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fffOKGlATECH VOL. 64 NO 3 Alumni Magazine Winter 1989

SBVFF John C. Dunn Editor

Gary Goettling Associate Editor

Gary Meek Margaret Barrett Photography

Everett Hullum Design

Wayne Parker Advertising

PUBUCATIONS COMMITTEE

Page 23

George A. Stewart Jr. '69, chairman

Hugh A. Carter Jr. '64 John B. Hayes 7 0 Frank H. Maier Jr. '60 Jean J. Millkey'83 L. Gordon Sawyer Sr. '46 H. McKinley Conway '40

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine is published quarterly for Foil Call contributors by the Georgia Tech Alumni Association. Send corres­pondence and changes of address to-. Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Alumni, Faculty House 225 North Avenue NW Atlanta. GA 30332-0175

© 1989 by Georgia Tech Alumni Association Page 46

Q̂ JNTENTJS

14

23

33

42

46

Fax of Life With fast and inexpensive transmission, fax has become the best method of sending data. Written by Gary Goettling

The Excitement of SciTrek Helped by Tech alumni, a new Atlanta museum offers "adventures in science and technology." Photo essay by Gary Meek

The Mad Housers Home, sweet homes, for the homeless. Written by Lisa Crowe

Economics and the Black Underclass Reporting on a new book by Tech's Danny Boston. Written by Charles Hyatt

Rx for a Computer Virus Curing infections and avoiding shutdowns means, basically, getting "it" before it gets you. Written by John Dunn

DEPARTMENT^

"7 Letters No booing, please; and promising cooperation.

8 Technotes Air pollution comes indoors; restarting the Tech nuclear reactor; and good news about" them dogs.'

52 Profile Satya Atluri: Tech's unconventional teacher.

On the Cover Homes for Atlanta's homeless have been the goal of the Mad Housers, a group of eccentric builders headed by Tech graduate Mike Conners. See story beginning on page 33- Photo by Louie Favorite

Why YelbwJadsets

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What's more, on Delta you fly in style. For 14 years in a row, our personal service has earned Delta a record of passenger satisfaction so good, it has all the other airlines buzzing.

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OFFICIAL SPONSOR ALUMNI MAGAZINE

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1988 Delta Air Lines, Inc. Delta Connection flights operate with Delta flight numbers 2000-5999.

Georgia Tech Alumni Association

Alumni Faculty House Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0175

Tell Us What You Think G

Dear Reader: Our Georgia Tech educations have prepared us both to create new

technology and apply existing technology. But while few of us create, most all of us must contend with the challenge of managing technology. A virtual explosion in technological innovation has made that task an ongoing concern of critical importance to our professional lives.

Two articles in this issue of the GEORGIA TECH ALUMNI MAGAZINE — "Fax of Life" (page 14) and "Rx for a Computer Virus" (page 46) — deal with issues that may be grouped under the broad heading of technology management.

These articles represent a possible new focus and direction for the magazine. The Alumni Publications Committee and the staff of alumni publications have a strong interest in emphasizing features that address management of technology issues. We plan to expand on this new direction in future issues, drawing upon the considerable resources of Georgia Tech's faculty, alumni and students to help identify the prob­lems and opportunities that new technology offers today.

Our goal is to help you, our readers, become better managers of technology. Your thoughts — about management of technology articles in this issue or about the content of future issues — would be most ap­preciated and helpful in reaching that goal.

Please direct your comments to John Dunn, director of alumni publications, Alumni/Faculty House, Atlanta, GA 30332-0175; telephone: (404) 894-2389; fax: (404) 894-5113.

We hope to hear from you soon. Sincerely,

George A. Stewart Jr., '69 Chairman Alumni Publications Committee

This is quickly becoming we use to build our

It may not be as sophisticated as a CCD image scanner. But it'll make quantum leaps possible in copier, facsimile and laser products. Because last fall, it broke ground a little north of Lawrenceville, in Gwinnett County, Georgia. Where Ricoh is build­ing another U.S. manufacturing site for office equipment.

We've certainly had practice. In 1976, Ricoh was the first Japanese company to make copier products

RDSffiDD

the most important tool office quipment

in America. Our three plants in Southern California make us the largest Japanese employer in Orange County. We hope to have the same positive effect on the economy of this county outside of Atlanta. By employing local people, buying supplies from nearby companies, and helping the community grow.

A commitment you'll be able to see for yourself on the labels of the office products that come out of our new factory. The ones that say Made in America.

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n „--,.. T

TETTERS

Student Athletes Deserve Fans' Praise Editor. It was my privilege to watch the Georgia Tech-Maryland football game here in the Charleston, S.C., area.

At one point, the punter from Maryland got off a bad kick and the Maryland fans booed him.

It is my hope that I never become so sophisti­cated, so philosophical and so jaded that I am unaffected by such. It seems to me that a student amateur wearing the colors of his school and doing his very best should not be booed. In my opinion, opponents should not boo the student athletes of the other team.

I remember well an editorial in the Technique which appeared during my time as a Tech student in the early and mid '60s. It appeared just before a spirited Georgia Tech-Aubum game. There had been trouble some years before between Georgia, Auburn and Tech. Un­sportsmanlike conduct had taken place. The three schools got together and resolved to do something about it. The Technique editorial brought all of the trouble to the fore. Its con­clusion—and I have never forgotten this—read: "Of course, we want Georgia Tech to play over their

heads and win the game, but let us remember that the best part is the hand­shake afterward."

It was a very, very high moment for me. Bear in rnind, when I was going through Georgia Tech I was older than almost all the other students. How­ever, this 21- or 22-year-old editorial writer had given me a statement which I have used often in many contexts beyond that of a football game.

My own impression is that no student amateur athlete should be booed, except possibly for poor sportsmanship, although I'm not sure it is in order even under those circum­stances.

It is my profound prayer that Georgia Tech students, alumni and fans will never boo a Georgia Tech student athlete, even if we never win another football game.

J.J. Mahoney, MS IM '67 Mount Pleasant, S.C.

Emory/Tech Center Promises to Be Economic Asset Editor: It was with a dual interest that I read "Breaking the Barriers" [Fall '88 ALUMNI

MAGAZINE]. As a Georgia

Tech graduate and as an officer of Emory Univer­sity, I have found great sat­

isfaction in working on the development of the Emory/ Georgia Tech Biomedical Technology Research Center.

This center has the potential of developing into a significant economic asset to Atlanta and Georgia as we enter a period that is frequently referred to as the "second biological revolution."

The biomedical technol­ogy industry is rapidly be­coming aware of the strengths in the comple­mentary relationship between engineering at Tech and medicine at Emory, and are increasingly looking to Atlanta as a good place to do business. The relocation of the national headquarters of the American Cancer Society to the Emory campus also sends a message to that effect.

