Newspaper Page Text
The Red and Black
Tuesday. Januare 22, IMU
Opinion
It’s time for computer majors to stand up, be counted
”/n the annals of University administration
incompetence, /ew bunglfngs con compare to
the currant handling of the Univereity’e
computer tcience program
That was the lead sentence ot the in
stitutional editorial in The Red and Black on
Oct 13,1983 When I first saw it, I thought that
then-editor Mike Tidwell may have been
jumping too hard on people, and jumping to
conclusions as well
I was wrong
One of the University's largest degree
programs literally was dying, choked by a
massive influx of students while starved to
death for faculty members And, quietly for the
most part, students were watching it go under
I'm pleased to say that computer science at
the University is recovering, but much remains
to be done before it can become the “excellent"
kind of program some ijl-informed upper-level
University officials may already envision it to
be
First it has to become a simply "good”
program
At this University, like at others, a depart
ment’s well-being is most accurately expressed
not In how well-funded it is, but in how lightly
underfunded it is. Everyone wants more money
to improve his or her department But I
challenge anyone to find a more severely un
derfunded degree program here tlian computer
science, especially considering how many
students' careers are hanging in its balance
And the fallout from problems in computer
science affects tar more than the two-plus
computer science majors It afects the hun
dreds of non-majors who wisely choose to take
electives in computer science to enhance their
job marketability. It also affects the at
tractiveness of the Athens area and the entire
state to high-tech Industries and the jobs they
bring
IBM, for example, is holding a tract of land in
west Athens which it could develop as a plant
However, computer science instructors here
who are former IBM employees have said that.
at the very least, they think the problems with
the University’s computer science program
are not encouraging IBM
That would probably be an understatement,
considering how our state's low taxes, ex
cellent transportation facilities, and growing
Sunbelt economy should be able to attract
industry Even Gov Joe Frank Harris is
beginning to realize that statewide back
wardness in education casts a big blot on an
otherwise attractive development picture
And few things are more in need of
development than the University's computer
science program
The numbers are still grim There are more
than 900 students and only eight full-time
faculty members. Students must lake classes
containing no fewer than 40 students, and
usually closer to 100, even at the senior level
Instructors cannot do research because of
full teaching loads with class sizes which are
the highest at the University and three to four
times what is recommended by the Board of
Regents The curriculum is so poorly organized
that the University attempts to teach four
different programming languages in four
consecutive quarters of study to many
students, something that no sensible foreign
language department would ever try to do And
some of the most up-to-date topics in computer
science are available only in independent
study
Last year, arguably, the program hit rock
bottom The University's student chapter of the
Association for Computing Machinery did a 17-
college, six-state survey in October 1983 which
showed the University was on top of the heap in
overcrowding Instructors were leaving for
better pay and lower class loads elsewhere,
raising concern that the entire program would
fall apart Many of those who stayed grumbled
about the fact that the computer science and
statistics programs were joined, even though
computer science undergraduate majors
outnumber statistics majors 30 to 1 To add
insult to injury, the department head and all
but one of the tenured faculty members were in
statistics, and statistics had graduate
programs that computer science lacked
Rusty Cart mill
The University finally split the statistics and
computer science departments last August
For the first time, there is now someone whose
job is to work only on behalf of the 934 computer
science majors here as of Fall, 1984 Robert
Robinson, head of the new Department of
Computer Science, has said that he wants to
add three new faculty positions each year over
the next five years and get class sizes down to
the national average
But even a modest plan like that will have
trouble making it through the budgeting
process intact
On the plus side, the University has made
great improvements in making computer
equipment available to undergraduates during
the past three years We have gone from using
19!>0s era card punch machined to having so
many terminals linked to the MUSIC computer
system that dorm residents are often found in
nearby computer rooms playing BATTLESHIP
or ADVENTURE Waiting time is now prac
tically nonexistent
But instruction capabilities simply have not
kept pace This partly may be explained by the
administration's structure, which has the man
responsible for equipment purchases as a
special assistant to University President Fred
Davison, while Dr Robinson is three levels
below Davison
It would also go far to explain why President
Davison has had a lot to say about the
University's new supercomputer, the Cyber
205. but precious little to say about the situation
in computer science instruction
The University now finds itself in the absurd
situation of having one of the best com
putational research facilities in the country ,
but an undergraduate program in computer
science that doesn't even rank near the top 50
Some might argue that a state the size of
Georgia does not have the resources to support
computer science programs at all its large
universities However, the programs here, at
Georgia State University, and at Georgia Tech
each have nearly 1,000 students And whde the
programs at Tech and State have much lower
student/faculty ratios than at the University,
the sheer size of all the programs can only
mean one thing, computer science is a very
popular major
Maybe computer science students know a
thing or two about the "real world" that
legislators and people in some north campus
departments would like to forget
The more I look into the computer science
program here, the more I become convinced
that the problems are not caused by any in
competence on the part of the faculty mem
bors Most are outstanding young men and
women who could be hired at much higher
rates at other universities or in private in
dustry
Many of them do leave Of the eight full-time
faculty members now teaching computer
science, only one has tenure One For an entire
university
And probably the most amazing thing about
it all is how quiet students have been A senior-
level computer science major will have seen
his tuition rise from $228 to $469 per quarter in
his time here, but will have gotten no relief
from overcrowded classes Freshmen,
sophomores and juniors are still facing the
same overcrowded, antiquated conditions,
where class sizes start at 75 to 1(10 and never
thin out
Organizations like the University s student
chapter of the Association for Computing
Machinery. a national professional
organization for computer scientists, have
THE RED AND BLACK
Established 1893 — incorporated I9HI)
Harry Montevideo, General Manager
Clarice Makemson, Editor-in-chief
Janies Kendley, Managing Editor
• MHU
4o independent • I os*#nr newspaper not affiliate,t with Itit University «•/ Georgia
Today's opinion page fs devoted to the many problems and
disappointments in the University's Computer Science program.
