Daily Bulletin

UW mourns computer pioneer

James Wesley Graham, who was named an Officer of the Order of Canada just last month, and invested into the order in a private ceremony last week, came to UW in 1959, after a few years working for IBM in Toronto. He taught mathematics at first, but in 1962, when the "Computing Centre" was created, he became its first director.

It was under his aegis that, over a hectic three months in the summer of 1965, four students wrote the original WATFOR (WATerloo FORtran) compiler for the IBM 7040. Shortly afterwards came WATFIV, soon to be marketed by the Computer Systems Group, which Graham headed for decades, and the spinoff Watcom Inc., now part of Sybase Inc.

In 1973 he returned to teaching and research, but continued to be the eminence behind many computing developments at UW. In 1982 he was a key figure in negotiating a "partnership" deal that brought $17 million worth of IBM hardware to Waterloo, and from 1983 to 1988 he held the position of "dean of computing and communications", which was created for him and disappeared when he finished his term.

Among other distinctions, Graham was a Distinguished Teacher Award winner at UW, and was given one of the university's "25th Anniversary Medals" in 1982. The J. W. Graham Medal in Computing and Innovation is presented to a Waterloo alumnus each year in his honour.

Graham made his last appearance on campus early this summer, when he was guest of honour at a gathering marking the closing of the Red Room in the Math and Computer building. He spoke for a few minutes at that event, recalling the planning of Math and Computer (built in 1967) and the last-minute change that made the computer room "red" instead of yellow as originally intended. It was a novelty, he reminded his audience, to put computers -- huge, unwieldy machines costing millions of dollars -- where the general public, and the students using them, could actually see them.

Says the official obituary notice: "He was a tireless and devoted father to Barbara Graham (deceased), Marlene and Randy Kipfer, Jim and Connie Graham, Susi and Ricky McCormick, Gord Graham and Paul Graham and a proud and loving grandfather. . . . Wes will be missed by beloved companion Rebecca Edisbury . . . he will also be remembered by his wife Helen Graham and his sister Gail Corbett."

Family members will receive friends at the Schreiter Sandrock Funeral Home in downtown Kitchener tonight from 7 to 9 p.m., Thursday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9. A memorial service will be held Friday at 3 p.m. at St. Mark's Lutheran Church, 825 King Street West. Memorial donations to the Grand River Hospital Foundation were suggested.

Staff positions this week

• Customer Service Assistant, Distance and Continuing Education, grade USG 4: High school graduate or equivalent, some post-secondary education preferred. Several years' experience in a student/customer service related position essential. Aptitude for detail and accuracy. Excellent human relations, organizational, communication (oral and written), analytical and problem-solving skills. Proven ability to work independently and as a team member in a busy, high-pressured environment with deadlines and changing priorities. Knowledge of university policies and procedures as they relate to part-time studies, distance and continuing education. Proficient computer skills including WordPerfect, Word, Excel and FileMaker Pro.
• Computer Operator, Information Systems & Technology, grade USG 4: The candidate must possess good computer skills and an understanding of VM/CMS and UNIX operating systems. Some mechanical and electronic knowledge would be an asset for diagnosing minor equipment problems. Willing to work shifts including nights and Saturdays. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills are required. Some lifting of boxes of paper (40 lbs). Secondary School Graduation diploma or equivalent experience in a multi-processing computer environment.
• Switchboard Operator, Information Systems & Technology, grade USG 3: Excellent communication skills and a good knowledge of the University environment. Ability to handle high volume switchboard in a university setting. Previous SL1 switchboard experience preferred. Able to handle PC based directory inquiries (Switchview), place long distance calls and direct emergency calls. Current hours from 10: a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
• Patrol Officer, UW Police Services, grade USG 6: Candidate will be a graduate of a Community College with a diploma in Law and Security with two years related experience or an equivalent combination of formal training and experience in a Police and/or Security environment. A copy of the constable Selection System Certificate is to be included with the application or resume. Depending on experience and training, successful candidates maybe required to attend further formal training to meet requirements of the Department. Excellent communication and human relations skills essential. Proven abilities relating to young adults. Experience in working with a diverse population. Will be required to meet the standards of acceptance as a Special Constable under the Ontario Police Services Act. Must have valid Ontario Driver's License, current standard level of first aid certification and current basic rescuer level CPR. Must be capable and will to work rotating shifts and work overtime as required.

