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THE SUMMER SESSION KANSAN
Tuesday, July 9, 1968
LEBAN DEVISES CHINESE TYPEWRITER
Carl Leban (left), assistant professor of Oriental Languages, watches Gerald P. Crow program a computer to assimilate the typewriter.
Prof has Chinese writer
Carl Leban has invented the first true Chinese typewriter, and he is a frustrated man.
The assistant professor of Oriental languages and literatures has the problem all worked out on paper, but is unable to get anybody excited about it—not excited enough to support developing the idea into a true typewriter.
But he has not given up.
THE PROJECT began about five years ago when he wanted automatic methods to research his dissertation on Chinese history at Columbia University. He found there were none for his field.
Metaphorical wheels began to turn, and the creative graduate student realized that what he needed was a way to achieve for Chinese the same advantage alphabetical languages have: a small number of elements that compose all words.
He then devised a set of 36 simple elements which could be assembled to form all Chinese characters. He calls the system SINCO (Synthetic Index Nomenclature for Chinese Orthography). It automatically specifies the size and position of each element. As the elements are typed, the machine automatically makes the necessary adjustments to form the proper Chinese character.
Leban has applied for a patent on his typewriter, which he calls the SINCOder, by submitting his blueprints. It isn't exactly a typewriter, of course, but he thinks that typewriter best describes his innovation. It also could be developed into a Chinese teletype, photo-typesetter and other devices.
With a grant from the KU general research fund and support of
University hires Barnett in poli-sci
A specialist in British and African politics and Black American politics will become assistant professor of political science in September.
He is Malcolm Joel Barnett, a native of New York City with a bachelor's degree from Columbia University in 1963 and the Ph.D. from the University of London's School of Economics and Political Science in 1967.
Barnett was a Woodrow Wilson teaching fellow at Miles College in Birmingham, Ala., the past year.
His book on the British Rent Act of 1957 will be published next year.
the University's Computer Center, Leban and two student programmers have succeeded in simulating his typewriter. They used a digital computer and an incremental plotter. The plotter draws lines with a pen when instructed by the computer.
Gerald P. Crow, graduate student from Prairie Village, and Charles Baird, senior from Hutchinson, wrote the FORTRAN (computer language) programs which enable the computer to recognize and understand SINCO instructions.
The same machine could write Japanese, Korean and pre-Colonial Vietnamese, Leban said. Aside from its most obvious usefulness in preparing research aids, its creator visualizes the SINCOder providing machine aids to translation, "computational linguistics," and vastly improved international communications.
"It makes everything available to us in Chinese." he said, "that is now available to us in English."
Leban first became interested in Chinese after five years' experience teaching high school English in New York City. He said he became increasingly disturbed that the literature taught to Americans is chiefly English and American with perhaps some occasional French.
"We're cutting ourselves off from a tremendous part of the world," said Leban, who lived and studied three years in the Orient. "And I decided to become an academic missionary to Ämer-
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icans. My mission is to reveal China to Americans the best I can and to make it accessible to them," he said.
The SINCOder may help.
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Jarvis on Fashion-
Sunglasses with the new thin frames can make the eyes look larger. Under the glasses eye make-up should fade into the background. Experiment with your eyeshadow color, because too dark of a color can make your eyes look very deep set. Draw on a few false eyelashes with a thin eyeliner pencil for a wide-eved look.
With blue lenses, blue eyes can be made a deeper, richer blue. If you have green eyes, try orange or yellow lenses for a better effect.
Start the summer out right with shades to accent your eye Many girls have learned to flatter their eyes by wearing just th right color of sunglasses
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