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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 13, 1962)
THE BATTALION College Station, Texas Thursday, September 13, 1962 College, NASA Join Forces To Conduct Moon Research Research that may lead to de veloping an instrument capable of analyzing the elemental composi tion of the moon’s surface is un derway here sponsored by the Na tional Aeronautics and Space Ad- ,ministration and the Division of Isotope Development, Atomic En ergy Commission. To conduct the study an $84,800 grant from NASA, supplementing an AEC grant of $125,000, has been made to Dr. Richard Wain- erdi, director of the Activation Analysis Research Labortaory. The first year’s activity on this project is aimed at determining- feasibility of remote automatic neutron activation analysis tech niques for learning the elemental composition of the moon... It will involve use of A&M’s nuclear re actor and the Data Processing Center by the Activation Analysis Research Laboratory. Approximately 27 research en gineers, scientists and graduate students will work on the project being conducted for NASA’s of fice of lunar and planetary re search and the AEC’s isotope de- I velopment division. The project will include devel oping a prototype of a miniatur ized analyzing instrument as well as formulating samples of artifi cial moon material—based on best estimates of probable lunar ele ments—for trail analysis. “The grant for this project is based on techniques for computer- coupled automatic activation anal ysis which were developed in the Activation Analysis Research Lab oratory under sponsorship of the DID-AEC during the past three years,” Wainerdi said. n hi b « h ininrinnnriTrir rirffinrrirTrinri Welcome Aggies! ★ VARSITY ★ BARBER SHOP Across From the North Gate Campus College Station Centennial Staged This covered wagon, pictured during a parade in downtown Bryan, was only one of a host of activities here over the summer during Bryan’s centennial observance. Other activ ities included a “Gallant Men of Texas” pageant, the selec tion of a Centennial Queen, beard-growing and fiddling con tests and an antique car race. Computer Science Program Opens Here For Graduates A graduate program in com puter science will formally get underway here this fall. The new graduate program, de signed for men with bachelor de grees in engineering, mathematics or physics, will lead to a Master of Computer Science degree. Working with the new program in the Department of Industrial Engineering will be Robert L. Smith Jr., head of the Data Proc essing Center. The new program—one of the first of its type in the South— was formally approved last spring by the Texas Commission on High er Education. Up to .20 graduate students a year will be accepted in the new program. Smith said many indus tries are calling for computer science graduates and the Army, Navy and Air Force are interested in sending selected officers to en ter the program. Focal point of the new graduate degree program will be the Data Processing Center, which is packed with more than $4 million worth of computer equipment. Curriculum for a master of com puter science degree includes grad uate courses in numerical analy sis, computer methods, computer languages, numerical methods in differential equations, computer methods in applied sciences and logic of information processing. Data Processing Adds Tape System Installation of an additional computer tape system in the Data Processing Center has quadrupled the speed of magnetic tape com puting capabilities here. Addition of the IBM 1401 — a tape oriented, completely transis torized computer with 4,000 digit storage capacity — permits the Data Processing Center to increase capabilities of its IBM 709, said Robert L. Smith Jr., head of the multi-million dollar computer cen ter. “It speeds up our input and out put of magnetic tapes by a factor of four to one,” he- commented, adding that satellite equipment for the 1401 vastly increases the efficiency of the 709’s capabilities. Since its establishment in 1958, the Data Processing Center, oper ated by the Texas Engineering Experiment Station, has become a focal-point of activity for both education and research. Valuable Equipment It is packed with high speed computers and related equipment that is valued at more than $4 million. Only three other schools have comparable facilities — Mas sachusetts Institute of Technolo gy, the University of California and the University of Washing ton. In addition to the IBM 709 and the newly-installed IBM 1401, the center also has a $250,000 DYS- TAC analog computer that is highly important to meteorological research on campus. While it does work for virtually every research department at A&M, the center is also kept busy with computing projects contract ed through the Texas Engineering Experiment Station by public util ities, the petroleum industry and the federal government. Some 40 full-time employees are required for operation of the cen ter—key punch operators who per forate the cards used in program ming the work of computers, pro grammers, tabulating equipment, operators, computer specialists and supervisory personnel. Star performer of the Center is the 709 tha^ consists of 21 units capable of reading and writing at a rate of 15,000 characters per second. Simultaneously it com putes information at the rate of 40,000 arithmetical operations per second. The IBM 1401 will be used ex tensively in industrial engineering courses in data processing, espe cially for the new graduate pro gram in computer sciences just established here. Along with the addition of the 1401 data processing system is the 1402 Card Reader and Punch. It can punch cards at a rate of 250 cards per minute or two and a half times any previous machine here. It reads information moi’e than three times faster than what was used previously, Smith said. The 1403 Printer will make in formation available four times faster, printing 600 lines per min ute with 132 characters per line, he added. Maui Si reel Through Brym\ Now Repaved | £ Students wandering innuBi ly into Bryan will be v surprised to find a longsBj.jj of the city’s Main Street and repaved. the Work on the project pi n ‘ June 6 and was concluded tvOi £ the last week of August, | ithai The street was widened I gue walks were repaved and and parking spaces were piM en ] ed in the middle of the JL..., In addition, parking »| were not re-installed at thei of a group of downtown; chants. They may be inslt later but the city is presi experimenting with permanc doing aw ay with the metm The construction, whiclt $130,000, was a part of ant all paving project in thedi town area sponsored jointl; the city and merchants. Welcome Aggiel DO-NUT & COFFEE SHOP Complete Fountain Service OPEN 6:00 A.M.—l :00 A.M. 3312 S. College Ave. Air Conditioned HAMBURGERS — SANDWICHES — MALTS NEW THIS YEAR To relieve a badly overcrowded situation in our text book department - % which is doing a volume more than double that done the first year (1955-56) it was moved to its present quarters - we have moved ALL Freshman text books to the lounge in Legett Hall. Here, courteous attendants will assist you in selecting your books from open stock or in locating your lay-a-way package. In minutes you can be on your way. Legett Hall is adjacent to the Exchange Store Building. ^Jhe ^Ixcixcinae .St ore In Its Fifty Fifth Year of Serving Texas Aggies' ratii J Dr soda 1955, to th Th t)r. Hrad Ba dutk the ]