Page 4/The Battalion/Tuesday, May 3, 1983
B-CS students develop computer
skills to meet state requirements
by Mary Jo Rummel
Battalion Reporter
The galactic cruiser travels
across the sky on its way home to
earth after escaping the dangers
of the star Fields.
This isn’t a preview of the
latest science-fiction movie. Nor
is it the latest arcade game. It’s
Galaxy Math — one of the Apple
computer programs used by the
Lamar School fifth grade classes
in Bryan.
Galaxy Math is everyone’s
favorite for practicing math,
according to Johnny Mendez,
11.
When the player quickly and
correctly answers the problem,
he helps his rocket advance to
the home planet. If he misses an
equation, his rocket can be
blown out of computer space by
a drifting star.
Computers have worked
their way into the classroom
almost as quickly as they have
become a part of the home.
Pilot programs have used
computers in remedial educa
tion drills and practices, and
simple programming has been
taught in student enrichment
programs, but computers are
now becoming an integral part
of the everyday classroom.
The Texas State Board of
Education eventually will re
quire computer literacy as part
of the minimum graduation re
quirements for Texas public
high schools. Specific require
ments are planned by the Board
of Education, but the official de
finition of computer literacy will
not be available until 1984.
During a recent meeting of
the Texas Computer Education
Association, members defined
computer literacy as “awareness,
exposure and use of computer
vocabulary and a general know
ledge of the disadvantages and
advantages of computers,”
Bryan ISD Computer Education
Supervisor Sue Ann Lambert
said.
“The purpose of computer
classes is to prepare students for
the world they will be entering
when they graduate,” Lambert
added.
Matt Medlox, College Station
Consolidated High School math
teacher, said, “Students should
become familiar with thejargon,
possibly know at least one (com
puter) language and get hands-
on experience on the machine.”
Medlox teaches the computer
math class at Consolidated.
“They will need to know how
to use the software packages that
will help them in their job. Most
won’t be programming them-
jselves,” Medlox said.
School districts across the
state offer different programs
ranging from grade school
through high school math and
programming classes. But some
schools arejust beginning to join
in the trend toward computers.
The Apple computers are the
most popular for the classroom
because the system is easy to
learn, Lambert said. She added
that other systems are used suc
cessfully in other school dis
tricts.
As part of last month’s Bryan
School Board resolution for
computer literacy by the seventh
grade, literacy classes will begin
as early as kindergarten in the
fall.
In the College Station Inde
pendent School District the
computets support regular in
struction in the classroom, Dire
ctor of Curriculum Mike Owen
said.
Students in third grade
through high school use the
computers to supplement regu-
As part of last month’s
Bryan School Board re
solution for computer
literacy by the seventh
grade, literacy classes
will begin as early as kin
dergarten in the fall.
lar class instruction, he said.
In conjunction with the gifted
and talented program, 23 Con
solidated students are learning
the LOGO programming lan
guage at the University. The stu
dents, in turn, will teach ex
perimental peer instruction clas
ses this summer.
Norman W. Naugle, a Texas
A&M mathematics professor,
teaches the students at the
Learning Resources Center in
Sterling C. Evans Library.
“LOGO is a good first lan
guage to learn because it teaches
good programming habits and
allows the student creative free
dom,” Naugle said.
College Station students in
office education classes use com
puter systems in business opera
tions.
The BISD jumped into the
computer age in 1971 when data
processing classes were first
offered to Bryan High students.
The terminals were connected
to a computer main frame in
Houston by telephone lines.
BISD has added 152 micro
computer's to the main line com
puter and word processors in
the office education classes,
Lambert said. Fifty-six more
microcomputers have been
ordered for next year. Thirteen
of the new computers will go
into a lab at Stephen F. Austin
Junior High and 15 will go to
ward a computer lab at Bryan
High. The rest of the equipment
will be distributed among the
other schools in the district.
This is the third year the mic
rocomputers hav£ been in ser
vice and the district is getting
higher quality software, Lam
bert said.
Through.the use of federal
and local funds, the district has
invested $200,840 in the micro
computers and software.
Each classroom at Lamar
School in Bryan has three com
puters, said Beverly Malazzo, a
fifth grade teacher at Lamar.
“(The computers) really are a
treat for the students,” Malazzo
said. “It gives them a chance to
practice, for instance, their mul
tiplication drills; there are also
some decision-making processes
built into the programs.”
The students aren’t afraid of
the computers at all, Lambert
said.
“I think the video games kind
of warmed them up,” she said. “I
think that, at first, the teachers
are more afraid than the stu
dents are.”
Bryan teachers must have 15
hours of computer training be
fore computers are installed in
their classrooms. They are given
hands-on experience and are
taught how to evaluate the soft
ware they will use in their clas
srooms.
This is the first year Medlox
has taught the computer math
class.
“The class is an application of
what (students) can use, mainly
business-related problems,” he
said.
Several students have
machines at home and want to
learn more about them, Medlox
added.
Most Texas school districts —
including Bryan — divide com
puter classes into three main
classifications: computer litera
cy, which is the history and voca
bulary of computers; computer
assisted instruction, which util
izes computers for drill and
aractice in classes such as math,
anguage, arts and science; and
specialized classes, such as prog
ramming and data processing.
The beginning elementary
classes will be set up on a unit
system to teach young children
computer awareness, history
and general advantages and dis
advantages.