Thanks for sharing the story of the Emory-Tech partnership with the alumni community, which will undoubtedly feel great pride in the future when medical breakthroughs and economic development occur.

William J. Todd, IM 7 1 Assistant vice president

for medical adminis­tration

Health Sciences Center Emory University Atlanta

Thankyou to the

official sponsors

ofthe GEORGIA

TECH Alumni

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Acme Business Products

Apple Computer Ball Stalker Boomershine

Autos BusinessLand C&SBank The Coca-Cola

Company Delta Air Lines First Atlanta Lanier Plaza

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GEORGIA TECH • Letters 7

LethalEnvironnients? The furnishings of a mod­ern office can be a source of air pollution.

Georgia Tech research­ers have found that man-made furnishings common in offices emit as many as 60 different chemicals into the air, creating indoor air pollution problems which can cause headaches, nose and throat irritation and other symptoms.

"Generally, indoor air is significantly dirtier than outside air," says Dr. Char-lene Bayer, senior research scientist in Tech's Environ­ment, Health and Safety Di­vision. "You are in a box. Everything in it gives off pollutants, and they build up."

Fiberboard used in desks, partitions and shelving often contains the chemical formaldehyde, a component of the glue used to bind wood particles together. In a confined area, formaldehyde vapors can be harmful, particularly to persons with allergies.

The work of Georgia Tech reseachers could lead to healthier environments.

"We're looking at the emission patterns and emission rates from these products so we can guide people in the construction of new buildings or the remodeling of old build­ings," Bayer says. "They'll know when they put pro­ducts into buildings what

kind of emissions to expect and what they can do to eliminate them."

In one Atlanta area office, partitions containing the material had to be removed because their emissions made workers sick, Bayer adds.

"Almost all construction materials contribute to indoor air pollution," she says. In addition to furnish­ings, other pollution

sources include paint, wallpaper glue, office copying machines, tile flooring, rest room deodor­ants and even clothes that have been dry cleaned. Cigarette smoking also contributes substantially to poor indoor air quality.

Under ideal conditions, a building's ventilation system removes pollutants, but Bayer has found that many building ventilation

systems are not well-maintained, and even among systems that receive

proper care, intake of outdoor air often

is reduced to conserve energy.

Building owners can improve the quality of indoor air without com­promising energy conser­vation. "To dilute and move the pollutants out usually means you need to bring in larger amounts of outdoor air," Bayer says. "Properly balanced sys­tems can be more energy efficient to operate, and cost less for the employer in the long run."

Tech Resumes Nuclear Reactor Tests Georgia Tech has restarted its 5-megawatt reactor at the Neely Nuclear Research Center and resumed irradiation experiments after receiving authoriza­tion from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which also proposed assessing Tech with a $5,000 penalty for past violations of NCR require­ments.

President John P. Cre-cine said at a press confer­ence he is "very pleased" with the decision made by the NRC authorizing Tech to resume operations.

Malcolm L. Ernst, acting administrator of NRC's Region II office in Atlanta, said in a letter dated Nov. 15 that NRC inspectors concluded "the actions taken by Georgia Tech are sufficient to permit restart of the reactor and the resumption of the irradia­tion experiments."

Tech was also notified that the NRC was propos­ing a $5,000 penalty against the Instiriite for violations of NRC require­ments.

According to the letter, the penalty was proposed

"because of a breakdown in management controls which resulted in the fail­ure of facility pers< >nnel to follow approved proce­dures, failure to have adequate procedures for conduct and control of experiments and for radio­logical safety activities, and failure to conduct adequate surveys to evaluate the extent of radiological hazards which may have been present."

Crecine said at the press conference, "We do not intend to appeal the

Continued on page 11

8 GEORGIA TECH • Winter '89

gjffift.

GEORGIA TECH • Technotes 9

Mary Blue doesn't rest until every part is perfect

ary Blue expects a lot from herself. A software engineer at GE Aircraft Engines, she helps develop new manufacturing methods for the engine parts that power commercial and military aircraft. Quality is her absolute top priority.

Mary also expects a lot from the company she works for. As a member of GE's Manufacturing Management Program, she's found the environment that lets her achieve, and excel. Her support system includes CAD/CAM, robotics, new materials, and all the leading-edge technologies. Plus interaction with the best minds in her field.

Talented engineers like Mary Blue are handed real responsibility on high priority projects from the day they join GE. Which is why only the most demanding, self-motivated people can be selected.

Behind the truly successful engineer, there's a standout company.

mark of a der An

T^JiNOTqS From Page 8

Tech's Nuclear Reactor Restarted Following NRC "Green light" proposed $5,000 civil penalty imposed by the NRC. We have admitted mistakes and have taken steps to correct them. It is

time for Tech to move on. "In the final analysis, we

agree with the NRC that no single incident occurred which placed reactor per­

sonnel or the public in" any unsafe position," Crecine added. Irradiation experi­ments were ordered stopped at the facility on

Alumni have an unparalleled opportu­nity to leave an indelible mark on Get >rgia Tech in the Name the New College Contest.

President John P. Crecine's academic restructuring proposal includes establish­ment of a "new college" embracing five general areas of study:

• decision sciences • international studies • management and public policy • psychology and organizational be­

havior • s< >cial sciences, philosophy and

culture The New College Restructuring Com­

mittee, which is charged with develop­

ing education and research programs in those five areas, is also looking for a "snappy, descriptive or otherwise notable suggestion" for the college-to-be's name, according to the group's interim report.

"If your suggestion is chosen, you will receive a prize of very little mone­tary value," the report continues.

"In the event that we have more than one winning entry, the priz.e will go to the person whose entry arrives second."

While there is no deadline, send entries as soon as possible to Dr. George Nemhauser, Georgia Tech, 225 North Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30332-0205.

Jan. 20, 1988. Crecine suspended all reactor operations at the center on Feb. 15 pending a "green light" from the NRC.

Dr. Betty Revsin has been named manager of the Office of Radiation and Safety. Crecine noted the appointment of Dr. Albert P. Sheppard as vice president for interdiscipli­nary programs, with direct responsibility over the Neely Nuclear Research Center.

