Socrates Moves Into the Space

At the Business School, the future leaders of the business world are playing computer games. It's not Pac-Man, but instead students sell "shires," a mythical cross between a shirt and a tire, in a computer-simulated setting. Participants try to make as much fake money as possible, but the overall object is to learn business strategies and techniques.

The shires market is just one example of Harvard's continuing effort to "computerize," making students and faculty more aware of the new technology. "The pace has quickened," Howard L. esnikoff, associate vice president for information and technology, said last week, adding, "but we're still very much in the exploratory stage."

While officials admit Harvard is not a leader in bringing computer services to students, the University has its own plans for computers. Instead of striving to improve the technological aspect of the machines, the administration is aiming to make them easier for computer illiterates to use, Resnikoff said.

"Harvard doesn't plan to make its contribution in the engineering side of computers," Marcus R. Van Baalen, a manager of data systems in the Office for Information Technology, said, adding, "Instead, we will make our move in the human factor side which is now in the dark ages."

Giving the computer the ability to communicate in the language of the user instead of that of the machine and improving computer displays are the two anticipated improvements, Van Baalen said, adding. "Who's in charge here anyway? We should not be slaves to the computers--they should be our servants."

For now, however, Harvard will leave the engineering of the new technologies to other schools like MIT and Stanford, which have done more work in the computer field than Harvard, according to Van Baalen. "We'll wait for [them] to build a better computer terminal and then we'll buy it off the shelf," he said.

Administrators at other liberal arts schools however, are planning to try and develop advanced computers.

"Computer advances should not be left only to places such as Stanford, MIT, and Berkeley," said Associate Provost William Shipp of Brown University, which recently announced plans to spend up to $70 million in the next six years to make computers available to every student, teacher, and staff member on campus.

"There is a whole range of problems that liberal arts colleges should be dedicated to dealing with," he added.

Last October, Carnegie-Mellon University received widespread publicity when it announced a program to eventually give each of its 5500 students access to a computer terminal.

But, administrators assert that Harvard's unique system of independent schools makes it virtually impossible for the University to establish a comprehensive plan that is comparable to those of other universities.

Administrators cite the separate budgets and specialized needs of each branch of the University as the main causes for the lack of an overall computer network.

"At Harvard, what's good for the College is not always good for the Med School or the Business School," Van Baalen said.

"Harvard is set up quite unlike Brown," Shipp said, "and it is very difficult for them to move in the same direction as us."

"I don't think it's necessarily a good idea to have a grand strategy," Gregory R. Crane '79, assistant manager of the Computer Lab at the Classics Department said, adding that it would become too cumbersome and unwieldy.

"The University should pump in more money, but the initiative should come from the individual departments since they know their own interests best," he added.

Nevertheless, Harvard is working hard to keep abreast of current innovations and has even managed to institute some unique and unprecedented programs.

As if communicating in "computer language" is not difficult enough, computers at the Classics Department can not "talk back" in Greek, Russian, Arabic, Hebrew, and even Coptic.

Simply by pressing a special key, the computer will change its language to one of the foreign offerings, according to Crane.

Currently, this system is used mainly by senior faculty members working on research, graduate students, and undergraduates working on theses.

In other plans to move Socrates into the Space Age, the department will begin to print art and publish material through these machines in the near future.

Crane said that the department is one of the leaders among the country. "Everyone is interested in doing this type of work, but no one has gotten it together to pull it off yet."

Although the program was originated by the Classics Department, other branches of the University, including the Divinity School, the English Department, and the Russian Research Center, all use the system.

Business School students are also employing their computers for their studies.

In the "Business Game," they deal with business problems such as marketing, advertising and production.

Students are organized into groups of six and meet once a week for seven weeks. It allows them to handle problems in a simulated competitive business environment. The game even provides an opportunity for faculty participation as members of the "companies'" boards of directors, where they are able to advise the students.

In another move to expand its computer program last summer, the B-School initiated a program to teach corporate executives how to use computers for case work. Fifty-two senior corporate executives, most of whom had never been exposed to computers before, used the machines to analyze six cases each.

In a simulated setting, they dealt with sales, cost, and financing to plan their sales and management strategies which even included a mock merger situation. "It's hard to compare the Business School with other business schools since we're much more reality-oriented," a B-School administrator said, adding. "Harvard's programs are in a class by themselves."

'What's good for the College is not always good for the Med School or the Business School.'

--Marcus R. Van Baalen, manager of data systems

At the Law School, computers are being used to supplement lectures and give students an opportunity to work out legal problems on their own. The Computer Aid Instruction Program, the first and only program of its kind in the country, allows the students to test their legal skills on problem sets in areas ranging from corporate law to income tax on the two Langdell Library computers reserved for the project.

Students appreciate the program especially because it gives them a chance to sharpen practical legal skills that often go undeveloped in the classroom, Harry Le Fox, one of the project's student directors, said.

Le Fox added that the program is unique in that, unlike the classroom lectures, it constantly lets the student know the extent of his progress and gives immediate guidance along the way.

"The computer forces you to do the work," he said.

The program is voluntarily run by a group of 55 law students. Both student and faculty are responsible for writing the lessons. About 15 students use the service each day. Cole Breechen, a third year law student, and a director of the program said, adding that most if not all of the law students use the program at some time or other.

Although this is the first program of its kind in the country, it will be implemented at other law schools within the next few months after some of the Law School's programs are published.

Law schools at Columbia and Boston Universities and at the University of Minnesota plan to install similar systems.

"It's definitely a burgeoning topic of discussion among lawyers as well as law school teachers." Harold Edgar, a Columbia Law School professor said.

