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Volume XCI Number 15
University of Southern California
Tuesday, September 22, 1981
Computer program helps system strife
Katy Smith
Assistant City Editor
A computer integration program will eliminate many problems and inconveniences created by the present computer system, said Michael Halloran, director of Automated Systems.
It is hoped that by next fall, financial aid and scholarship awards will be credited directly to fee bills, reducing the amount of paper work involved in the registration process.
Ultimately, the director would like to see all the computer systems on campus integrated so that they may exchange information, especially financial records.
Mistakes in records caused by transferring information between departments by hand will be eliminated. Address changes will have to be made only once, instead of three times for different departments, Halloran said.
Transcripts would be processed in a matter of days rather than weeks.
“The situation right now is such that there are major computing facilities in several administrative offices on campus,” the director said.
“What we have is really at least four different computers in the university which are independently working on administrative systems that the university relies on,” Halloran explained. “So we suffer at times because these systems are not intergrated.” He referred specifically to mistakes caused by moving information from one department to another by hand.
Although the computers will exchange information electronically, integration will not provide the university with one big computer. “The systems will be relatively independent in terms of looking at them from the terminal,” the director said. “But the information exchange will happen electronically without producing a lot of paperwork transferred from office to office.”
Halloran said he sees two obstacles in the way of completion of the integration.
First, massive programming must be completed to process the large amount of data from the different departments. Although records are purged periodically, there are nearly 25,000 student records in the enrollment system, and student loan records are kept for 15 years after the student graduates.
In early August, the university contracted Systems Computer Technology, a firm independent of the university, to do the programming. Jon Strauss, vice president of administration, hired the firm instead of university staff computer programmers previously
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Memorial fund to honor movie agent
By Dave Fisher
Staff Writer
A scholarship will be established at the Cinema School in memory of Joyce Selznick, according to Alan Wortheimer, executor of the late agent-producer’s estate.
Selznick, who died of cancer Sept. 17, was responsible for launching the careers of such actors as Tony Curtis, Faye Dunaway, George C. Scott and Robert Redford, and produced such movies as Claudine and The Buddy Holly Story. She also taught a film class at the university called “So You Want to Be a Star — Well Welcome to Hollywood.”
“It just seemed to us that Joyce spent her life discovering and developing talent and we thought she would have wanted to do something like this,” Wortheimer said. “Instead of flowers, we thought we’d rather have a scholarship established in her name ”
No decision has been made on how the scholarship will be set up and where the money will come from, but Wortheimer said that representatives of her estate have asked that dona-
tions be made to the fund.
“The funeral was just last Friday so we really haven’t had time to do anything with regard to the scholarship,” he said. “I don’t know how much of the money will come from her estate or how much will come from private donations. We’ll know more in a few weeks after we've had time to set it up.”
Jacqueline LeFalle, assistant to Cinema School Co-chairman Russell McGregor, said she is aware of the scholarship, but other than that she knows nothing about it.
“I read about it in one of the trade papers but we haven’t received any formal notification from her estate yet,” she said.
Wortheimer said he contacted the University Affairs and Counsel for Development offices about the scholarship, but no plans have been finalized.
“As soon as the first check comes in, we’ll forward it to Gift Accounting, but as of yet I haven’t seen any money,” said David Pal-uska, director of Counsel for Development.
Staff photo by Jon Soo Hoo
SANTA BARBARA COAST—The California summer beach crowds have dwindled with the start of school and impending cooler weather. The fall season officially begins at 8:05 tonight, but Southern Californians may continue to sweat through heat waves for weeks.
Pentagon lacks qualified officers
Defense needs discussed at conference
By Laura Rodriguez
Assistant City Editor
The Pentagon is currently undergoing a decline of experienced personnel in engineering and managerial positions in the Defense Department, warned Brig. Gen. Joseph Mirth, deputy for Space and Launch and Control Systems, who gave the opening speech at a luncheon on Monday.
The general’s address was the introduction to a week-long conference of education officers sponsored by the College of Continuing Education.
The purpose of the conference was to encourage federal civilian and professional services.
According to Dawn Patterson, assistant dean of CCE, the topics to be covered thoughout the week will enhance managerial skills and improve off-duty education as well as strengthen career program direction.
Different departments on campus add to the program development, such as Safety and Systems Management, International Relations and the School of Education, and it is only one of a few colleges that of-
fers doctorate and masters programs, the assistant dean said.
Mirth, who is responsible for managing the nations’s military space programs, discussed the roles of designing, developing and managing in the department of defense in relation to launching space satellites.
Mirth gave examples of military role and facilities building, such as military activity in leadership training through
enhancement of communication surveillance, meteorology, navigation and state defense.
A major issue. Mirth mentioned, was the Reagan administration’s plan to spend an unprecedented $1.5 trillion to rearm America last spring, without sufficient attention paid to the problem of Pentagon manpower. Mirth said a strong concern remains in his (Continued on page 7)
Drunken man gets hurt crashing through glass
A Glendale College student received minor injuries Friday when he broke through a plate glass door at Bovard Administration Building.
University Security received an injury call at 10:40 p.m. Responding to the call, Security found a male student with wrist and neck lacerations.
The student was unaware that he had broken through the door.
He appeared dazed and kept repeating, “I don’t know how it happened. I thought I was going through an open door.”
After receiving medical aid from University Security, he was transported to California Hospital where he received further medical attention.
According to Security, the student was under the influence of alcohol. No charges will be filed against him.