSC computer lab and senior ;in history and political science, said. TSC consultants are not alone with their cell | phone woes. Becky Bagwell, a consultant from !the Business Building computer lab, said cell ; phones are their biggest problem. "We just ask them to take it outside and let them know they are disturbing the other students. Sometimes it's awkward because you're like 'Oh, what if it's important? What if it's their mom?'" she said. Other than being asked to put away their cell phones, students have also been asked to get rid of food. "There was this guy once who tried to bring in a whole ton of food; it was like a whole meal," Lambert said. "I just couldn't believe he was trying to bring in that much food." Bagwell said students are typically asked to leave their food at the front desk or take it outside if it is obviously going to create a mess like potato chips would. One other major concern the labs share is students not wanting to take responsibility for their printouts. "Many times someone will print something and have forgotten to put their name on it, so they will print another copy and not want to pay for the first one," Lambert said. "Then the student will say how it's not fair and I will politely reply back asking what their point of reference is, because we ask everyone to pay for all their printouts." When being hired as a lab consultant, several key attributes are looked for other than being able to just turn on a computer. "My boss was looking for someone who was personable and self motivated," said Brionne Thompson, consultant in the Young Education Technology Center and senior in dual early childhood and elementary education. Having self motivation is key in having a job at the YETC lab because of all the new programs you have to learn, she said. Lambert said, "If you don't have customer service skills, you're not going to be able to get your job done." One of Bagwell's coworkers had to use her customer service skills to ask a couple to stop making out in the corner of the computer lab, she said. The coworker didn't want to say anything because it was an awkward situation, but had to go talk to them anyway, she said. Many consultants are either asked to or just take the initiative to learn more about the different programs the students use in the labs. Thompson said she often finds herself learning a newer program that she's not familiar with when she has the spare time. "Over the summer, I did a lot in the multimedia lab so I could become more familiar with the software," she said. Lambert also found herself having to learn more about Macintosh computers, which she had originally been told were "horrible, evil computers." She now spends a great deal of time on them doing various types of graphics work, she said. • LAB WORKERS seepage 7 Professor wields crossbows BY DEVIN FELIX Staff Writer Dan Watson may be the only person you will ever meet who hand-makes and sells crossbows around the world. He also dresses up in medieval armor and participates in battles. But he'd rather talk to you about computers the teaching he has done here at Utah State for the past twelve years. Watson began his career studying electrical engineering. He went to work for the U.S. Navy on the Tomahawk Cruise Missile project. "Most of the work that I did there was not associated with electrical engineering, it was associated with software," Watson said. Working with the computers on Navy ships brought some challenges. "You have to understand that with software that's running on ships in the Navy, you can't replace the computers very often. It's not uncommon to have 20- or 30-year-old computers sitting out there. I found myself writing code for 128 kilobytes of magnetic core memory, just completely outdated technology even at the time, but you had to make it work efficiently." He soon found he enjoyed the challenge of making old technology function at a high level. "I fell in love with the idea of programming the computer at a level that really made the computer work efficiently," Watson said. That challenge got him interested in further pursuing computer science. Contrary to what many people think, computer science is all about creativity, according to Watson. "The big misconception is that computer science is cut and dried-that there's no creativity involved. That is completely false. When you sit down to write a program, you have, on one side of your brain, the problem, and, on the other side of your brain, a solution toward that problem," he said. Trying to bridge that gap between the solution and the problem is a creative act. More than any other major that I can think of, the computer scientist's job is to There are 11 open access computer labs on campus. All of the labs are available to students and free with a valid USU student ID Education Building Graphic by Jessica Alexander Content by Steve Shinney and Emma Tippetts Room 170 Phone 797-3377 76 computers Monday 7:30 to 7 p.m Tues-Tnurs 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday: 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Sunday Ag Science Building Room 119 Phone 797-3489 34 computers Mon-Thur 8 a.m. to 9:45 p.m. Friday 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Sunday 1:30 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. Merrill-Cazier Library Phone 797-2909 More than 200 computers total ir two labs Mon-Thur 7 a.m. to 11:45 p.m. Friday 7 a.m. to 6:45 p.m, Saturday 9 a.m. to 5:45 p.m Sunday Noon to 11:45 p.m. Industrial Science • ^ — — — — - • - - •V-- n Taggart Student Center Room 101 Phone 797-1382 89 Computers Mqn-Thur 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday 7 a.m. to 8:45 p.m. Saturday 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Closed Sunday Old Main Room 229 Phone 797-1450 50 computers Mon-Fri 7 a.m to 12:30 p.m. Saturday 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Sunday 2:30 to 10:30 p.m. Room 008 Phone: 797-2076 41 computers Mon-Thur 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. F \ UR Graphics Lab Room 101 Phone 797-2495 64 computers Mon-Thur 8 p.m. to 10:45p.m Friday 8p.m. to 7:45 p.m. Saturday 10a.m. to 4:45p.m. Sunday p.m. to 10:45p.m. IH Family Life Room 201 Phone 797-3607 23 computers Mon-Thur 7 a.m. to 9:45 p.m. Friday 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Saturday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Business Building Rooms 105 107 109 113 118 Phone 797-2269 More than 200 computers Mon-Thur 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Friday 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Engineering Room 305 Phone 797-3098 153 computers Mon - Fri 7 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. Saturday 10 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Sunday 2:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m •WATSON see page 7 |