Although Harvard is admittedly not beaming itself into "computerization," and it does not intend to lead the drive towards technological advancement, the University is interested in familiarizing the computer illiterate with the machines. Moreover, it has managed not only to keep up with the most current innovations but in its own diverse way has introduced unprecedented programs as well.

As Van Baulen said, "We're leaning towards founding new projects out the progress that Harvard has made in computers so far has been in raising awareness."

While officials admit Harvard is not a leader in bringing computer services to students, the University has its own plans for computers. Instead of striving to improve the technological aspect of the machines, the administration is aiming to make them easier for computer illiterates to use, Resnikoff said.

"Harvard doesn't plan to make its contribution in the engineering side of computers," Marcus R. Van Baalen, a manager of data systems in the Office for Information Technology, said, adding, "Instead, we will make our move in the human factor side which is now in the dark ages."

Giving the computer the ability to communicate in the language of the user instead of that of the machine and improving computer displays are the two anticipated improvements, Van Baalen said, adding. "Who's in charge here anyway? We should not be slaves to the computers--they should be our servants."

For now, however, Harvard will leave the engineering of the new technologies to other schools like MIT and Stanford, which have done more work in the computer field than Harvard, according to Van Baalen. "We'll wait for [them] to build a better computer terminal and then we'll buy it off the shelf," he said.

Administrators at other liberal arts schools however, are planning to try and develop advanced computers.

"Computer advances should not be left only to places such as Stanford, MIT, and Berkeley," said Associate Provost William Shipp of Brown University, which recently announced plans to spend up to $70 million in the next six years to make computers available to every student, teacher, and staff member on campus.

"There is a whole range of problems that liberal arts colleges should be dedicated to dealing with," he added.

Last October, Carnegie-Mellon University received widespread publicity when it announced a program to eventually give each of its 5500 students access to a computer terminal.

But, administrators assert that Harvard's unique system of independent schools makes it virtually impossible for the University to establish a comprehensive plan that is comparable to those of other universities.

Administrators cite the separate budgets and specialized needs of each branch of the University as the main causes for the lack of an overall computer network.

"At Harvard, what's good for the College is not always good for the Med School or the Business School," Van Baalen said.

"Harvard is set up quite unlike Brown," Shipp said, "and it is very difficult for them to move in the same direction as us."

"I don't think it's necessarily a good idea to have a grand strategy," Gregory R. Crane '79, assistant manager of the Computer Lab at the Classics Department said, adding that it would become too cumbersome and unwieldy.

"The University should pump in more money, but the initiative should come from the individual departments since they know their own interests best," he added.

Nevertheless, Harvard is working hard to keep abreast of current innovations and has even managed to institute some unique and unprecedented programs.

As if communicating in "computer language" is not difficult enough, computers at the Classics Department can not "talk back" in Greek, Russian, Arabic, Hebrew, and even Coptic.

Simply by pressing a special key, the computer will change its language to one of the foreign offerings, according to Crane.

Currently, this system is used mainly by senior faculty members working on research, graduate students, and undergraduates working on theses.

In other plans to move Socrates into the Space Age, the department will begin to print art and publish material through these machines in the near future.

Crane said that the department is one of the leaders among the country. "Everyone is interested in doing this type of work, but no one has gotten it together to pull it off yet."

Although the program was originated by the Classics Department, other branches of the University, including the Divinity School, the English Department, and the Russian Research Center, all use the system.

Business School students are also employing their computers for their studies.

In the "Business Game," they deal with business problems such as marketing, advertising and production.

Students are organized into groups of six and meet once a week for seven weeks. It allows them to handle problems in a simulated competitive business environment. The game even provides an opportunity for faculty participation as members of the "companies'" boards of directors, where they are able to advise the students.

In another move to expand its computer program last summer, the B-School initiated a program to teach corporate executives how to use computers for case work. Fifty-two senior corporate executives, most of whom had never been exposed to computers before, used the machines to analyze six cases each.

In a simulated setting, they dealt with sales, cost, and financing to plan their sales and management strategies which even included a mock merger situation. "It's hard to compare the Business School with other business schools since we're much more reality-oriented," a B-School administrator said, adding. "Harvard's programs are in a class by themselves."

'What's good for the College is not always good for the Med School or the Business School.'

--Marcus R. Van Baalen, manager of data systems

At the Law School, computers are being used to supplement lectures and give students an opportunity to work out legal problems on their own. The Computer Aid Instruction Program, the first and only program of its kind in the country, allows the students to test their legal skills on problem sets in areas ranging from corporate law to income tax on the two Langdell Library computers reserved for the project.

Students appreciate the program especially because it gives them a chance to sharpen practical legal skills that often go undeveloped in the classroom, Harry Le Fox, one of the project's student directors, said.

Le Fox added that the program is unique in that, unlike the classroom lectures, it constantly lets the student know the extent of his progress and gives immediate guidance along the way.

"The computer forces you to do the work," he said.

The program is voluntarily run by a group of 55 law students. Both student and faculty are responsible for writing the lessons. About 15 students use the service each day. Cole Breechen, a third year law student, and a director of the program said, adding that most if not all of the law students use the program at some time or other.

Although this is the first program of its kind in the country, it will be implemented at other law schools within the next few months after some of the Law School's programs are published.

Law schools at Columbia and Boston Universities and at the University of Minnesota plan to install similar systems.

"It's definitely a burgeoning topic of discussion among lawyers as well as law school teachers." Harold Edgar, a Columbia Law School professor said.

Although Harvard is admittedly not beaming itself into "computerization," and it does not intend to lead the drive towards technological advancement, the University is interested in familiarizing the computer illiterate with the machines. Moreover, it has managed not only to keep up with the most current innovations but in its own diverse way has introduced unprecedented programs as well.

As Van Baulen said, "We're leaning towards founding new projects out the progress that Harvard has made in computers so far has been in raising awareness."