Wednesday, September 21, 1977
daily nebraskan
page 3
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Computer designed for laymen
By John Ortmann
A computer system for the common man has been
established at UNL.
Developed by Ag. Economic professor James Kend.
rick and Ag. Engineering professor Thomas Thompson,
the Nebraska Agricultural Computer Network (AGNET)
is designed for people with no knowledge of computers.
The system came into use in 1974.
Kendrick" said the system first was used in Nebraska
but has expanded to the five state Old West Regional
Commission (OWRC) area. The states of Wyoming, Mon
tana, and North and South Dakota now are included in
the system' and funding is provided by OWRC, Kendrick
said.. :
Thompson said there are other, more limited systems
like AGNET in other parts of the country, but added
AGNET has a broader scope than simply agriculture.
. The actual computer, an IBM 370, is housed at the
state capitol building and belongs to the Nebraska Depart
ment of Administrative Services, Thompson said.
Crop irrigation ' j
Many farmers already have taken advantage of AGNET
to schedule irrigation of crops, Kendrick said. He added
that most Agriculture College students use the system for
assigned classwork. Farmers and students are not charged
for using AGNET, he said.
The only things needed to use the computer are basic
typing skills and a short explanation by a programming
assistant, he said.
AGNET supervisor Alfred Stark showed how a typical
session works.
He typed the word "Buspak" (Business Package)
and the computer responded instantly via printout by
offering to list economic programs. Simply typing the
word "list" .brought a choice of 10 program names, rang
ing from "capital budgeting" to "return on investment.'
' Stark selected a loan equity program and the computer
asked for the size of the loan he wanted to consider, the
interest rate, repayment schedule and time period of the
loan. Stark selected some typical figures at random. In
seconds AGNET printed out the total cost of the loan,
total interest at various times over the repayment period
and the size of the remaining debt. -
Explained steps
At various steps along the way the computer printed
"help?" By answering "yes" the computer prints out an
explanation of what is going on and what is being asked
of the user. v
Stark said by using AGNET to examine loan situations
one can compare different interest rates and repayment
plans and come up with the most economical plan.
He atided that an economics student using AGNET
could work out a great number of such problems and
begin to understand finance relationships while a student
working by hand still would be on his first problem.
Other AGNET programs are available dealing with
agriculture, home economics and elementary education.
Terminals and ""sistance personnel are located on. East
Campus in Agricultural Engineering Hall.
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