» Tuesday, October 16, 1984/The Battalion/Page 7
Around town
Aggieland ’85 class pictures taken now
Freshmen and sophomores can have their class picture taken
now at the Pavilion from 8:30 p.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Junior, seniors and graduate students can avoid long lines by having
their pictures taken now at the Yearbook Associates office at 1700
South Kyle, behind Culpepper Plaza. Don’t delay in getting your pic
ture taken.
Big Event job requests accepted now
Job requests are now being accepted from the Brvan-College Sta
tion community for projects for the Big Event. Student organiza
tions wishing to volunteer for this 4-hour service project are encour
aged to pledge. Deadline for organization pledges is Nov. 1. Job
requests will still be accepted af ter that date. Contact Mark Manilla at
696-5930, or Maritza Pena at 764-0770.
Volleyball registration ends Friday
The Bryan Recreation Division will hold registration for the Fall
Co-Rec Volleyball League through Friday. The season will begin on
Oct. 29. The cost is $75 per team. For more information call the
Bryan Recreation Division at 822-4457 or come by the office at 203
E. 29th St.
Cheese and butter will be distributed
Free processed cheese and butter will be distributed today from
4 p.m. to 6 p.m. ht Lincoln Center in College Station. For more in
formation call 764-3773.
Dallas jail system
approaches crisis
United Press International
DALLAS — Increased efficiency
by local police agencies and the con
tinued unrest in overcrowded Texas
prisons have pushed the Dallas
County Jail system to the brink of its
capacity, officials said Monday.
During the weekend of Oct. 6, the
Dallas County Jail reached the
2,505-inmate limit set by the Texas
Commission, Maj. Bob Knowles of
the Sheriffs Department said.
“We’re at a near-crisis situation,”
Knowles said. “By the end of No
vember to January, we’ll hit a crisis.”
Since the Lew Sterrett Justice
Center opened in April 1983, the jail
population has increased 33 percent.
A third of that increase has occurred
since August, officials said.
State District Judge James Zim-
mermann, head of a county task
force on jail population, said the en
tire criminal justice system is back-
logged, partly because of the lack of
court activity during the Republican
National Convention.
The latest jail census, taken at
midnight Sunday, showed 642 pris
oners awaiting trial on felony
charges and 298 pending grand jury
action.
Knowles blamed the state penal
system for much of the increase
since August. He said an increasing
number of state prisoners are being
housed in county jails to ease over
crowding in the Texas Department
of Corrections.
As of Sunday, 451 of the 2,455 in
mates in the county jail were classi
fied as state prisoners. One hundred
forty-three were parole violators,
178 were convicted felons awaiting
action on subsequent cases and 57
were appealing felony sentences of
less than 10 years.
Seventy-three had been returned
from TDC on court warrants.
Dallas County transports prison
ers to TDC at least twice a week, but
Knowles said the return rate for in
mates released from TDC is about
70 percent.
“That indicates something is not
working,” Knowles said. “Whether
it’s the rehabilitation program or the
early release program cit TDC, I just
don’t know.”
Knowles conceded that Texas
prison officials have their hands full
trying to end violence in the prisons.
“At some point in time, the citi
zens are going to have to decide
whether to build more jail space or
let them (inmates) out early,” he
said. “Either way you’ve got side-ef
fects. It’s up to the citizens to decide
which course they’re going to take.”
Deputy Chief John Pempsell of
the Tarrant County Sheriffs De
partment said his county’s jail also is
full.
Alone and
We discuss all options
Confidential counseling
Free pregnancy test
1-800-392-3807
Homes of St. Mark
Houston, Texas
No religious ties
omputer software speaks in Natural English
United Press International
NEW YORK — Microdata Corp.
|ys it teaches computers to commu-
[cate in English — a trend the com-
ny predicts will be the next big
pin software.
■“Natural English” is a new
Bftware Microdata is peddling to
■sinesses. Properly programmed, it
Hows employees to communicate
nth the computer on a much more
informal basis, even to the point of
ftiisspelling words.
