THURSDAY. M !RCH 7. 1957 Automatic $3O Solv Thousand PENNSTAC s Complicated Problems By PAT EVANS n the basement of Electrical Engineering is an awesome machine called 1r Pennsylvania State Automatic Computer. • to solve computational problems which arise at the University and also to students in the field of computer engineering. ine can perform in a few hours the same amount of work which would take everal months to Housed PENNSTAC, It is use to train gradu. The mac mathematicians do. PENNSTACt half years to bu pleted last July. mated at $3OO ti The equipme and constructed by members of of Electrical En! by graduate stu' ley, professor o neering, is now project. .ok two-and-one ld and was corn- Its value is esti ousand. t was designed t the University the Department ineering assisted ents. H. I. Tarp- electrical engi in charge of the The amazing made to perform 10-digit number: Its magnetic dm; store 2.5 thousan; and prodtite the 1 pparatus can be 1400 additions of in one second. "memory" can • 10-digit figures for future use. Human Br ,ins Oversee Human brains however, over see the work. An operator's con sole, the size and shape of the organ in Schwab Auditorium; sits in front of PENNSTAC, and con tains a complicated-looking con trol panel. Answers to the problems solved by the machine 'are punched out on paper tape and typed by an electric - typewriter. These are checked by the operator. The main piece of equipment is a big, double cabinet with glass windows. The Cabinet contains, among other things, 1500 vacuum tubes and about 2000 tiny flashing lights, which act as trouble shoot ers. Has Air Unit PENNSTAC even has its own air-conditioner to remove the ex cess heat it generates. Auxiliary equipment nearly fills 6 Electrical Engineering, where the machine is located. The• computer is kept in good repair by the engineering staff. Research work is being done to enable it to work faster and per form more operations. Students may take courses on how to run the machine. Various computational problems have been solved by PENNSTAC. A group of agricultural staff members used it to determine which mixture of cattle feed con taining the necessary ingredients would cost least. The apparatus aids the Depart ment of Meteorology in spectrum analyses and in finding changes in wind velocity. It was used by the Department of Mineralogy to determine the correlation of uranium with the presence of other minerals in sample rocks. Dr. Donald T. Laird, assistant professor of electrical engineer ing, is in charge of preparing problems for solution on the com puter. A non-credit seminar to ac quaint faculty and staff members with the possible uses of the com puter has been planned. AEI Group Will Meet Alpha Tau Alpha, agricultural education fraternity, will hold an election of officers at 7:30 tonight in 102 agriculture education. - A film, "The Supervisor as a Leader," will be shown. Fix Up .. . Paint Up Spring is the time to,repaint those dingy old bulletin boards and lamp shades. Perk up your roam with one or several of new odor less paints . ENAMEL FLAT WALL I LATEX SUR A-TONE _ G. C. M RPHY 131 S. At EN • THE DAILY COLLEGIAN STATE COLLEGE. PENNSYLVANIA —Daily Collegian Photo by Bob Thompson. PENNSTAC, an automatic computer housed in the basement of Electrical Engineering, took two-and-one-half years to build and is used to solve computational problems that arise at the University. Forestry Group Nominates 27 Twenty-seven students have been nominated for offices in the Forestry Society. Those nominated for president are Robert Slagle, Louis Shain, Charles Hollenbaugh and Paul Felton; for vice president, Blain Stutzman and Edward Browning. Nominated for recording secre tary are William McCafferty and Kerry Schell; for corresponding secretary, Philip Newmann, Carl Wolfe and Ralph Heilig; for treas urer, Ralph Peace, Paul Kersav age and Charles Strauss. Agriculture Student Council representative nominees are Charles Glidden,, Walter Knapp, Jess Clarke, John Marker, Donald Oaks, Joseph Astleford, Kenneth Polscer, Robert Laßar, Robert Stroh, John Hall, John Mikulecky, James Crates and Loring Huls lander. Elections will be held at the next meeting. BX Candidates to Meet Candidates for the Book Ex change will meet at 6:30 tonight in 214 and 215 Hetzel Union. STATE COLLEGE'S FINEST Italian Spaghetti and Meat Balls La Galleria Fresh Sea Food Fried Oysters Steamed Clams Danish Lobster. Tails Fantail Shrimp Steaks Chops Italian Foods and your favorite beverage from our bar 233 E. Beaver AD 8-6765 Co-edita Phi Delta Theta has pledged. Cooper Bishop, Robert Brown, Donald