Response letters to this page are welcome.
A high-tech wreck
The University’s computer science program is one of the most
underfunded, understaffed and overpopulated programs to grace
the pages of an OpSTAR handbook in many years. As the world
hurls headfirst towards highly advanced technology, the
University’s computer science program remains antiquated
The job market for computer science majors is good — and
getting better. And even those who aren’t majors, but have some
working knowledge of computers and computer languages, stand
a better chance of landing a job today than those who don’t
However, in this age of technological know-how, the Univer
sity’s computer program remains ill-prepared
Although the University is one of the top 50 research institutions
in the country, money, equipment and teachers cannot be fourid
for its computer program
If the University is to keep pace with the rest of the major
learning institutions in the country and with the rate of
technological advance, some serious changes need to be made in
the computer department
tried diplomatically to tell the administration
that something needs to be done But the
membership and meeting attendance for this
worthwhile group is not even a tenth of the
number of computer science majors out there
Clearly there is an untapped well of student
opinion, and untapped potential for con
structive change that comes with it.
At a recent ACM meeting, Dr. Robinson said
that students who are interested in helping him
improve the situation in computer science can
direct polite but to-the-point letters to Gov
Harris (State Capitol, Atlanta. 30334) and
President Davison (570 Prince Ave , Athens.
30601I to be most effective
Dr Robinson deserves our support,
especially from computer science students or
anyone wishing to take a class in computer
science
Over the long term, the computer science
program may have to split into its own
professional school (like they already have at
Georgia Techi, and tighten admissions
requirements To gain and maintain
credibility, it also will have to be accredited in
the future
But first there has to be a future
In reporting about the computer science
situation last year and this year, I sensed that
changes would come slowly This year’s
sophomores and juniors would even be well
advised to change majors or seriously consider
other universities Last year most of the
planning took place; this year the ad
ministrative framework is in place and next
year, and beyond, if students raise their voices
loudly enough and the state hears them, more
faculty members, equipment and classes can
be added and the rebuilding of the University's
computer science program can start
Fmallv
Rusty Cartmill is editorial page editor of The
Red and Blach and a senior in computer
science
RSJ3 to hold
workshops
tonight for new
writers
The Red and Black will hold writer's
workshops tonight and on Jan 29 The
workshops will be held in room 504 of
the journalism building at 7 p m and
are open to anyone interested in writing
for The Red and Black Attendance at
one or both of the workshops is required
for those who wish to write for us. No
previous experience is necessary All
majors are encouraged to participate;
the workshops are not limited to jour
nalism and pre-journalism majors
Each workshop will take an hour to an
hour and a half Please come prepared
with a pen and pencil We look forward
to seeing as many smiling faces as the
room w ill hold
Letters policy
The Red and Black welcomes letters
to the editor and prints them as space
permits Letters may be edited for
space, clarity, or libelous material To
be considered for publication, letters
must be typed, double-spaced, on a 60-
space line They must include the
name, address, and telephone number
of the writer
We can omit your name in print for a
valid reason on request Short letters
are preferred
CS enrollment justifies new school
Editorial: 543-1809
ChttfCapy Editor Andy Smith
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Contributions
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aaltVtraueaooffice <kM'MM7H
II you want to design a crane or steams hovel you
hire a mechanical engineer; If you want lo imple
ment a large-scale computer program, you hire a
systems engineer You expect that they received
their training from experienced engineers who have
built steamshovels or who have designed computer
systems. You pay for the skills, and you expect lo get
what you pay for
In 1969 one of our graduate students i a "hacker" as
we would say today) accused me of teaching 1965
style techniques That deflated my ego and, ever
since. I made sure that I acquired the skills that are
needed to keep the instructional program up-to-date
To this day, even as I am in my sixties, I spend
perhaps 50 hours or more per month to retain my
authority as a teacher of future systems engineers
and computer scientists.