[Instead of using a series of techni-
J commands to ask for the salary
■ormation of employees, for in
stance, a clerk could ask the com
piler “How many people make
pore than $20,000?” or “Name the
people with salaries over $20,000.”
He'd get the correct answers,
i' Anyone in the organization can
sit down and communicate,” Gary
bl, the California company’s chief
[ecutive officer, said during a re
cent New York computer show.
Artificial intelligence systems,
sometimes called the Fifth Genera
tion of computers, are the great goal
of high-tech companies and top en
gineers here and abroad. Those sys
tems would be able to interpret in
formation in much the same way a
human does, opening up the world
of computer use to any literate
worker.
“With the advent of artificial intel
ligence, we can apply those tech
niques to put the burden on the com
puter itself to take on responsibility
for interpretation,” LiebI said.
True artificial intelligence is not
here yet. The systems Microdata and
a few other companies are devel
oping make the computer friendlier,
but still limited in what it can do and
how it can be spoken to.
The system on display at the com
puter show responded readily when
asked what Nancy Jones “does” for
the company, but could not answer
what her “job” was.
“Artificial intelligence ultimately
will lead us to things like sophisti
cated medical diagnosis, but we have
evolution rather than revolution,”
Liebl said. “We’re focusing on the
very important first steps.”
Programs like Natural English are
designed to end the frustration ev
eryone who has ever used a com
puter feels when the system fails to
respond to a command because it’s
improperly phrased. Use “get” in
stead of just “g” in some programs,
for instance, and the computer will
respond with a volley of question
marks or the terse “syntax error.”
Natural English helps the com
puter answer when the same ques
tion is phrased in a number of dif
ferent ways, even overlooking some
misspellings. .
But while programs like Natural
English make the end use of the
computer easier, there is still the ini
tial set-up process where someone
has to figure out all the complicated
calculations that will be translated by
the computer into English equiva
lents.
Liebl says the software system,
which sells for $3,000, will be an
other step toward eliminating bottle
necks that occur within companies
because only a limited number of
people are capable of dealing with
computers.
“fen years ago, suppliers were
saying that within two years every
manager would have a computer on
his desk,” he said.
Liebl said that never happened
because many middle-level employ
ees found the systems too hard to
master.
Attention General Studies
Freshmen
All First Semester freshmen in
General Studies are expected to
attend one meeting on
“Academic Survival.”
Either: Thursday Oct. 25 4:00 P.M. Rudder
Or: Friday Oct. 26 4:00 P.M. 601 Rudder
See you at one of these brief meetings for
some helpful hints on scholastic success!
Looking for LOW
and
COMPETITIVE RATES
on your INSURANCE!
needs?
How about on your tires,
batteries, gasoline and'
[various other products?
CALL
BRAZOS COUNTY
FARM BUREAU
779-4646
; 1507 S. College
Bryan, TX
3BC
3TC
£
W
VO
sA
Precision Hair Cutting
would like to send you to
Jamaica
Mexico
Aspen or
The Bahamas
The choice might be yours so come by and register
to win a free trip for two.
Texas A&M Flying Club
Regular meeting tonight at the airport
clubhouse. This meeting is for
members and anyone interested in
flying. There will be a speaker and
refreshments. For further information
call 764-7349
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HEWLETT .
PACKARD
AUTHORIZED HEWLETT-PACKARD DEALER
S09 CHURCH STREET COLLEGE STATION
SALE ENDS OCT. 18, 1984
409/846-3332
7:30
Tonight
Battalion Classified 845-2611 ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★**
The Survival Game is chess in tlae woods. Its a team
sport played wit hi men and women from all walks of life
... each carrying a CO 2 pistol that shoots paint-filled
pellets. The object is for your team to find the enemy’s
flag, hidden somewhere in the woods, and return it to
your own flag station - - while stopping the enemy from
doing: the same. A.nd you can stop the enemy with a
squeeze of a trigger and a splatter of paint.
COS T: $11.00 In t r o d u c t o ry Rate
(All Equipment and Safety Goggles Included)
Groups from one to thirty players v/elccne
RESERVATIONS/ INFO. CALL 764-1066
FFT Inc. P.0. Box 9417 College Station, TX 77840