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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 6, 1984)
Thursday, September 6, 1984/The Battalion/Page 7 Number of users more than doubles 3it( Computers up by 40 percent 11,1 By BRANDON BERRY k'er, a stnio, Reporter ma ) 0 . r 'v What do income taxes, electrical ' ll | a,l<m :ngineering, and Space Invaders M l<H| l h iave in common? How about term capers and critical-path analysis? They can all be done on a micro- ' . also ,i xtmputer. 0 n, i ( >ud The number of micro-computers >n the Texas A&M campus has I lots ,,! rrovn by more than 40 percent in h tare lit| he past year. The number of people *'"h\ kuli jsing these computers has more han doubled in the past two years. Hal Hall, director of the Special tilted tha Formats Division of the Sterling C. >n spaii! Evans Library, said the growth epit- •>etaus< rmizes the definite place of micro- nioreind :omputers in the future of Texas hies. 4&M. >tal()t,,t s “Ye are interested in promoting •n,' LiSj ;omjailing literacy — the ability to npressivt. ^et |‘rom point A to point B,” Hall said. “The possibilities of using com- iputers in education are endless and pxciting.” The micro-computer facility in the library is located on the sixth floor in the Learning Resources De partment. The computers are open to all Texas A&M students and faculty by reservation. Classes, ranging from Biology to English literature, also use the LRD regularly. The facility contains computers from Texas Instruments and Bal- cones, as well as TRS-SO’s, Apples, IBM personal computers, and an as sortment of program disks. The disks contain programs for tax preparation, critical-path analy sis, word processing, the program ming of individual programs, and many more. And even though the LRD does not offer computing literacy classes, video casettes are available which show the beginner some of the uses of the computers in the facility. An educational facility is available in the Academic Computing Center, on the first floor of the Blocker Build- ing. The ACC offers micro-computers originally designed for business analysis classes and business majors. However, ACC System Manager Larry Bowles said the system is not just for business majors anymore. “While we ask that the people in BANA classes have priorities when necessary, our computers are open to anyone,” he said. The ACC also has Tfs and an IBM personal computer, as well as Ataris, Apples, and Commodores. However, what makes the ACC different than any other computer facility at Texas A&M isn’t hard ware, software, or program disks. The ACC plays soft music, has houseplants, and provides a gener ally more aesthetic atmosphere than that found in the typical technical fa cility. “These things are my idea,” Bowles said. “I paid for them out of my own pocket. The plants and the other stuff not only make it nicer for the students, but for me as well. I have to work here.” Bowles said he sees the entire computer industry escaping from its traditional, regimented image. “The era of the plain terminal is gone,” he said. “Telecommunica tions is the new direction of the mar ket.” There are also many more com puters available than just those in the ACC and LRD. Most departments of the Univer sity have access to some kind of com puter system, be it the individual ter minals in the offices of graduate students or the vast VAX network available to some engineering stu dents. So why don’t more people use the many micro-computer services avail able? “I think more people are becom ing aware of the system and its ad vantages,” Hall said. “Eventually, when people overcome their fear of computers, the use of computers will be quite common.” ndsso.OOO Army, Air Force, Marine troops ri ward off invaders in war maneuvers United Press International EL PASO — B-52 bombers from ;he Strategic Air Command roared :mt [of Biggs Army Air Field, Fort Bliss Wednesday as part of the Gal lant'Eagle war maneuvers involving 50,OOO Army, Air Force and Marine troops. ^Hhe combat exercises simulate the invasion of a small country by a So viet-backed foreign power, with the United States intervening in behalf of the beleaguered ally. [ KaUanl Eagle is being conducted in California, Nevada and Utah. Five KC-135 tankers and 14 B-52 bomb ers are flying missions out of Biggs, Fort Bliss daily, Capt. Pam Fenner, a SAC public affairs officer said. The object of the exercises will be to simulate U.S. assistance to a ficti tious “Country of Purple,” officials said. Purple has been invaded by the “Country of Orange,” and the United States has been asked to help ward off the invaders. The pilots of the bombers at Biggs are waiting for orders to bomb the Orange strongholds in Utah and Ne vada, hoping the Army and Marines can halt the attack on Purple City (San Bernadino, Calif.), Fenner said. The five tankers, which are Boe ing 707 jets modified for militaiy purposes, left Biggs Wednesday. The fuel planes were to refuel fighter planes over the Mojave de sert as part of the plan to halt the Orange faction, Fenner said. Fenner said the exercise is de signed to simulate a war in the Tan- Iraq deserts. Part of the exercise was to train the Air Force personnel in theestab- lishment of an emergency command post near the front lines, she said. The Air Force support personnel set up the modular buildings in the desert north of Biggs Field, Fenner said. The buildings are housing 1,400 support personnel. Fenner said part of the Gallant Eagle exercise is to test the ability of the B-52s to fight a conventional war. Sequences in the war games have been controlled by a computer which tells both sides in the simu lated conflict what moves to make, Fenner said. Two gas pipelines explode, waking county United Press International FALLS CITY — Two natural gas pipelines exploded Wednesday, shooting an orange fireball 500 feet in the air and awakening residents in communities 20 miles away, officials said “We had a little explosion this morning,” said Karnes County sher- iffi dispatcher Sylvia Marabal, “and it woke up everybody in the county.” Valero Energy Corp. spokesman Mike Long said the explosion oc curred at abrtut 2:45 a.m. Wednes day at the Valero-Hobson regulating plant near Falls City, about 40 miles southeast of San Antonio. There were no injuries and no in terruption of gas service, he said. Valero technicians closed the pipe lines at about 4 a.m., but the fire continued burning until sunrise, consuming gas still in the lines. Long said damages were limited to sections of a 24-inch pipeline, a 20-inch pipeline — both of vhich supplied gas to San Antonio —• seve ral valves, cleaning facilities and me ter sheds. Witnesses said the explosion sent an orange fireball into the air, pro duced flames that reached 500 feet and started several brush fres that were quickly extinquished. The con cussion was felt throughott Karnes County. “It sounded like a big truck going through your home. You could read a newspaper outside, it was so bright,” said Glynn Frazier, who lives only a half mile from the blast scene. Falls City Fire Marshal Gerald Se- kula said the intense heat initially kept firefighters a quarter-mile from the scene. 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