Cryogenic Computing
11/03/2008
Computer science students and professor brave cold classroom temperatures during the
installation of the new campus-wide heating system.
The new heating system has since been installed, and Dr. Dos Reis (known for his
sense of humor) no longer goes to class looking like a mugger.
New graduate expert in new zOS systems
10/02/2008
Sudha Dhanwada, a New Paltz Computer Science student, had
the double joy of receiving the Outstanding Graduate Award
and a full-time job offer at the IBM zOS Center. In the
picture, Sudha was presenting her research project on file
management in prof. Pham’s Advanced Operating Systems
class.
Conceptual Elephants
09/11/2008
Every year Professor Pletch’s database class begins with a discussion of the idea of a conceptual model; a model whose purpose is to pull together the various points of view held about a problem, clarifying apparent disagreements in perception so that all people participating in a database design are using the same words for the same things, everyone is “on the same page”.
In the 19th century, Vermonter John Godfrey Saxe wrote a poem called “The Blind Men and the Elephant”. In his poem six blind men encounter an elephant and with their hands explore its body. The man who grabs the leg declares the elephant a tree, the tail a snake and so forth.
The first homework assignment in the class is for students to read the poem and then create a conceptual model of the elephant based upon the perceived realities of the six blind men.
Student Nancy Shaw quilted her answer to the homework. Her quilt contains strips of Velcro so that the different elephant parts can be placed on the quilt in whatever way seems appropriate to the designer.
Contact Information:
Department of Computer Science
Faculty Office Building N12
State University of New York New Paltz
1 Hawk Dr.
New Paltz, New York 12561-2443
Phone: (845) 257-3990
Fax: (845) 257-3996
Chairperson: Paul Zuckerman
Information: info@cs.newpaltz.edu