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Inadequate
By WILL MOREDOCK
Staff Writer
As budget cuts threaten to cripple
the University of South Carolina,
one of the places they are taking
their toll is in the area of data bases
and comDuter hardware.
in ns naraware ana memory aetines
the amount of data a system can
handle and the speed which it can
Control of CI
By MATT WRIGHT
and ANN WINCHELL
Staff Writers
An increasing number of scientists,
including many who had forecast
imminent ecological disaster,
believe now that we are well on our
way to solving the problem of a
thinning ozone layer.
"The current and projected levels
of ozone depletion do not appear to
represent a catastrophe," says
Michael OpDenheimer, an
Environmental Defense Fund scientist.
But not all scientists are so optimistic.
"It would be helpful if we stop
using chlorofluorocarbons. But we
still don't know exactly what causes
the changes in the ozone," said
Shun Ko, USC geological sciences
assistant professor.
Recent information from NASA
Most individuals can get by without
a computer, but a major university
without adequate computer
hardware or software can be facing
a crisis.
John Ureda, chairman of health
promotion and education, said,
"I've had no budget for computers
for years...We have no hard money
for travel or computers." The
money spent on computers is gener
ated from outside sources, he said.
When a university or a department
cannot subscribe to or maintain
needed data bases, it runs the
risk of falling behind in its field.
Students and faculty no longer have
access to the best information.
Data bases are information services
which libraries, schools and
other institutions subscribe to and
pay to have regularly updated. Data
bases keep institutions current on
information in their respective
fields. Computer memory is housed
computers ai
run at.
James Durig, dean of the school
of science and mathematics, said his
graduate students do not have the
computer storage to do their course
work.
"We
have the hardware
to run rM
some of our data
bases," Durig l^rH |
said. "It takes a II |
half hour to get II H II
all the software II H
assimilated. II d I 1
That wastes a II* i' i iTi fl
half hour of
somebody's
time."
A major
versity, without
proper Hi^HHMI
bases, is headed
off the fast track J||
and the HMIHI
ditch. When a
department cannot provide its students
and faculty with necessary
hardware, productivity drops off
and projects fall behind schedule.
Frank Avignone, chairman of the
department of physics and astronomy,
said some of his graduate students
have had to use the computers
t^s mignt lm
shows the hole in the ozone is bigger
than it was several years ago
and many scientists are still concerned,
Ko said.
The ozone layer that circles the
earth is the subject of many studies
because its changing thickness
affects the amount of protection it
gives the earth.
Ozone in the stratosphere protects
the Earth's surface by absorbing
much of the ultraviolet radiation
from space that causes skin cancer,
cataracts and immune-system damage.
Optimism on the part of some is
due in large part to a 1987 international
treaty, the Montreal Protocol,
that calls for the cessation of pro
UUVUWil U1 U11U1U"
fluorocarbons (CFCs). With confidence
in the treaty, they estimate
that worldwide ozone destruction
will peak in only seven years. At
the end of that period, this layer will
feet USC's p|
at the College of Humanities and
Social Sciences to write their dissertations.
Durig has received letters from a
number of graduate students, complaining
about
the lack of computer
memory.
"I timed how
^ 1 fast the computer
was from the
time I (started
I il H work) to the
| B h time I heard the
first sound," one
T Hi mm student wrote.
I "It took 37 minutes...Now
imagg
ine that 15 people
have to use
that machine
every day. You
HHHHHB can see that we
will not get this
project done
under current
conditions."
Having a data base available to
any researcher is the difference
between spending hundreds of
hours looking through papers and
instantaneous success, said Thomas
1 M .XT. 1 1 .. 1!1 _ . rp.
ivici-saiiy, norarian ai i nomas
Cooper Library.
"The access factor is phenomeLprove
ozone t
"It would be helpful if
we stop using chlorofluorocarbons.
But we
still don't know exactlv
what ransps thp
changes in the ozone."
Shun Ko
Assistant Professor
Geological Sciences
begin to thicken and return to equilibrium
through natural processes.
Ozone has always been a renewable
resource, because ultraviolet
light makes it from oxygen, says
Carl Sagan, a Cornell University
professor.
And The New York Times
reported last year on several pieces
of cooling equipment which elimi
roductivity
nal," he said.
Another crucial data base for a
library is one that can tell where
information can be found anywhere
in the country, McNally said.
"That's the name of the game,"
he said.
Lack of funding for computers
means that "on research projects,
we will continue to operate with
obsolete equipment," Ureda said.
"The productivity of people on projects
will be less than what it would
be with state-of-the-art computers."
Ureda said his department
upgraded its administrative computers
last year for the first time in 10
years, and it greatly increased the
productivity of its staff. He would
like to do the same for his faculty,
but the money is not there.
The College of Business
Administration recently completed
a strategic planning process and
identified data bases it would need,
assistant dean Bill Kettinger said.
"But there is no money to purchase,
and we don't project that the
money will be available," Kettinger
said.
"It impacts the faculty's ability to
do the research of a flagship institution
with USC's reputation," he
said.
equilibrium
nate the use of CFCs. One such
device is an air-conditioner which
uses water and the process of evaporation
to control temperature.
Refrigerators could cool with sound
waves by harnessing the motion of
dancing molecules.
The speed at which CFC production
has fallen already has surprised
many and has led some scientists
to predict an end to this crisis
before any noticeable damage could
be done, according to The
Washington Post.
The Post article sounded the cautionary
note, however, that if the
world's developing nations shun the
expensive alternatives and the
Montreal Protocol, production of
CFCs might intensify as the
economies of these countries begin
to grow.
"The treaty is good, but all countries
must take action. Otherwise, it
lsjuai papci, saiu ivu.
wants to do his taxes but he finds
> difficult to hold a pencil.
out your help, he may not be able
them.
t everybody has to file taxes, but not
?ne can do it on their own. Volunteer and
lake someone s taxes less taxing. Call
29-1040.
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