4
SUMMER
Sittin- by the dock on the lake....
Design computer
will aid engineers
BY J ENM BURROWS
The painstaking, time consuming,and pre
cise hand drawing and measuring common to
nearly every area of engineering will soon be
a thing of the past for engineering students at
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Instead, a computer will do all the work.
Dr. Ven-Ching Pao, professor of engineer
ing mechanics at UN-L, received a $22,000
grant from the University of Nebraska Foun
dation "to purchase something essential," he
said. The essential something purchased was
a Tektronix 4054 computer display system
with two terminals.
The system aids engineers in design and
manufacture of the products they create, and
is usually referred to as CAD-CAM, which
stands for computer aided design-computer
aided manufacture.
The college will also receive terminals
that can perform, at a lower level, some of
the abilities of the higher quality Tektronix
terminals.
The new computer, Pao said, "will help to
design, and the main feature of the computer
is the high speed. We will get very fast feed
back. We're talking about seconds, a minute,
even less, compared to hours, days, weeks"
which is how long a project would take when
done manually.
Computer cuts times
Using a computer program recorded on
tape, the computer operator can construct a
design, or line drawing, on the terminal
screen. The image,similar to that which a
draftsman would produce by hand, the com
puter can do in a fraction of the time.
The computer then alters any dimensions
or makes changes that the operator wishes,
and prints a copy of the image in about one
second. This procedure would take hours if
done manually, Pao said.
Pao gave the example of an engineer de
signing a bridge. "If he takes the design to his
boss, and his boss says 'change it,' he can do it
right on the screen instead of having to draw
it again by hand."
Storytelling festival
is Monday on ETV
Nebraska ETV Network presents the ben
efits of writing about the past on "The Grand
Generations" Monday at 7 p.m.
Mel Krulz, co-chairperson of "Writing and
Storytelling Festival for Older Nebraskan,"
and poet William Kloefkorn will present tech
niques on how to record personal experiences.
NEB
Number 2
School
Sunbathers catch a few rays at Holmes Lake
Pao said that a survey done two years ago
by his. department revealed that 50 companies
in the United States were using CAD-CAM. "I
wouldn't be surprised if now that number has
increased by 10-or 20-fold," said Pao.
Pao said he submitted a proposal to the
University of Nebraska Foundation in Octo
ber, 1981, to request money to purchase the
CAD-CAM. Pao said he hopes to receive
funds to attend a workshop this summer at
Michigan State University to learn more
about the CADCAM.
UN-L at the back otthe pack
"Lots of universities are already way
ahead of us," Pao said. "At Michigan State
University they have 20 units. They have a
wide screen TV terminal. It can accommo
date a great number of students for class
room instruction," compared to the five or six
that can observe a regular-size terminal like
those at UN-L.
Pao cited lack of money and the loss of top
engineering instructors to higher-paying, non
teaching positions as the reasons for UN-L's
lagging technical engineering opportunites.
Pao said he plans to develop a new course
based on the CAD-CAM, which may be off
ered next spring. The course will be open to
sophomores and juniors who have earned a
certain number of hours in computer science
and engineering.
In two or three years UN-L may be caught
up with other engineering schools, Pao said.
He said the university is only beginning to
break into the CAD-CAM program. Pao said
he hopes that his department can "prove that
we have the potential to be a top quality insti
tution, then industry will support us."
Pao said he was very glad that the founda
tion saw what he calls "an urgent need" for
the new system. The system will benefit
every department in the college of engineer
ing, Pao said.
"We only have our foot in the door" to
places that other schools have already been,
said Pao.
The computer is in Bancroft Hall.
Deadline is June 10
for degree applicants
The deadline for those applying for de
grees to be received July 9 is June 10. Ap
plications can be filled out at the Univer
sity of Nebraska-Lincoln Records Office,
208 Administration, between 7:30 a.m. and
4:30 p.m. on weekdays.
"'. mil
A
of Journalism
University
Thursday during a break in May's rainy
Nebraska team born
on blustery holiday
BY MICHAEL R. BERKE
University of Nebraska-Lincoln football
began in 1890 when 500 students accompanied
a 12-man squad to Omaha on a blustery
Thanksgiving Day.