Until 1981, the computer science program in the
Department of Statistics and Computer Science kept
up its responsible instructional policies, but was
seriously understaffed We enlisted the help of ex
perienced instructors from other departments,
especially from the Computer Center. After a new
department head (Dr Lynne Billardi was given the
authority, though, to do considerable additional
staffing, only two faculty members with advanced
degrees in computer science were hired Ph D
candidates who wanted to pursue a computer science
doctorate after 1968 or so had ample opportunity to
obtain their degree in this discipline, so why should
the University designate as computer scientists
people who had their degrees in other fields and no
industrial experience?
The new faculty members, often foreign-trained,
were assigned to the teaching of computer science
courses when they were in the earliest stages of
retraining The department head did not even
hesitate to rewrite the course content to justify such
premature assignments Protests remained
unheeded Many of these faculty members are doing
outstanding research — in mathematics; shouldn't
that be done in the Department of Mathematics’
It became a standing joke that students had to get
help from the Users' Support Group in the computer
center to do their assignments Class sizes were
ordered to be near too, even in advanced skills
Dr. Rolf Baryniann
courses in Operating Systems, so that the faculty
could be reported as doing “Two-thirds leaching and
one-third research" when, in reality, they had an
effective load three to (our times the size of any full
time teacher according to Regents formulas
Graduate assistants were designated as "teaching
faculty" immediately on their arrival, before they
had learned enough English or computer science to
be of any help to students
This fall the Department of Statistics and Com
puter Science was split into two parts, a wrong move
since only insignificant additional support has been
granted.
How could such outrage be committed on our
students? In my opinion the main reason is the ab
sence of a vice president of Instruction We have vice
presidents for many ancillary activities but none to
whom faculty and students could turn for help if a
department head is permitted to make a travesty of
instructional programs, and unflinchingly supported
by the dean
Our resources, in computer science instruction and
research, are considerable With the great demand
for the new skills they should be combined in a
professional school that can set the standards of
instruction and research more appropriately and
introduce a philosophy of administration that is
shaped after modern engineering management,
rather that after medieval monasteries as is the case
now in the College of Arts and Sciences It would take
too long for the administration in the College of Arts
and Sciences to change its value system to appreciate
the work chareteristic of successful engineers
Also, with such a generous amount of donations
given to our University, should not some funds be
available to give the computer science faculty,
especially the non-tenured ones, full-time summer
research support and to recognize as full-time
leaching during the academic year that which is
more than full-time teaching, by any fair definition' 1
have so many professional schools for areas in
which fewer students are enrolled
The University is committed to strong research
projects, in cooperation with the Center for Advanced
Computational Methods, and such research would
create new jobs Can we really afford to deprive our
faculty and students of this opportunity by leaving
them in a college whose administration is in no way
equal to the task of keeping even a decent managerial
philosophy to permit such exciting progress’ I feel
like a non-commissioned officer on a military base
The students should refer this matter to the owner
of the University, the people of the state of Georgia
You must reconstitute your student government ever
though it does not do your class a bit of good
Autocratic administrators will never admit errors ir
policy, even if they realize that they may be wrong —
but the practices will stop The class of 1990 will be
grateful to you
There is this story about three men in a lifeboat
one lotes a gun, the second is busy getting water oul
“ the leaky boat, the third is the one who built the
boar The boat is still sinking; one must be pusher
overboard The difference between this and the
current situation in computer science is that it is the
gun-toter who causes the boat to sink by shootinj
holes into it. Isn’t it time that we went after those whe
supply the ammunition and the gun, and who have the
authority to stop the dilemma by simply saying
“You cannot do that?"
But this will be a very long process, too long to war
tor this University to provide an exciting and credible
instructional program in computer science f
professional school seems to be the immediate an
swer
Rolf Bargmann wat the University'» Sandy Bea
Profotor of statistic* and Computer Science ft
JM8-IM4 and is a founding /acuity member in
university s computer science program. He i
teaches classes In both the statistics and comp.
science departments