8The Daily Tar HeelFriday, October
Compniter program helps staderts with tine write staff
By CHARLA PRICE
Staff Writer
Writing may become easier for
students with a new computer pro
gram designed by UNC computer
specialists to organize and revise
writing material.
Although the program, called
"Writing Environment" or "WE,"
can't do the actual writing, it can help
writers organize material into a
coherent pattern.
UNC computer scientists say WE
is one of the most advanced programs
ever created to aid the writing
Spangler leads class discussion
By SANDY DIMSDALE
Staff Writer
"There are 32 of you," he said, "and
you are the Board of Governors."
UNC-system President CD.
Spangler instructed the board
actually an English 58 class taught
; by Darryl Gless, an associate English
professor to choose a new pres-
; ident for the UNC system last week.
; "There are three candidates, and
.they are, of course, Julius Caesar,
Cassius and Brutus," Spangler told
; the class, which he had joined for its
; study of William Shakespeare's play,
; Julius Caesar.
Spangler said he attended the class
;for two reasons. "First, I enjoy
Shakespeare very much, and second,
I had a strong interest in this play.
I'm in a position of leadership, and
see people trying to stab me in the
back sometimes, too."
Spangler, who said he sits in on
classes periodically, led a class
discussion on the three candidates'
leadership qualities and qualifications
for a job. The class was to elect the
best leader. Spangler seemed comfor
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process.
"There are lots of tools that help
in the post-writing stage," said
Stephen Weiss, UNC professor of
computer science and WE project
leader. "But there is very little that
helps you get things down first the
prewriting work so that's what we
have focused on."
Through the use of clusters of
computer squares, ideas are grouped
together and later transformed into
an outline. Changes in ideas, para
graphs or chapters can be made at
devil's advocate to the ideas expressed
by the students, who took their role
of electing a system president
seriously.
He compared Caesar to former
U.S. President Lyndon Johnson,
applying what he learned last semes
ter in a class on presidents. "He did
more for the poor and underprivi
leged people in recent years than any
other president, I think, yet he was
very self-serving, it seems now."
Spangler said Caesar was a superb
general, but he failed to stay in touch
with the people.
Cassius, he said, was not a success
ful general, but he had a gift for
strategy and foresight.
"He knew they'd have to do away
with Mark Antony, and my gosh, that
would Ve changed the outcome of the
whole play," Spangler said.
One student said Cassius was the
best man for the job because of his
lack of charisma, which forced him
to bend to the will of the people in
the republic. "Like Jimmy Carter!"
yelled someone from the back of the
room.
The class decided Brutus was a
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any time. The computer records all
the changes that are made throughout
the writing process.
UNC scientists call the program
"intelligence amplification software,"
because it can enhance a person's
ability to think and organize.
The program, which supports the
entire writing process from the
brainstorming stage to final editing,
will also allow UNC professors to
study the cognitive aspects of writing.
UNC psychologist Marcy Lans
man, who helped design experiments
good general with a terrible strategy.
He was too easily flattered and
swayed, and no one wanted a wishy
washy leader, they said.
When Spangler called for the vote,
he cautioned the voters to follow their
own instincts and impressions. "I
warn you not to take into consider
ation what your friend beside you has
said, because he may have been
promised a position or offered a
bribe."
Caesar edged Cassius out by two
votes. Caesar garnered 15 votes,
Cassius 13, and Brutus only four.
Spangler and Gless also endorsed
Caesar.
"I'd vote for Caesar," Spangler
said. "Because if you make one person
chancellor, you leave five others who
forever remember that. But I have an
empirical approach to the matter."
Spangler said nearly every action
is an act of power for someone in
a position of leadership.
"People make you do things," he
said. "They invite you to parties, and
then you have to stand at the door
and shake 100 people's hands. Why
am I shaking their hands? My qual
ifications probably aren't any better
than anyone else's.
"I don't think I'm qualified to be
president of this great university, and
IVe told the Board of Governors that.
After I'd been here six months, I
revised that statement. I don't think
anybody is qualified."
Spangler said Caesar was probably
"short" with characters in the play
because he was tired of being watched
and scrutinized, an occupational
hazard for emperors and university
presidents.
"I'd ask you to be generous in your
assessment of your leaders," he said.
"They're only human."
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to test the program, will study these
writing processes through the use of
the program recordings. She will look
at the cognitive sequences that writers
use when organizing thoughts and
transferring them to the computer.
"The steps that professional writers
make are quite different from those
of the novice writer, and we want to
study designs like these," Lansman
said.
The program will help writers
concentrate on organizing their work,
Lansman said, and it should benefit
Art department celebrates birthday
By MICHAEL JACKSON
Staff Writer
UNC's Department of Art will
celebrate its 50th birthday this
weekend with a host of activities
for artists, art historians and
anyone who's interested in art.
The celebration will begin with
an opening reception and exhibi
tion of works by members of the
department's studio faculty. The
reception is scheduled to take place
today from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., and
the works will be displayed in the
Hanes Art Center Gallery Oct. 23
to Nov. 12.
