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PASADENA HIGH STUDENTS SAVE TIME .By ELMER WEUSMost high schools fed lucky If they can manage to get 10. rooting section card stunts* ready-for a football contest.At Pasadena-High School this Is not so. Ten*stunts Is a snap. The new PHS repertoire is more like 17-or. 20.The credit goes to Pole Christy,- 1C, and Kim Gibson, 37, both .seniors.They decided Uiat the space ;age,' with- its virtual myopic concentration on rockets and satellites,', had be on neglecting some of the more mundane-segments:or our society, like the card stunt.Christy first hit cm the •idea. Tt was ’hist summer while he was attending a National Science Foundation summer math program ut UCLA.- lie needed a math project to get himself involved in. So-he wondered what he could do lo take the drudgery out of selling up cardBrain Aids Card Stuntstricks.This sounds like something a machine can do. So I decided to see U I could write a program for a computer. I wanted to work out something that cuts the time it lakes to set up I he card, stunts,” he suid.The students explained that ordinarily-lt.takes about 120 man. hou rs to- write * the Inst ructions, for. a GOO card section such-as PHS. If a variety of card.stunts is-wanted, s with changes at-each game, the'detailed; work be-‘Comes a nightmare. - ' .’ For.example, separate Instructions have to be written out for each student*In the card -section, since all do not hold up.the.sume:color''card at the same-time. As the number of stunts desired increases so docs the labor in deciding which students lu.which seats will hold up whatcolor cards,.» • •Clirisly figured that If punched computer cards could he devised with code numbers corresponding to seal numbers and the color of the card desired, the problem of ! setting up now caTd stunts would be simplified. ‘ I He and Gibson, lie said, worked about a week to do-' 1 vise their system:. It involves intricate mathematical t equations, such as:1 (lH-,5(3x,I2 ... , }Normally, the students explained, in'setting up a newj } card stunt/, a diagram is first drawn. Then, while-follow* I ing;ihc diagram.,someone .has to copy out the .Instruct I lions for each seat!.This .lakes 120 man hours'or better. INow-when-PUS desires-a new trick; after thoi.dia- J gram is drawn, the punched1 cards are arranged Irormihp 1 diagram according to mathematical formula. This lakes ! about 15 hours. .. •The cards arc then put; into ft computer. The com-, puler wiles Us Instructions on a magnetic-tape. The tape Is put into a high-speed specialized printing press. Prcslo! In l?i lo 2 minutes the instructions for a GOO-card section are primed, although many of I hem differ.' / 1 —sic.ii rstr#CARD!STUNTS—Kim Gibson/Idff/* and* Pele Christ, PHS seniors, plan • instructions to mechanical brain lo speed up organization of PHS card stunts.' Automated plan makes it possible for PHS to double iIs card stunt repertoire,, yet cut preparation hours about 88 per cent.
Newspaper Details
Pasadena Independent
Pasadena, California, US
Mon, Nov 19, 1962
Page 60
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 26 Nov 2018
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