Book, Walter Cottom, Ri chard Engelbrink, William Fork er, David George, Richard Gas kell, Paul Richardson and Paul Snyder. New initiates at Theta Delia Chi are John Sopko. Harvey Eckert. David Cernea, Arthur Bell, Sam uel Kartalis, Louis Prato, Daniel Shoulberg, Clare Ross and George Tselepis. New pledge at Theta Delta Chi is Dennis Hunsberger. Della Chi has initiated Robert Errickson, John Friday, Jerry Hammaker, James Hepler, Robert Schiffner and Michael Stollmeyer. Newly-elected officers of Delta Chi are house manager, Newton Ruffing, caterer, Richard Dagle; treasurer, Robert Errickson; re cording secretary, Robert Schiff ner; corresponding secretary, Jer ry Hammaker and pledge master, Jacob Engle. Delta Chi has pledged David Anderson, Kent Carpenter, James Ditzler, Edward Halbert, Walter Heiler, David Kreh, Robert Man ners, Ronald Martino, Philip Mul lin, Richard Poust, Robert Staig er, Anthony Stillson and Louis Van Refelghen. Westminster Choir To Sing in Schwab The Westminster Choir, on its 35th consecutive season of touring, will appear at 8:30 pin. Wednesday in Schwab Aud itorium. John Williamson, founder of the Choir, has directed the group for the past 33 years. So far as is known, this con stitutes a record. No other choral group has sung so long leadership of one man. The choir has twice toured Eu rope and will start its first tour of Asia this Fall. The Choir was first organized to serve as the volunteer choir of the Westminster Presbyterian Church of Dayton, Ohio. The members of the first choir were businessmen and housewives who devoted their leisure hours to singing under the direction of Williamson. Fame Spread The fame of the group spread and people began visiting Dayton to hear it. Called upon to sing at an increasing number of meet ings and gatherings, the Choir was placed with a concert, and in 1921 undertook its first tour. Today the Choir is the touring/ concert unit of Westminster Choir College, Princeton, N.J. William son, founder and conductor of the, Choir, is also founder and presi-i dent of Westminster Choir Col lege. Recognized as one of today's: outstanding authorities on choral, techniques, Williamson is also'. credited with being a pioneer in the development of American choral singing. Orchestral Appearances The Choir has made 190 orches tral appearances in the last 17 years with symphony orchestras including the Philadelphia Or chestra, The New York Philhar monic Symphony Orchestra, The NBC Symphony of the Air and others throughout the United States, under the direction of such conductors as the late Arturo Tos— canini, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Bruno Walter, Eugene •Ormandy; and Stokowski. In addition to his knowledge of choral tone and balance. Wil liamson has a flair for program building. Concerts by the Choir offer numbers by such composers as Palestrina and Bach to repre sent works by modern composers and many examples of popular folk music. Selective Service Picks Osborn for Committee Dr. Elburt..F. Osborn, dean of t t the College of Mineral Industries, has been named to the Scientific. Advisory Committee of the Penn sylvania Selective Service Sys tem. He succeeds President Eric A Walker on the committee. Spring.. is nearly here, and it's time to put away those heavy winter coats. See our new shipment of khaki carcoats and all-purpose coats in pastel and dark shades. Here are the light-weight jackets you want for bright Spring days, perfect for every campus occa sion. Stop in and brouse r 4 -? - a ~` { MBE 124 E. College Avenue Opposite Old Main Scholarship Open For Frosh Coed Scrolls, senior women's hat so ciety, will provide a $lOO scholar ship for a second seemster fresh man coed. The scholarship, named in hon or of Mary Jane Wyland, advisor to Scrolls will be presented" in April. The money for the award was collected in the annual cookie sale sponsored by the society. Scrolls has also decided to do nate $lO to the drive for the Hun garian Student Assistance Fund. Riding Group to View Livestock Show Slides Herman Purdy. instructor in animal husbandry, will present slides of his recent trip to the Perth Livestock Show in Scot land at the Block and Bridle Club meeting at 7:30 tonight in 206 Armsby. See and Enjoy One's A Crowd Fri., Sat. - 8 & 9 - Center Stage Have Fun Going to a Movie! Stop at the Candy Cane !i for your snacks, choco r fates and mixed nuts. The Candy Cane 1 129 W. College AD 7-4253 . . . we have the coat you are looking for. Don't miss that fine new selection of carcoats. All-Purpose Coats at Clar/ad, PAGE FIVE
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers