Stephen F Austin State University - Stone Fort Yearbook (Nacogdoches, TX)

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V omputers From the first unit re- cord equipment, in- stalled in 1959 to handle administrative account- ing and registration, to CP6, installed in 1981 to handle academic as well as accounting needs, to over 600 personal com- puters currently in use, SFA continues to ride the wave of the computer in- formation age. riot only has the com- puterization of SFA in- creased its administra- tive efficiency, it has also increased its educational capabilities. For exam- ple, students may use the computer center, the Fergusion writing lab and McQee Building comput- er lab to improve a va- riety of education skills. In addition to these labs, several departments are making use of the com- puter as an educational tool. Agriculture, art, communication, educa- tion, home ecomomics, forestry, and math are just a few of the depart- ments with personal computers (PCs) avail- able for student use and instruction. The art departement introduces its students to the PC through ad design classes taught by Peter Lisienski. Lisienski says the computers are used on a very basic level. However, Lisenski ' s ad design class produced an entire magazine using the PC and student art work. The class sold all the advertising and used the PC for all the layout and design and typeset- ting, similar to the way The Pine Log is pro- duced. The capabilities are enormous; any of the craft arts, jewelry, pot- tery, sculpture will use the computer as a tool- one can see the impli- caitons of never touching the materials, said Li- sienski Mitzi Perritt, interior design instructor, in- structs 50 students on the AutoCad Architec- ture Package. This soft- ware program is used regularly throughout the industry. It is a digitizing tablet with preprogram- ming containing furni- ture, walls, doors and windows. The value to students, according to Perritt, is that ' it enables a student to view his her design from any angle because of the two-and three-dimensional capa- bilities. As with Lisien- ski ' s students, Perritt sees the benefit of the PC in the classroom as producing a marketable student in the industry. With the demand in the maketplace for students with computer experi- ence in their field, SFA ' s division of computing continues to supply qual- ity as well as quantity for instructional uses. As seen in the graph accom- panying this feature, SFA has increased its pur- chases of PCs; it also seeks to purchase for in- novation, especially in graphic capability. The computer divison has supplied several depart- ments with hardware and software capable of amazing graphic ability such as that exhibited in art, home economics, student publications and communication. Its most recent purchase adds an- other astonishing graph- ic capability to be used here on campus. The Presentations Technolo- gy Montage program, which is IBM or Macin- tosh compatible, can produce four color slides directly from the the col- or monitor. This ablility will be an asset in re- search, teacher and stu- dent presentations, uni- versity publications and in classroom instruction. SFA saw the future of computing 30 years ago in 1959; and today, in 1989, it continues to see computers in education as the wave of the future. ' W 1 he top photo illustrates the - onscreen graphic ability of the AutoCad Architecture pro- gram to place elements for in- terior design. Below, is the same design in 3-D. Hobert Seale 12

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jflAt left is an example of the ■ ' vivid, almost photograph- like onscreen graphics pro- duced from a Macintosh Video Works program. With the Pres- entations Technology montage hardware, this onscreen graph- ic can be reproduced into a slide. Below, Peter Lisienski ex- plains how the PC was used to produce the fine arts publicity that lies before him. Robert Seale Robert Seale Stephen F. Austin State University Microcomputer Purchases 1984 to Present M i c r o c o m P u t e r s 400 300 200 100 pre 1984 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 ■Reviewing the color printout ■ of her house layout, Kelly Zhastain, Houston senior, seeks interior design instructor Robert Seale Mitzi Perritt ' s suggestions. The graph to the right shows SFA ' s PC purchases in recent years. P.R. Blackwell coutpulm 13