Tech Fans Find Dog with a Satisfying Bite This past football season, Georgia Tech fans dis­played an unusual affinity for dogs — hot dogs, that is. Each Saturday afternoon

Continued on page 13

Georgia Tech Alumni Association Officers B.Joe Anderson '50

president Lawton M. Nease III '65

past president Oliver H. Sale Jr. '56

pn 's idettt-elect/treasu rer Shirley C. Mewborn '56

vice pn •sident-activilies John C. Siaton Jr. '60

vice president-communications H. HamondStithJr. '58

vice president-Roll Call [oho B. Carter Jr. '69

vice president/executive director

Trustees Thomas A. Barrow Jr. '48 Brian S. Brown '50 Hugh A. Carter Jr. '64 Stanley L. Daniels '60 Eugene Cox Dunwody Sr. H. Allen Ecker '57 '58 Edwin C. Eckles '52 Jack J. Eaussemagne '65 Hal W. Field '51 Frank B. Fortson 71 Samuel O. Franklin III '65 L. Thomas Gay Jr. '66 RobertG. Hill '58 Brian D. Hogg '61 James R. Jolly '64

'55 '56

G. William Knight '62 '68 James R. Lientz Jr. '65 Frank H. Maierjr. '60 Ronald L. Martin '68 Robert E. Mason '60 Jean J. Millkey '83 Wade T. Mitchell '57 Daniel E. Pittard 71 James Richard Roberts III '69 V. Hawley Smith '68 Francis M. Spears 73 '80 William (. Stanley III 72 George A. Stewart '69 H. Milton Stewart Jr. '61 D. Richard Worsham '68

GEORGIA TECH • Technotes 1 1

^tlanta's new Lanier Plaza. Large enough to provide unexcelled full facilities, yet small enough to remain

intimate and personal, the hotel prides itself on meeting every guest's needs. D At almost every turn the Lanier Plaza

embraces its guests with environmental charm. Guest rooms are tastefully appointed and our thirteen exiauisite

suites represent Atlanta's finest — with amenities including fireplaces, wet bars and Jacuzzis. • Our ultra-modern

Conference Center comprised of 30 rooms, offers 27,000 square feet dedicated exclusively to meeting/ banquet use.

And our Seasons — The Steak Club Restaurant features a unique variety of charcoal broiled prime beef, fresh seafood and poultry, served with style. Its distinctive

atmosphere is characterized by split levels, fresh plantings, leaded crystal windows and other fine accoutrements.

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TH^HNOfTB^

The Dogs in Tech's Heart (and stomach)

during home games, Glenn Robins sold Barkers Hot-dogs from a van parked on Third Street, across from Bobby Dodd Stadium.

"Tech fans are terrific," Robins says.

The feeling must be mu­tual. A steady line of cus­tomers along Third Street leads to the trailer, and some hot dog fans have stayed in line, missing the kickoff, rather than miss having a Barkers Hotdog.

"What surprises me

The good news from the Barkers trailer: There's a dog that doesn't bite back.

more than anything is how people will — with ear­phones in their ears, listen­ing to the game — feel compelled to wait in line for their hot dogs," says Robins, who shuts down his operation at halftime.

PHOTO BY MARGARET BARRETT

After moving to Atlanta 12 years ago, Robins missed the flavorful hot dog that was the favorite of his native Buffalo, N.Y. In 1984, he did something about it — he brought his hometown specialty to Atlanta. Under the city's revised vending ordinance, he was the first licensed hot-food street vendor. Monday through Friday,. Robins may be found in Woodruff Park, dispensing his popular dogs to large and enthusiastic crowds of downtown lunch-goers.

The success of the en­terprise was featured in The New York Times.

Ivobins and his partner, Vivian Swiatek, gross $250,000 a year, which promises to become even more prosperous. Robins has signed a contract to sell Barkers Hotdogs in Under­ground Atlanta, scheduled to open June 15.

Three people work out of the four-by-eight-foot van, Robins says. "We're all specialists with no wasted motion." Nor is there any

wasted space. The van will hold as many as 600 hot dogs. "The bread is the bulky part. We use every square inch in that cart," Robins says.

1 he secret to his success, Robins says, is "the meat, the hot dog itself, and the way we prepare it." The hot dogs are made by Sahlen Packing Co., a fourth generation German family in Buffalo, N.Y.

"What we offer on our hot dogs as far as condi­ments is very typical of what you would find back home in Buffalo," Robins says. "In hot sauce, every­body has their own recipe. Over the years, I was able to develop my own and fine-tune it before we started the business. It has become something that we are noted for, and that people come back for.

"I'm really an entrepre­neur at heart," Robins con­cludes. "I always thought that owning a hot dog business would be fun. And there is always a need for a good hot dog." •

GEORGIA TECH • Technotes 1 3

1 4 GEORGIA TECH • Winter 89

For the price of a telephone call, fax machines make data transmission sure, dependable — and amazingly quick.

The technology isn't exotic; many of the basic principles were discovered by Alexander Graham Bell more than a

century ago. But although facsimile or fax machines have been a long time coining, they are quickly gaining a stature approaching that of Bell's invention as an important business communications device.

"Fax is everywhere," says Lura Romei, editor of Modem Office Technology magazine. "It's becoming as much a 'given' as the copier."

Virtually unheard-of a decade ago, the past two years in particular have marked the beginning of an extraor­dinary rate of growth for facsimile machines. Some estimates put that rate as high as 30 percent annually, with an installed fax base anticipated to reach 5 million units by 1992.

"The information that we have is that in the year 1988, 800,000 to 1 million machines will be sold in the continental United States," says Dave Cullen, a field manager with Harris/ 3M in Atlanta. "That's up from probably 450,000 the year before."

The attraction of fax comes down to two basics: money and time. Fax is cheaper than just about any other method of information transfer, including, sometimes, first-class mail. Today's generation of facsimile devices can transmit a document in less than 60 seconds, all for the price of a telephone call.

And with many business decisions dependent on immediate access to information, even the cost of a long­distance call makes fax cost-effective.

"We've gone from an eight-minute down to a 20-second transmission,"

Continued next page

GEORGIA TECH • Fax Popularity 15

says Cullen, "so the cost-justification of sending a document over phone lines today is much more effective than it was even four years ago."

The ability to move information almost instantaneously fills many business needs, and helps re-define those needs as well.

"It's the instant gratification that we're used to from television and all that," says Romei. "We want our in­formation and we want it right now. And that's what fax delivers. Over­night isn't fast enough."

The proliferation of fax has been greatly aided by the establishment of universal operating specifications. CCITT, an international board that governs world-wide telecommunica­tions activity, has promulgated standards enabling any make of fax machine to communicate with any other manufacturer's model.

CCITT has also classified succes­sive generations of fax machines by speed. The early devices of the 1970s took six minutes or more to transmit a page and are called Group 1 faxes. Group 2 units took from four to six minutes per page. Almost all faxes on the market today fall into the Group 3 category, taking less than one minute to transmit a page.

Group 4 faxes, which can send high-resolution images in less than 10 seconds per page using digital phone lines, may represent the distant future for fax. But the special telephone lines they require are ex­pensive, as are the machines them­selves. And since the telephone com­pany currently bills in increments of one minute, there are no savings in transmitting a single document in five seconds versus 30 seconds.

