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ing the Grade
h Computers

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*n grandpa's day, the well-
equipped collegian went off to
school with a raccoon coat and a
fountain pen. In mom and dad's
day, the college-bound arrived on
campus with a portable radio, port-
able stereo, and portable (maybe
even electric) typewriter. But
today's college students, while still
free to bring all of the above to cam-
pus, may need an additional item
that didn't exist when their parents
and grandparents went to school-
a personal computer (PC).
"There's no question that my PC
has improved the quality of my
work enormously," says Alan Zib-

ble, a junior at Northern Illinois
University in DeKalb. "For one
thing, at least the professors can
read what I write. My papers look
neat, and don't kid yourself-neat-
ness still counts."
"It's true," confirms Dr. David
Appleyard, professor of mathe-
matics and former dean of students
at Carleton College in Northfield,
Minnesota. "With a personal com-
puter, our students can combine
word processing with graphics,.
even if they only use it to organize
their notes into a legible first draft,
so they can add charts, graphs, and
illustrations, according to the

capabilities of their software."
Recently, Clarkson University in
Potsdam, New York, provided ev-
ery incoming freshman with a per-
sonal computer from a major elec-
tronics firm. Says David Bray,
Clarkson's dean of computing,
"The quality of papers improved
dramatically."
It's clear that both students and
faculty have embraced the personal
computer as a useful tool in the pur-
suit of advanced education. There
are very few institutions of higher
learning that do not provide their
students with "computing ac-
counts"-an amount of on-line

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