"The university welcomes and encourages applications from the designated employment equity groups: visible minorities, women, persons with disabilities, and aboriginal people. For more information call: University of Waterloo 885-1211 ext. 2524."

Let me make this sorta clear

The answer, for those who care, is that the Bulletin is written in HTML, to look good and make sense on its web page, . Later, the low-tech browser Lynx is used to turn the HTML into a text file, and that's what gets posted to the newsgroups. Lynx isn't superbly good at interpreting the HTML tag "<table>", which is often used to hang photos and brief announcements along the edge of the Bulletin page, as in the case of the parking lot item yesterday. Text inside a "table" gets attached to the nearest paragraph, with results that can be baffling.

Most days, I manage to give the text for the newsgroups a quick editing. Yesterday, being out of the office first thing in the morning, I didn't, and the page layout just happened to be unusually complicated -- which led to the gibberish that some readers encountered. I'm looking for a general solution, but haven't found one yet.

A couple of other readers wrote to ask for more information about what's being done at parking lots A and C: why are those conduits being installed under Seagram Drive? Peter Briant of the parking services department kindly provided this word:

"It mentioned in the article that they were boring under the road to carry wires for new gates at Lot A. What is really happening is we are running new wires for power and communications to lot C. We have had problems in the past with old power lines to the gates shorting,and we have never had communications lines running to this location. When the contractor is finished his work, lines will be pulled to the gates for WatCard readers, so the customer can pay for parking with their WatCard. At the same time we will be installing intercoms linked back to Police and Parking Services so we can deal with any problems in the area with the least amount of inconvenience to the customer."

I hope that, at least, is clear -- and no, Tim's has nothing to do with the new scholarships in mathematics.

Sources of scientific articles

The NSF's Indicators for 1998, titled Science and Technology in Transition to the 21st Century, include an analysis of 439,000 scientific articles published three years earlier, in 1995. They included "about 142,800 scientific and technical articles" by U.S. authors in a set of journals included in the Science Citation Index. "The bulk -- 71 percent -- were by academic authors. Eight percent each had authors affiliated with other major sectors: industry, government, and nonprofit organizations."

Says the report: "Globally, five nations produced more than 60 percent of the 439,000 articles in the SCI set of journals in 1995: the United States (33 percent), Japan (9 percent), the United Kingdom (8 percent), Germany (7 percent), and France (5 per-cent). No other country's output reached 5 percent of total. . . .

"The development or strengthening of national scientific capabilities in several world regions was evident in faster publications output growth elsewhere than in the United States; growth elsewhere accelerated toward the mid-1990s, overshadowing continued growth in U.S. output. This continued a long-term decline in the U.S. share of total article output.

"Europe accrued gains in output share -- from 32 percent in 1981 to 35 percent in 1995. Asia's share rose from 11 to 15 percent, even though India's output declined by one-third in absolute number of articles over the period."

And, the report says, "Great variation marked countries' article outputs per billion U.S. dollars of their estimated 1995 gross domestic product. Israel and some smaller European nations ranked highest, exceeding 30 articles per billion. The United States was in the middle range, with 20 articles. Nations with fast-developing economies had smaller than expected article outputs, reflecting the recent rapidity of their economic strides and suggesting considerable room for further scientific growth."

The score for Canada: 25 articles per billion dollars in the economy -- ahead of the United States but just behind the United Kingdom (29).

"Countries' science portfolios, as reflected in their published output, show some striking differences," the NSF report says. "Clinical medicine and biomedical research are heavily emphasized in the article outputs of the United States, United Kingdom, the countries of Northern Europe, several smaller Western European nations, and Chile. Chemistry and physics form a larger than average fraction of the output of France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Eastern Europe, Russia, Mexico, and many Asian countries. Russia, China, Egypt, and Asian countries emphasize engineering and technology."

CAR

Editor of the Daily Bulletin: Chris Redmond
Information and Public Affairs, University of Waterloo
credmond@uwaterloo.ca | (519) 888-4567 ext. 3004
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