Still, if present trends continue and fax becomes a mainstay of office communication, perhaps also devel­oping a home-users market, the next logical step would be for even faster, full-color, ultra-high-resolution fax transmissions, and all the additional applications that could then be accommodated.

Ronald Schafer, Regents' professor of electrical engineering and an expert on digital signal processing,

1 6 GEORGIA TECH • Winter 89

says that digital transmission in­volves a trade-off between the num­ber of bits in a pro­cessed image and the rate of trans­mission—more bits mean higher quality, but slower transmission.

"If you are willing to tie up your telephone line for a long time, you can transmit an image with whatever quality you want," says Dr. Schafer. "On the other hand, if you want to have high quality and trans­mit it quickly, you have to be able to transmit a lot of bits per second over the communication channel, and that means your communication channel is more expensive.

"One way to improve the situation is to be able to represent a printed page or whatever with a small num­ber of bits," he adds. "That requires, generally, quite a bit of analysis of the image computation, resulting in a kind of fax terminal that would be rather expense at this point."

Thus Group 3 technology would seem to be secure for now, although many current models are available with Group 4 upgrade capability.

Today even small businesses can afford fax technology.

Ten years ago, a typical no-frills unit would have cost about $10,000. Many stan­dard models today are available for under

, $2,000; older, slower machines may ' sell for as little as $500.

U.S. Facsimile Machine Shipments (Thousands of I nits)

Almost all fax machines are made in Japan, where fax has enjoyed widespread business and home use for several years. In the United States, with more than 20 vendors in the marketplace and no clear industry leader, competition is intense. The battle for sales is fought with lower prices, innovation and aggressive marketing. For example: A single-unit telephone and fax machine is becoming a part of every manufac­turer's product line. Many of these units — which have also started to appear in department stores — con­tain a clock, telephone answering machine or other desktop accessory, and may even be used as a low-volume "convenience copier."

Improvements in circuitry are enabling manufacturers to build smaller and smaller units. Harris/3M, for example, is testing a portable fax machine the size of a loaf of bread.

Fax machines are nearly all well-made, reliable and pretty much equivalent in their basic ability to send and receive documents. All fax machines have three basic parts: a

Continued on page 19

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Georgia Tech Alumni Association

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Departing July 8,1989

T his summer, the Georgia Tech Alumni Association

J L and Royal Cruise Line invite you to experience this exhilarating 13-day cruise of the Norsemen. Aboard the superb new Crown Odyssey, set sail on a cruise of a lifetime to some of Europe's most glamorous capitals. You'll meet the gleaming white Crown Odyssey in the exciting city of London. From there you'll cruise to quaint Travemunde, beautiful Gdynia, fascinating Leningrad, bustling Helsinki, glittering Stockholm, enchanting Copenhagen, charming Oslo, and effer­vescent Amsterdam. Royal Cruise Line, famed for its warmth of service, ex­cellent entertainment and superb cuisine, invites you to experience the finest in luxury cruising. Tor more information, please contact: The Georgia Tech Alumni Association Alumni Faculty House, Atlanta, GA 30332-0175 (404) 894-2391

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scanner, which reads a document and translates the image into audio signals; a modem, to send and receive documents; and a printer. While particular makes and models offer variations in speed and image quality, the primary difference — the cost difference — is in the "extras."

"Models are changing every six months or so, but the basic premise of getting information from one place to another has been the same for years," says John Hough of Panafax in Atlanta. "It's just the added con­venience features that have really changed — the bells and whistles."

When buying a fax, the best ap­proach is to first determine the extra features wanted, then shop for the lowest price, regardless of make.

The convenience feature offered on virtually all faxes is unattended reception, which allows the unit to answer the phone, receive and print documents automatically.

Other common appurtenances include automatic document feed, paper cutter (most faxes print on a continuous roll of paper), and trans­mission confirmation.

Two types of internal memory are available on most fax machines. One provides speed- and auto-dialing capability. Another enables the fax to store a given number of pages, which means that the unit can receive docu­ments even if it is out of paper.

A broadcasting function allows" transmission of several pages to a group of pre-programmed fax num- ' bers. Polling works the other way around by enabling the fax to call a list of other fax numbers and retrieve documents they have waiting.

A variation of the broadcast and polling features is called relaying, in which a fax transmits a page to a second fax, along with instructions for sending that document to a third fax or group of faxes.

Fax options are ex­tensive, offering "bells and whistles" from PC linkups to delayed transmission.

^k nother important option J^^ is unattended transmis-

m ^ ^ k sion, which provides for LJ^^L automatically sending

M ^ ^ k documents at a speci-^ ^ t e ^ ^ B ^ ficied time, such as after 5 p.m. when telephone rates are lower. Almost all faxes priced below $3,000 print out on slick, flimsy ther­mal paper. While adequate for most business needs, the paper tends to fade in strong light, is difficult to write on, and "feels" unpleasant. High-end fax models — usually starting around $5,000 — use heavier stock or a laser printer.

Some fax machines also offer security options. For example: A user might have to enter a four-digit code to be able to print an incoming document, or to send a document.

A fast-growing market today in­volves the integration of fax and per­sonal computers. Several companies offer add-on boards and software that essentially allow PCs to serve as fax machines. "With modems, computers can talk to computers, and faxes can talk to faxes, but up until a couple of years ago, the two did not meet," says Kent Conwell of SpectraFax Corp., a designer and developer of PC-based facsimile products in Naples, Fla.

With a fax modem and supporting software, PCs can send and receive documents not only to similarly-equipped computers, but also to fax machines. Advantages include the ability to use the computer printer and to view a fax before it's printed.

In addition, fax documents on computer may be stored on disks, edited and transmitted without the need to be re-scanned.

Companies with existing data networks may also realize consider­able savings by being able to use the network for fax transmissions instead of telephone lines. Conwell believes that the trend toward fax-PC integra­tion will accelerate as desktop publishing grows

Continued next page

Alumni Association Sold on Fax

Originally, the Georgia Tech Alumni Association bought a facsimile machine to communicate with alumni clubs, 90 percent of which have at

least one officer with access to a fax machine. "Previously, we would get information in the mail

about an upcoming club meeting, for example, so that we could produce a direct-mail flyer," says Tom Hernngton, IMGT '82, director of clubs.

That information would be typeset and a proof sent back for corrections. The corrected copy would then be returned to the Alumni Association, and from there sent back to the typesetter. "It was a time-consuming process," Herrington says. "And if there were any last-minute changes, things could get a little frantic."

By using fax, a process that once spanned several days is now measured in hours. "The fax machine has paid for itself many times over from the savings on overnight delivery charges," says Wayne Parker, asso­ciate executive director.

Parker adds that the fax machine has outgrown its original purpose. "We use it for everything," he says. Virtually all operations of the Alumni Association have discovered a special or ongoing use for fax.