Data processing and vocation
al office education classes teach
students about the equipment
students may use when they gra
duate. Business education clas
ses use computers for account
ing, finance and bookkeeping,
Lambert said.
Programming classes teach
the different languages such as
LOGO, BASIC, COBOL and
FORTRAN.
The Bryan student enrich
ment program begins simple
programming in the LOGO lan
guage as early as eighth grade,
Lambert said.
Summer Student Enrichment
short courses teach simple prog
ramming in the basic language
for students entering in the
seventh, eighth and ninth
grades in the fall.
“Computers are becoming
such a big part of our lives — it is
important for young people to
be prepared,” Lambert said.
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Professor gets Silver Medal A ward
I H
Edward J. Romieniec, professor of architecture
vironmental design at Texas A&.-M, has been awardeiBBy"
Silver Medal from Tau Sigma Delta, the national
ture honor society. ^
The Silver Medal recognizes outstanding serviceiiw °
fields of architecture and the allied arts. Romieniec is | re ‘
first to receive the award from the Texas A&M chaptaPB 1
Tau Sigma Delta, which is the largest of 27 chaptersk® 11
1H
nation.
Romieniec, former dean of the College of ArchitmM
has taught at Texas A&M for almost 25 years. He has®"
taught at Oklahoma State University and Columbia It
sity.
Eighty-three new members were initiated into thestoEy
during the same meeting. To he eligible for membenkr!, 1 ’
student must at least be a junior and be in the top20per(#j ‘
of his class.
Annual Florida! Scramble golf gat
|]
The 11th annual alumni, faculty and staff golf tournar.
the Florida Scramble, has been scheduled for May IJjT"
The entry fee is $70, which includes a S35 contributiomoj
golf team and a $35 registration fee. The game is sponsi'H
by the Association of Former Students. Registrationfoi*^
which must be completed by May 6, are available at wy
association office in the MSC. . B,
The 36-hole game places entrants in teams of fourtoB,
members. Each team member tees off and then thepla jf en!
decide which ball landed in the best position fortheiB
shot. Each player then places his ball in that position to jt as
his next shot. This procedure is followed until someonelijk
the ball into the hole. The number of strokes used by the 0Ul ,
person to complete the hole is the team’s score forthatf “\y
A banquet, costing $ 15 a person, will be held Fridayi«J| n
for the participants, and a Saturday barbecue will be heBy
the golf course for $6.50. Tournament souvenirs a« e
special women’s program also will be available. f (
reel
If you have an announcement or item to submit fori;]
column, come by The Battalion office in 216 ReedMcl
nald or contact Cheryl Burke at 845-2611.
Police beat
The following incidents were
reported to the University Police
Department from April 2?9 to
May 1.
ARREST:
•A student for DWI on South
Bizzell Street on April 30.
THEFTS:
•A 1983 Texas A&M class
ring from Hotard Hall.
•Four rear bicycle tires from
Moser Hall bicycle rack.
BURGLARY:
Correction
• Room 201A in the(
try Building. ThedoomHii
ed in and an Apple 11coiw5
terminal, an Epson pr are
other equipment wastaljab
CRIMINAL MISCHIKc
•A 1981 Datsun SSOZXfc
Cain Hall parking kfli
walked on, T-tops vveretwi;
and other damage wasrajo
the body of the car. firr
•A 1978 Fiat in parkme:
had the air let outofilstfflh
Hi
ttioi
isw
|rtl
A story in Friday’s Battalion
incorrectly identified the person
who drew the plans for the
senior class gift. Jim Vanden-
berg, who is a student here, de
signed the eternal flame. War
ren Llado, who withdre*
the University this sei
drew the construction
I
The Battalion
regril
Budget, betting \
reviewed by //out
United Press International
AUSTIN — The House this
week begins consideration of a
two-year, $30.9 billion budget
proposal from the Appropria
tions Committee. Conspicuous
by its absence from the budget is
a pay raise for teachers.
Other top legislative issues in
clude an expected House debate
on a bill to legalize pari-mutuel
horse race wagering and the dif
ferences between House and
Senate versions of a proposed
constitutional amendment that
would create a construction
fund for schools outside the
University of Texas and Texas
A&M systems.
Originally, the House voted
to appropriate $75 million to the
fund annually, while the Senate
wants to spend $125 million a
year. A total of 25 colleges would
benefit from the fund.
The $30.9 billion budget re
commendation the Appropria
tions Committee approved last
week carries the same total price
tag as that already passed in the
Senate but specifies different
amounts to different prof*
Neither proposal offen
increase for teachers,
Gov. Mark White’s ini*
they be given a 24 percem 1
Also, last week theSen*
came the first house oftl*
islature in 50 years to
horse racing bill. It wool
wagering only withappro c
statewide referendum
county option elections.
A similar measure has
in the House Urban ;
Committee, where eight!
tors pledged earlier in It*
sion to oppose any efforts
alize gambling.
However, at least one,f
Edwards, D-Houston, W
he may change his n#
allow the measure topn
the House floor.
The bill’s House
Speaker pro tern Hugo
ga, said he thinks th'
member House willappm
bill, although he predi
very close vote. But Be’
also said that with just a
left in the session, action
bill needs to be taken
Now you know
United Press International
Camel fighting, in which one
animal tries to suffocate its
opponent by knocking it down
and lying on its head.orm
thousands of years ago bum
is practiced only in Turhf
*
1
I