Six panel discussions three on
studio art and three on art history
will highlight the weekend's
activities.
The studio art panels to focus
on design, teaching and use of
space in architecture will be
Computer software smugglers arrested
From Associated Press reports
SAN JOSE, Calif. An alleged
plot to sell supercomputer technology
with military applications to the
Soviet Union was broken up Thurs
day when U.S. Customs officials
arrested three men and recovered
stolen computer designs.
"It makes us feel good we stopped
this stuff from leaving the United
States," said Rollin Klink, special
agent in charge for the Customs
Serrvice in San Francisco. "It would
have severely damaged our military."
The designs stolen from
Sunnyvale-based Saxpy Computer
Corp. and recovered by the FBI could
be used to build one of the most
powerful supercomputers in the
world, capable of one billion com
putations per second, company
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ATTENTION UNC STUDENTS.
Be among the first to see the 1987-88 basketball Tar Heels, including the
debut of Carolina's new freshmen!
Student tickets are now available for the Blue-White basketball games. The
first game will be played in the Smith Center immediately following the
Carolina-Clemson football game on November 7. The halftime will only be
five minutes so you can get out in time for your Saturday night plans
The second Blue-White game will be played at 7:30 PM on Saturday evening,
November 14 in Carmichael Auditorium (Nostalgia Night in Carmichael).
HOW TO GET YOUR TICKETS:
Present your student ID and athletic pass at the Smith Center Box office
between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM. Students may also purchase guest tickets for
$5.00 in addition to their complimentary student ticket.
BLOCK SEATING AVAILABLE
Student groups of 50 or more are welcome to send a representative to the
Ticket Office with the groups athletic passes for block seating.
It brings out
the best
in all of us.
students, faculty and professionals.
Jay Bolter, an assistant professor
of classics, said he considers the
program a "revolutionary new kind
of writing tool." It's as different from
the word processor as the word
processor is from pen and paper, he
said.
"It is important to remember that
writing is the activity that bridges all
the disciplines," Bolter said. "And this
program is an embodiment of that
bridging process."
Bolter, who as a classics professor
represents the humanities' approach
conducted by 14 alumni, including
art instructors, interior designers
and sculptors.
Other panel participants will
come from various fields, including
architecture and design of products
and advertising.
The art history panels will focus
on the place of art museums in
universities, and their role in
training students for museum
careers. The panelists also will
discuss the teaching of art history
at UNC, including its style and
impact. The panels will also allow
alumni to discuss their various
research interests.
The panel discussions are sche
duled for Saturday, from 2 p.m.
to 5 p.m., and Sunday, from 10
a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
A registration fee of $60 is
required for all birthday weekend
officials said.
Ivan Batinic, 29, of Fremont, a
former Saxpy engineer; his brother,
Steven; and Kevin Anderson, 36, a
software designer also from Fremont,
were arrested in the alleged plot to
illegally export the stolen computer
technology. A bail hearing was
scheduled for late Thursday.
The three are believed to have
conspired with Charles McVey, 57,
a former fugitive who was indicted
in 1984 for export violations and is
being held in a Vancouver jail.
Saxpy spokesman Sandy Towle
said Batinic illegally copied the
operating system of the computer,
which the two-year-old company sells
for $896,000 to $1.9 million, depend
ing on its configuration.
"He stole the soul of the machine,"
to writing, said the new program's
broad range will structure writing in
new ways.
Although scientists are still work
ing to perfect WE, the program is
already being used by UNC graduate
students. The research team hopes to
iron out remaining problems by
January and distribute the program
to other interested scientists around
the country.
Because WE is a complex program,
it can't be used on personal
computers.
activities, which include a dinner
and dance at the Carolina Inn. The
registration fee for panel discus
sions is $10.
The art department was founded
in 1937 by UNC President Frank
Porter Graham, at the suggestion
of former chancellor Robert
House, then an administrative
dean.
When it first opened, the depart
ment offered two classes. One
course, taught by an archaeology
professor, was on Greek architec
ture and paintings. The other was
a sketching class taught by visiting
artists to education majors.
Today, 1 8 faculty members teach
nearly 1,200 students each year.
About 75 art history and 30 studio
art classes are offered each semes
ter, ranging from ancient architec
ture to advanced painting.
Towle said. "With the information
you could reconstruct the computer."
Batinic also allegedly stole tapes,
floppy disks and operating manuals,
which the FBI said were found in a
storage locker rented by Anderson in
Fremont.
FBI spokesman Charles Latting
said the technology was not classified,
although it is illegal to export. The
computer has many non-military
applications for industry.
The investigation began in August,
when a search of Anderson and Ivan
Batinic as they'returned to the United
States from Vancouver, B.C., found
$10,000 in $100 bills that were traced
to McVey. Federal officials said
Saxpy cooperated fully with the
investigation.
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