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Tuesday, March 10. 1987 / University Daily Kansan
NASA unveils computer
United Press International
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — NASA unveiled a "pathfinding" $120 million supercomputer system yesterday and declared a new era in aviation history that would give the United States dominance in aerospace research into the 21st century.
"This is a tremendous occasion for NASA and a historic date for the nation," said James C. Fletcher, NASA administrator, at a dedication ceremony for the world's most powerful computer system at the space agency's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field near San Francisco.
The sophisticated Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation system, capable of 250 million computations per second and housed in a cooled 90,500-square-foot concrete building, was officially put "on line" yesterday.
line system, to be used for aircraft research design, will be used to develop a national aerospace plane by the year 2000 that can fly from Washington, D.C., to Tokyo in two hours at speeds exceeding 8,800 mph.
William Ballaus, director of the center, said that the NAS system met requirements.
"NAS represents a significant commitment by NASA to provide an essential tool to help ensure our continued national leadership in aeronautics and related disciplines," he said.
The NAS network is expected to reach 1 billion computations a second in 1989, and 10 billion computations a second by 1999.
Researchers have been using the NAS system for a year, but completion of the network will allow access from 27 remote locations, including several universities, to the Cray-2 supercomputer.
Victor Petersen, director of aerophysics at Ames, said that the NAS was the "beginning of an era when computers have come of age."
he said that NAS would prove to be an aeronautics milestone similar in scope to the first wind tunnel in 1871 by the Wright brothers light by the Wright Brothers in 1903.
The NAS system's main task is the aerodynamic design of the X-30, a 21st century orbiting aircraft capable of taking off from a runway and accelerating directly into orbit at speeds exceeding 8,000 mph.
A prototype of the X-30 is scheduled to be completed by the mid-1990s, and a finished version is supposed to be in the air by 2000.
By BENJAMIN HALL Staff writer
Report says KU not planning for the future
KU doesn't have an organized plan for the future, a University governance committee reported Fridav.
Staff writer
Sid Shapiro, professor of law and chairman of the Planning and Resources Committee, told the University Senate Executive Committee, "The University doesn't plan, as far as we can tell."
The committee's report said that planning at KU was segmented and that students and faculty had little affect on decisions.
But Del Shankel, acting executive vice chancellor, said, "There is a lot of planning. We all try to have some
goals and objectives in mind of what we want to accomplish. It's a bit of oversimplification to say there's not much planning going on."
The University does not have a central planning committee or a published plan for the future, according to Shankel. He said working on a yearly budget restricted long-range planning.
Shankel also said faculty members and students were involved in decision making.
"It's difficult to formalize that involvement. But faculty and students here have more involvement in policy determination and governance than in the vast majority of places I've been." he said.
The report said, "No planning
document exists for the University's goals. No one person or group is charged with the responsibility to execute such a plan. No procedures exist to ensure that faculty and students participate effectively in the planning which does occur."
The committee noted that a new group appointed to recommend how to manage enrollment increases was composed entirely of administrators.
"When challenged about the makeup of the committee, University administrators indicated that the results of the committee's efforts would be shared with SenEx," the report said.
University governance is informed of administrative decisions only after they are made, the report said.
Shapiro said, "We hope we can simply establish a system whereby students and faculty can participate on the ground floor.
"If you don't know what kind of university you are or what you want to become, how in the world do you make decisions about what to do with this new crush of students?"
The report recommended that a new planning and resources committee be formed. The committee would meet regularly with the vice chancellor for academic affairs and would include three faculty members and one or two students.
The vice chancellor for academic affairs should report administrative decisions to the committee, the report said, describing consultation
as often a "one-way street."
"Administrators fail to return to those they have consulted to explain the outcome of their decision process." the report said.
Shankel said, "I think professor Shapiro's committee came up with a good plan."
SenEx member Sharon Brehm, professor of psychology, said the new committee would improve community students, faculty and administrators.
"I think it's a matter of what you might call social drift. You tend to depend upon people you know," she said. "You have to set the habit structure, and I think this committee is a step toward that."
Center offers pre-exam help
By LAURA BOSTROM Staff writer
One anxious pre-med freshman recently called the Stanley H. Kaplan Education Center in Overland Park, three years before taking the Kaplan class.
He was planning.
Future doctors often fit this mold, said Ann Press, administrator of the Kaplan educational center, 1012 Massachusetts St., which opened today.
"They plan ahead," she said. However, many aspiring law students are the opposite. "They sign up the first day of class."
Though student test scores vary, dedicated Kaplan students can raise their scores an average of 20 percent, said Press.
Aspiring doctors and lawyers represent only part of the students attracted to Kaplan courses, but they all come for one thing, to improve their entry-level test scores.
score at their maximum potential, she said.
Kaplan courses allow students to
The center offers study guidance for students interested in several graduate school tests: the GRE (Graduate Record Examination) for graduate study, the GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) for business school, MCAT (Medical College Admission Tests) for medical school and the LSAT (Law School Admission Test) for law school.
Yesterday, two workers unpacked boxes of cassette tapes, booklets, pamphlets and study guides, which in addition to lectures, comprise the Kaplan courses.
Stanley H. Kaplan founded the organization, which now has 120 educational centers, in 1938.
Kathy Tawadros, Topea senior,
took the Kaplan MCAT course last
summer. She said the course took a
lot of time and money.
But, she said that she thought the nine 4-hour days at the Overland
Park center were worth the $450.
And for Tawadros, who recently was accepted to the College of Health Sciences, it was the discipline that she needed.
Barbara Schowen, chemistry lecturer and Pre-Med Club adviser, said that she neither encouraged nor discouraged students from taking the Kaplan classes. She said that a fair number, but not the majority, of students took the classes.
"They may review you," she said. A.J. Yarmat, director of the center for student affairs and educational VALUES College of Sciences, said he did not know how many medical students took preparatory classes.
"Most students study on their own and with other students." he said.
For now, the 25 desks in the newly opened Kaplan lecture room sit empty behind an empty podium. But, beginning Saturday, new Phi Beta Kaplans will fill those chairs.
Renault sells holdings in AMC
The Associated Press
DETROIT — Chrysler Corp. announced yesterday that it has agreed to buy out Renault's interest in aling American Motors Corp. and to buy all outstanding AMC shares for a total of $757 million in cash and stock.
The No. 3 U.S. automaker also would assume $767 million in AMC debt, said Chrysler spokesman John Guinven. The deal must be approved by the U.S., French and Canadian governments, and the three corporations' boards and AMC stockholders.
Analysts, however, saw few obstacles to approval.
"For Chrysler, the attractions are Jeep, the best-known automotive brand name in the world; a new, world-class assembly plant at Bramalea, Canada, and a third distribution system giving us access to a larger market," said Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacoca.
Under the terms of a letter of intent signed by Chrysler and Renault, Chrysler would trade $522 million of its stock for outstanding AMC shares, give Renault a $200 million, 10-year, 8
percent note for its AMC interest and pay Renault $35 million in cash, said Chrysler Vice President James Toly.
Chrysler also agreed to a payment ranging from zero to $350 million to Renault based on future AMC profits and sales.
AMC President Joseph Cappy said only that AMC received a letter yesterday detailing the purchase proposal. "We are studying the proposal," he said, adding that AMC would have no further comment until later.
Congratulations to the 1987-88 SUA Officers and Board Members
Steven Traxler David Wahbeh
Brady Stanton Vince Johnson
Marilyn Pollack Stephanie Malcy
Liz Parker
Phillip Stump
Craig Colbert
Steve Brown
Steve Eddy
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