Accounts of the Nebraska victory over the
Omaha YMCA don't reveal the action as it is
reported today, but a disgruntled writer from
the Omaha World-IIerald pointed out that
"the Lincoln team had the better teamwork
and the locals had the better players, who
failed to play into each other's hands.
"It was the first game of rugby football
that had been seen in Omaha and there were
several hundred out to see the boys enjoy
themselves and break each other's shins. It
resembled the old-fashioned game of log-heap
more than anything else."
The eastern pastime that Nebraska stu
dents had wanted since 1882 had finally ar
rived. Coached by Harvard graduate, Dr.
Langdon Frothingham, the "Old Gold
Knights," as the team was called, played an
other game that year against Doane, winning
18-0.
Mockett and Skiles remember first days
Old Lincoln Star-Journal clippings unveiled
some interesting facts about Nebraska foot
ball's first days.
The 1890 team captain and left back Ebe
nezer E. Mockett and right end Charles
M.Skiles, told about the early scrimmages.
"Things were different in the olden days,"
these players both agreed. They both remem
bered that the football players wore no pad
ding. The 1951 Journal-Star report noted
Skiles still had a bill which charged the uni
versity $36 for 11 suits; there was no mention
of padding.
The rules were different, according to
Mockett and Skiles. A touchdown earned only
four points, and a field goal two points. The
teams didn't plot in huddles, but called their
plays at the scrimmage line.
Ball not dead where stopped As Mockett
said, the opposing team often could anticipate
the play. But the ball was not "dead" where it
was first stopped, so whether the other team
was prepare for the play or not, the offen
sive team still could push the pigskin forward.
ETV will present Houseman Wednesday
The Nebraska ETV Network presents
actor John Houseman at work in "Stages
Houseman Directs Lear," at 9 p.m. on
Wednesday.
Houseman is known to his audience as
Prof. Kingsfield in "The Paper Chase" series.
A
of Nebraska
June 3, 1982
weather.
Photo by Terry Hyland
A team had three downs to make five
yards. It was illegal to throw a forward pass.
The ball was described in the rules as a "pro
late spheroid."
A player who wore a helmet was branded
a sissy. Long hair was considered enough pro
tection. According to "Go Big Red," a Nebraska
football history by Silber, Denney, and Lim
precht, football was a rugged sport, some
times brutal. It had gained popularity with
the advent of the flying wedge, in which the
ball carrier advanced inside the point of a
V-formation.
Nebraska defeated for first time The 1891
team played three games, all aginst Doane.
Doane won the second game; for the first
time, Nebraska tasted defeat.
In 1892, Nebraska joined the newly-formed
Western Collegitate Football Association, but
there was to be no championship that year.
The team by this time, dubbed the "Rattle
snake Boys," the "Antelopes," or the "Bug
Eaters," managed only a 2-2-1 season. One
forfeit victory came from Missouri, which
refused to play Nebraska because Negro
George Flippin was a team member. But the
other victory was a resounding one - the uni
versity's first over a major state university:
Nebraska 6, Illinois 0.
Illinois' Slater forgot In "Go Big Red," an
onlooker described the action:
"The ball was given to Illinois' Slater, but
in his hurry to make a brilliant play, he forgot
to take the ball along, so Flippin fell on it.
This gave the ball to Nebraska. Then our boys
lined up and gave Flippin the ball, which he
laid down over the goal. This gave Nebraska
four. Then the ball was taken to the field and
Oliver gave it a light tap with his toe and sent
it spinning between the goal posts, scoring
two more."
Nebraska's football continued to thrive in
those early years. The Conrhuskers suffered
only three losing seasons in their first 50
years.
Notice the word "Cornhuskers." In 1900,
the name was attached to the team. C.S. (Cy)
Sherman became irritated with the young
players being called "Bug-Eaters," and "Rat
tlesnake Boys," so he called them the Corn
huskers and the name stuck.
Houseman is also a champion of classic thea
ter and supports development and training of
American actors.
The film gives a day-to-day journal of the
production of Shakespeare's "King Lear," and
a look at the theatrical rehearsal process.