The ability to transmit an exact copy of a document is just one of the advantages fax has over alternative information media. "We've teen experimenting with electronic mail for a couple of years now," Parker says, "but fax is cheaper and easier." •

GEORGIA TECH • Fax Popularity 19

SpectraFax makes a computer card that puts an incoming fax docu­ment into a format "that is almost directly transferrable into desktop publishing software," Conwell says.

Basic fax technology is also finding new applications in video. Harris/3M offers a "desktop video" system that transmits three-dimen­sional images or text. Ricoh markets a Voice Image Communicator that transmits voice and graphic images to several different sites simultaneously.

As fax machines become more accessible, new and innovative uses for the technology will continue to be discovered. A television commercial highlighting the 42nd Avenue Deli in New York describes how its custom­ers use fax to place lunch orders. Some pharmacies are accepting prescriptions by fax from doctors.

Of course, no new technology can be considered fully tested until its advertising potential has been fully exploited, and fax is no exception.

"Junk fax" is becoming a growth industry in its own right. Suppliers of fax paper have been the first to solicit

"Attractive 40-year-old professional seeks ham and siviss on rye.... Hey! What is this?" With fax machines being used to order deli food and dates, mix-ups may (r^\ /nXZ^dc be inevitable.

business by broadcasting advertise­ments to as many fax numbers as they can find.

"Junk fax" could be­come a real nuisance form of advertising.

nlike junk mail, which is free to the recipient, fax users end up paying for the paper that the unsolicited advertise­

ment is printed on. "I think you're

going to see more and more people targeting this group for things other than fax paper," says Elliott Segal of Mr. Fax, a paper supplier in Irvine, Calif. "For us, it's just a natural way to reach a fax user."

Perhaps one of the most unusual uses for fax was discovered by a Detroit man, who sent out a blind date solicitation for himself — com­plete with picture — to local fax machines. While the results of his experiment were not reported, it is hoped that he's not spending Saturday nights alone anymore — sitting by the fax machine. •

Fax to the Rescue A Tale of Apple in Africa

Randy Whitfield, a 1932 mechanical engineering graduate, uses fax to communicate with his . son, Randolph Jr., an ophthalmologist who

works in Kenya. Two years ago, the eye clinic his son operates in Nairobi planned to install a Telex machine.

"I told him that he was going the wrong way—that he ought to get a fax," Whitfield recalls. "They now have the fax machine and it has proven invaluable.

"I correspond with him quite often via fax," Whit­field adds. Whitfield does not have a facsimile machine at his home in Atlanta, but pays to send messages from one located at a nearby copy shop.

Despite the inconvenience, Whitfield says that his current arrangement offers great advantages over other forms of communication, including telephone. "For one thing, you can transmit so much more infonnation in the same length of time," he says.

The utility of the Whitfields' fax link was reaffinned recently. Whitfield had sent his son a new Macintosh computer to use at the clinic. But within a few days, the power panel shorted out, resulting in about $600 worth

of damage. The warranty, covering such damage, excludes computers used outside the United Slates.

Whitfield hoped to convince Apple Computer to waive the exclusion because the fastest, cheapest and practical solution would be for Apple at least to supply the replacement panels. The Nairobi clinic could ill afford the repair bill.

And in an area of the world desperate for medical services, the Macintosh was a valuable clinical tool.

Whitfield explained the situation to Apple. He sup­plied the company with copies of the warranty and other documentation that had been sent to him via fax from Africa.

Time was important. For several months, Whitfield and his wife, Shirley, had planned a trip to visit their son in Kenya. They now had an opportunity to deliver the replacement parts to him if Apple niled in their favor.

When the Whitfields left for Kenya last month, packed inside their luggage were new replacement panels for their son's Macintosh, courtesy of Apple Computer. •

2 0 GEORGIA TECH • Winter 89

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mericans' lives are daily shaped by science and technol­ogy. Yet most have little understanding of the laws and principles that make possible our age of invention. A new m Atlanta museum — largest of its kind in the South­

east— demonstrates for children and adults the truths behind today's advances. Begun with the help of Tech's late President Joseph M. Pettit and a group of prominent Tech alumni, SciTrek— "an adventure in science and technology"— offers an experiential journey into the world of discovery, explaining its mysteries, revealing its wonders.

Continued next page

GEORGIA TECH • SciTrek 2 3

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screw, inclined plane— /hate moved humans from caves to skyscrapers. In a giant hall, hands-on exhibits teach the

importance and complexity of harnessing and using force.

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**n the light and perception area, Georgia Tech student Mike Fick, a volunteer, explains "white" as the absence of color

(above). In the special environment of Kidspace, youngsters have a unique opportunity to climb inside a water crystal.

Continued next fMf>e

igures, frozen against a light sensitive-material by a bright flash, explain the process of phosphorescence— and pro­

videfun forMds. As electrons in the atoms begin to give up light they've absorbed, they glow as the dim "shadows (rigfat).

2 8 GEORGIA TECH • Winter 89

CoHtiltUtd next page

GEORGIA TECH • SciTrek 2 9

he magic of centrifugal force is made clear as a water-filled glass is spun in a wide arc. And the mystery of scientific explo­

ration enthralls in "Screwballs," an exhibit that uses a screw to raise balls, as Archimedes first raised water 2,000 years ago. •

GEORGIA TECH • Winter H9

CIFORCilA TECH

Putting People First

Makes First Atlanta

Second IbNone.

•- i

FIRSTATLANTA Second to None OFFICIAL SPONSOR

ALUMNI MAGAZINE

©1986 The First National Bank of Atlanta. Member FD.I.C.

The Mad Housers STRIKE AGAIN!

AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN...

Q n a balmy spring night almost two years ago the Mad Housers had their first run-in with the law. The small group of Georgia Tech students were finishing their third hut for the homeless by the uncer­tain light of a faltering flashlight when they saw four police flashlights bobbing up the black hill toward their building site.

Continued next page

W R I T T E N BY L I S A C R O W E

P H O T O G R A P H E D BY MARGARET BARRETT

GEORGIA TECH • Mad Housers 3 3

The policemen looked at the new hut

and obeyed a higher law.

ri

the .he makeshift carpenters didn't really feel that they were doing anything wrong — they were only trying to help out this homeless guy they had met. The problem was that the tiny hut they were building made no pretense of meeting municipal building codes, and the scruffy tag of land they were working on was state-owned property they had absolutely no right to build upon. After an hour of earnest discussion, the police­men's initial belligerence softened to disbelief, then to a kind of practical support. Why hadn't they posted a sentry, and had they considered other sites that might be more secluded? But now that they were caught, this particular hut would have to be removed by the next day. "The next morning one of the policemen left a message on one of our guy's answering machines," says Mike Connor, founder of the Mad Housers and a Georgia Tech student at the time. "It said that they had talked about it and figured that the only law we had broken was making too much noise at night. We could leave it up."

