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