Continued next page

Preassembly is done at a warehouse (above), then panels and parts are taken to the site for assembly.

GEORGIA TECH • Mad Housers 3 4

Everyone admits the Housers are doing the tight thing

even if they are doing it illegally

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L^ince their initial brush with the police, the Mad Housers have repeatedly run into this paradoxical response from the authorities.

Although there is nothing in the least bit legal about the rudimentary huts they have been planting all over Atlanta, official response has ranged from benign neglect to covert sup­port. A few huts have been removed by the police, yet Connor recalls cases where anonymous city officials have called to warn them that com-<• plaints were forcing the police to tear

i down a hut, allowing the Housers to move the hut to a safer site.

"Anyone who hears or sees what we are doing knows somewhere deep inside we're doing the right thing," says Bailey Pope, a Georgia

Tech architecture student and a long­time Mad Houser. "It's illegal, but it's so morally correct that very few au­thorities feel the need to take action against what we are doing."

Although the city of Atlanta obvi­ously can't endorse an organization hell-bent on violating virtually all of its building codes, Atlanta's public officials, including Mayor Andrew Young, have openly expressed ad­miration for the Mad Housers.

"They are wonderful," says Con­stance Curry, director of Community and Citizens Affairs for the city of Atlanta. "It's been sort of strange because we can't officially bless them. What has ended up happening is that law enforcement has looked the Other way." Continued on page 38

On site, assembly goes quickly on the Housers' "Home Sweet Honw.

3 6 GEORGIA TECH • Winter 89

If ¥>ur Macintosh And IBM PCs Still AieritTaMig,

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With AppleSharer TOPS? or 3Com8 3+ ; we can have all your Macintosh and MS-DOS8 PCs sharing files and peripherals like old friends. With 3+Mail for Macintosh, you can have the benefits of electronic mail throughout your network in no time. You'd be

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To make the process easy, Businessland has special networking programs. Like the Gold Plan for installation, training and support. The Apple Training Alliance for applications help. And, of course, our nationwide field service organization. All of which are also available through leasing.

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The Housers have learned to build first

and ask questions later

ven the Internal Revenue Service, not generally known for its humanitarian instincts, has gotten involved. IRS workers investigating the group's attempts to gain tax-exempt status started putting together baskets of food and necessities for the Mad Housers to distribute to the men and women living in the huts.

Among homeless advocates, the Mad Housers have established a kind of folk hero status. In a world in which services to the homeless are often bogged down by bureaucracy and lengthy discussion, the Mad Housers have turned housing the homeless into a kind of guerrilla warfare — surreptitiously putting up their tiny huts and asking questions later. The housers have built around 50 shelters on inconspicuous scraps of land all over Atlanta, and every other week, another hut is hurriedly planted in a carefully selected site.

Connor's work in housing the homeless began as part of a master's thesis in Georgia Tech's College of Architecture. A casual interest devel­

oped into a passion when Connor and fellow students began searching for possible sites — those bits and pieces of abandoned, secluded land that are scattered around the city.

"It was scary," Connor recalls. "Once we started looking, there was someone camping out or evidence of someone camping out almost everywhere we looked."

The Georgia Tech students came up with a name for themselves and a loose structure that continues to work remarkably well. Every other Monday night, a meeting is held at an Atlanta bar, and a tenant and loca­tion are designated for the hut that will be built the following Saturday. It might be someone that one of the volunteers has met on the street or a homeless man or woman referred by a nurse at an Atlanta soup kitchen.

Often, referrals come from James, an ex-social worker from Baltimore with a last name he is reluctant to divulge and a story that "I don't have time to tell." James lives in a Mad Houser hut and has taken on the job

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of seeking out prospective tenants in the streets, soup kitchens and shelters. He and other hut dwellers often help build the new huts.

A. story about a group of well-heeled students boldly jumping into an arena where the problems are seemingly insoluble is an obvious candidate for media coverage, and everyone from People magazine to The New York Times has reported on the Mad Housers' casual, beer-drinking building sessions. Thanks in part to the media attention, the core handful of Georgia Tech students has grown to around 20 regular volun­teers from all over the Atlanta area. Connor estimates that up to 70 have been involved.

The group now receives around $200 a month in donations, but Con­nor says that the Mad Housers still need much more of everything — more money, more volunteers, more materials and more access to legiti­mate property.

3 8 GEORGIA TECH • Winter 89

A tour of one of the Mad Housers' hut communities shows why the group is anxious to keep building. The cluster of three small huts is sur­rounded by some of the basic neces­sities of the homeless — rusted shop­ping carts for picking up cans, and stacks of faded newspapers for lining baggy- jackets on cold winter nights — but there is still a feeling of hard-won homeyness. The window in each small shed offers a glimpse of neat shelves lined with plastic glasses and cans of food, and in front of each hut is a small brick grill topped by a blackened pan for cooking.

These unheated, unplumbed shelters are well-kept and valued retreats, but they are still icy cold in winter, and finding food and water and keeping clean remains a back-breaking struggle for their tenants.

As far as the Mad Housers are concerned, the huts are only a temporary move toward a real and lasting solution.

"We have been talking for about a year about taking a step from build­ing the huts, which are a temporary stop-gap, to a permanent solution," Connor says. "The ultimate pie-in-the-sky project is to create a non­profit company that creates [low-cost] bungalows."

In preparation for this transition, the group has incorporated as a non­profit entity and designed a 24-by-l4 foot heated, plumbed and up-to-code home that can be built and fur­nished, using volunteer labor, for only $15,000. The city of Atlanta has recently offered to pay for two of these experimental houses to be put up on donated land, and Connor

hopes they will be the first of many.

I n the meantime, the Mad Housers will keep building their huts. Consid­ering that only around 3,500 of Atlanta's 10,000 homeless stay in official shelters, the need for the Mad Housers' primitive structures remains overwhelming.

According to James, Mad Houser volunteer and hut resident, living in a hut is infinitely better than his old routine of circulating from aban­doned buildings to homeless shelters.

"You can set it up like you want, and it is something of your own," he says. "It reminds you of how you used to live." •

Lisa Crowe is a free-lance writer based in Atlanta.

Over the years, the Mad Housers have developed many contacts among Atlanta's homeless. Visits to the 458 Cafe (left), a restaurant for homeless people, are as much apart of the Housers' work as is the final product (above). In a move toward legitimacy — perhaps — the Mad Housers recently were given money, by the city of Atlanta, with which they plan to construct two-room up-to-code houses.

GEORGIA TECH • Mad Housers 3 9

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nr*r-« SELL TOWER? The original? No.

A highly detailed work of art, cast in pewter? Yes.

To commemorate the 100th birthday of the Georgia Tech Administration Budding, we have commis­sioned Michael Ricker, noted American sculptor, to create the official Alumni Association Tech Tower. Our work is approximately four inches tall, and is cast in heavy, glistening pewter.. .an attractive piece in any setting.

Michael Ricker is recognized around the world as the leading artist in his field. Collectors of his works include Presidents and monarchs, and he has been approached by the Smithsonian to exhibit. Pewter

casts of pieces of art from his studio in Colorado have been known to double in value only one year after purchase. Mr. Ricker studied the Administration Building's tower from every perspective to render this highly detailed work. He has produced a terrific, classy way for all Tech fans to display their allegiance. The Alumni Association Tech Tower has been designed to look great either in your office or home, and is a great gift idea for Christmas or birthdays. And it can be purchased only through the Georgia Tech Alumni Association. Order immediately.. .delivery will begin on a first come, first serve basis.

Please accept my order for Association Tech Towers „ $36.50 each =

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Total enclosed S

Georgia Tech Alumni

Please make check payable to: Alumni Association Tech Tower Georgia Tech Alumni Association Alumni/Faculty House Adanta, Georgia 30332

You may charge your purchase to • Master Charge or LTJ Visa Card No Expiration Date Signature Ship my Alumni Association Tech Tower to: Name Street City. .State. .Z ip . If you want Tech Towers shipped to other addresses, please enclose a card with name, address, and quantity to be shipped to each address.

Danny Boston on Atlanta's Auburn Avenue. The street's mixture of bustling and dying businesses reflects the economic problems of many predominantly black communities.

( ,K m .1 \

homas Daniel Boston knows what it's like to rise from working-class begin­nings through adversity to become successful. The experiences of being black, growing up in the segregated

South, and achieving success all influence his recent book. Race. Class and Conservatism.

The work is Boston's analysis of failures of the Reagan administration and its conservative eco­nomic architects, such as Walter Williams, George Gilder and Thomas Sowell. "The book's most important aspect is to show how managers and policy makers must remain sensitive to the eco­nomic needs and status of minorities," says Boston. "The progress that we see in what I call 'the new black middle class' can be illusory. The growth of

minorities in positions such as technicians, manag-ers and engineers really' only touches about 10 percent of the minority populations."

Boston, a member of the faculty of the College of . .anagement and president-elect of the National Economics Association (XEA), argues that increas­ing suburbanization of lower-wage jobs make them inaccessible to the large pool of blacks in the city. This exacerbates unemployment and urban distress among blacks.

"The mistake that conservatives have made Is to believe that the race problem has been solved," Boston continues, "and that the government no longer has a responsibility to the underprivileged."

Boston points out that the courts under the Reagan administration have turned a

A*

Econoniics And the Black

Underclass In his neiv book, Georgia Tech's Danny Boston

argues for U.S. policies that tear down bartiers and open opportunities to all Americans

ritten by Charles Hyatt • Photographed by Gary Meek

GEi UK UATECH • Black Economics -*3

intervention and affirmative action to dismantle these programs and defend unfair practices under the guise of preventing reverse discrimination. His conclusions suggest that the private sector must therefore take the initiative to keep opportunities open, recognizing the advantages of breaking down discrimination barriers, and influence public policy makers to do the same.

"I'm very pleased by the attention the book is receiv­ing," says Boston, "though unfortunately it did not have enough of an impact on last year's presidential elections. There are a great many incorrect assumptions the Reagan/Bush people make. For example, do prejudice and racism still play a part in the economic status of black Americans? The conserva­tives claim that they do not. Furthermore, they believe that inequalities in earnings and job status are simply class related and not race dependent. But, in fact, dis­crimination is still widely influential, not just in hiring practices, but in occupational mobility and job status. Sure, some blacks can now afford country club member­ships, but most are still confined to low-status, low-paying, secondary sector jobs."

Boston marshalled statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau's population survey to support his findings.

"While the earnings of the black upper classes have grown, the middle and lower classes have been signifi­cantly damaged," he says. "Combined with decades of racial inequality, this distorted stratification of black social classes is creating a new 'underclass.'"

This underclass will be the topic of Boston's next book, tentatively titled, Hope and Despair: The Economic Drama of Black America. In it, the economist plans to use the newly available National Survey of Black Americans as well as special studies of Atlanta communities to substanti­ate theoretical positions. The book is scheduled for release in late 1989, and Boston plans to present many of his findings as part of his presidential address to the National Economics Association.

The road to president of the NEA was long and filled with hurdles. He grew up in segregated Jacksonville, Fla. After high school, Boston enrolled in West Virginia State College, majoring in industrial design. "I had only one economics course, jbut it helped me to understand how things change, and I've been interested in change since I first became involved in the civil rights movement."

Boston joined the Army after graduating, earned the rank of captain, and received a Purple Heart. "My experi­ences in Vietnam, including being critically wounded, made me realize that a career in the military was not the life for me. Besides, I had conflicting feelings about the American presence there. So, I decided to'go on to

•

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EJW J S both hope and despair. The prog-

has not been experienced across a very broad spectrum in the black community."

graduate school in the social sciences," Boston recalls. At Cornell University he earned his Ph.D. in 1976,

studying economic theory and development and writing his dissertation on African commercial and cultural growth. He taught part-time at Ithaca College before receiving a joint appointment to teach economics at Clark College and Atlanta University. Shortly after the move, Catherine, Boston's wife, joined the faculty of Tech's College of Architecture. The couple has worked on nu­merous research projects including urban planning con­

sultation to the Metre >poli-tan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, the mass transit system.

Boston has received re­search grants from the U.S. departments of Labor, Energy, and Housing and Urban Development, as well as from IBM, the Ford and Rockefeller foun­dations and the United Negro College Fund.

In 1983, he lectured at the Shanghai Institute of Finance and Economics in the People's Republic of China while studying the liberalization and privatization of the Chinese economy. "It was an incredible experience," Boston says. "China's growth from an agricultural base with such a huge population has implications for all economic-systems—from countries in Africa to our own in the U.S."

Returning home, Boston was a visiting scholar at Stan­ford University before joining the Tech faculty in 1985.

Boston's one-year term as NEA president-elect be­gan in January. He will become president in January 1990. His duties will include organizing

the 1989 conference in Atlanta and serving on the board of advisors for the association's journal, The Review of Black Political Economy. The NEA , a division of the 15,000-member Allied Social Sciences Association, specializes in the study of issues related to the economic status of blacks and other minorities.

Boston would like to see the NEA "become more involved in public policy making and to focus on the real issues of inequality and economic opportunity. My overall agenda is to marshall the great talents of the members to help shape public and private policies.

"There have been significant improvements made in the civil rights attitudes of this country, but as the title of my book indicates, there is cause for both hope and despair," he says. "The progress I've been so fortunate to participate in has not been experienced across a very broad spectrum in the black community. We're very hopeful for our children's futures, but we also see there are still many challenges and barriers to overcome." •

Charles Hyatt is a doctoral student in psychology at Georgia Tech.

4 4 GEORGIA TECH • Winter 89

1 he Ritz-Carlton, Atlanta is offering a special rate for \ellow Jacket fans. Just $79 per room per

night on weekends. Come join us at Peachtree and Ellis Streets for theflnest accommodations in the

city. Luxurious rooms. Gourmet dining. An elegant bar. Impeccable sewice. And an obsession with

detail that shows in everything here. From fine art on the walls to fresh cut flowers throughout the hotel.

For reservations, call 404-659-0400 or 800-241-3333. Our doors are wide open for you.

THE RITZ-CARLTON ATLANTA

MEMBER ^^^raamTlbTEls,

Rx for a Computer \1rus In their early stages, system "dis­eases" have been cur­able. But a plague of frightening proportions is possible.

Written by John Dunn

REPRINTED BY PERMISSION USS, INC.

HORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT ON NOV. 3 ,

a virus-like infection struck the Georgia Tech computer system and began propagating. By late morning, the symptoms of a virus were apparent, and by early afternoon, officials learned that the "virus" was not restricted to Tech—university campuses across the country were infected, as well as a couple of un­classified computer networks oper­ated by the Department of Defense.

Tech braced for a nightmare. A notice sent across campus via electronic mail warned:

"There is a computer vims that has already spread across most of the Internet nationwide....The vims initially enters systems using a bug in the UNIX sendmail program, but once there, it figures out ways to spread across other communications channels. It examines hosts files...and other methods to pick vectors to

spread. Hopefully, the virus will do little more than propagate itself, but considering the lack of information we have, it is probably best to assume the worst."

It was not the worst; the virus made no attempt to trash files. And because the vims was located in the volatile memory of the computer, Georgia Tech was able to eliminate it by temporarily disconnecting from the network and shutting down its computers.

But the vims' success in replicat­ing itself, clogging files and spreading throughout the network caused Time magazine to call it "one of the most sophisticated and infectious com­puter viruses the world has yet seen."

Experts fear it may be an unhappy harbinger to business corporations and academia.

John McAfee, chairman of the Computer Virus Industry Association,

4 6 GEORGIA TECH • Winter 89

Most infec­tions so far have been incapable of replicat­ing them­selves. But the small percent that are viruses. . .

a consortium of 19 corporations that research anti-viral products and either manufacture or market anti­viral products, reports that by the end of November 1988, major viruses were verified at more than 400 corporations, universities and organi­zations.

McAfee, of Santa Clara, Calif., classifies a virus infection as "major" when 10 or more computers are infected at a given site. Of the 2,630 calls the association received by the end of November, only four percent turned out to be true virus infections. Another 17 percent turned out to be "time bombs," "trojans," "worms" or other non-replicating intrusive programs.

By some definitions, the infection that struck Internet and Georgia Tech was a worm, because it did not have to "attach" itself to another program to propagate or operate. McAfee disagrees. "We differ with the popular notion that the Internet virus was a worm," McAfee says. "It is, in fact, a true virus by our definition—a virus being a program that can replicate itself from one machine to another, which a traditional worm cannot do. A worm cannot replicate itself from one machine to another; it replicates itself throughout memory within one machine."

Y WHATEVER NAME, IT MEANS TROUBLE.

"The kind of virus that has been the most troublesome and which par­ticularly shows up in the personal computer world is a program that acts very much like a virus," says Richard J. LeBlanc, associate profes­sor in the School of Information and Computer Science.

"It attaches itself to other pro­grams. When you run them, it does unexpected things, frequently attempting to destroy data. Some people do it as a malicious thing, or simply because they think it is fun, or because they want to get at an employer."

According to McAfee, viruses are going to get worse for two reasons.

"One, the viruses that are in the public domain are continuing to spread and will infect ever-larger systems. Two, the viruses that we are seeing today were written mostly a few years ago. They are set to activate sometimes many years in the future. The newer viruses corning on board are more sophisticated. They are more subtle and they are more deadly in their impact."

Are there effective security

measures that a company can take to protect its computer system?

A number of programs on the market are designed to protect against viruses—programs bearing names that sound like the inventory of a drug store: Vaccinate, Flu Shot Plus, Antidote and Virus RX..

"There are programs available for a PC that will essentially make it more secure than it would be otherwise, but there is no universal cure for all these sorts of specialized function networks," says LeBlanc.

"Computer security is no better than physical security," he adds. "Anytime you have a computing system where people have access to it, it is no more secure than the people who have access to it. You can't get beyond that—until we build computers that aren't dependent on people, and I don't think we really

There are vaccines "that will essentially make a PC more secure than it would be other­wise, " says Georgia Tech's Richard LeBlanc. But no program protects against the most sophisti­cated viruses.

GEORGIA TECH • Computer Viruses 4 7

"Manage­ment tech­niques can help make a computer system more secure."

want to get there yet. No matter how secure you've made the computer system, your weak point is still the person who has the knowledge and the authorization to use the system, and then abuses it."

There are common-sense manage­ment techniques that can help make a computer system more secure and create a better-managed computer environment.

"Ninety-five percent of all infec­tions are transferred by running someone else's disk in your system or by using someone's system that is already infected," says McAfee.

LeBlanc suggests three steps to help defend against a computer virus:

• Make backup disks. Have backup procedures that everyone follows faithfully, or have an em­ployee who is responsible for keeping backup data current. "I think this is most "important," LeBlanc says. "All this data reflects work; it obvi­ously reflects dollars, and to leave it

"Personal com­puters are particularly vulnerable to viruses." says Tech s LeBlanc.

lying around on a single floppy disk, not duplicated anywhere, is ex­tremely imprudent.

"Anybody who loses six months worth of data due to a virus, a chair rolling over a disk, or a spilled cup of coffee is simply being irresponsible," he adds. "If you are going to use computers effectively, you have to

Continued on page 51.

Ten Anti-Viral Commandments NY BUSINESS, CORPORATION, OR INDIVIDUAL CAN

substantially reduce the risk of infecting a com­puter system with a virus, according to John McAfee, chairman of the Computer Virus In­dustry Association.

The association has compiled "Ten Anti-Viral Commandments" that make the com­puter environment much safer. They are:

1. Limit the exchange of disks containing executable ccxJes between systems.

2. Reduce the use of public domain and share-ware programs.

3. Do not insert system disks into another's computer.

4. Write-protect all system and program disks.

5. If running on a floppy-only system, lxx>t from only one clearly labeled, write-protected floppy.

6. Never boot hard-disk systems from a floppy unless it is the original write-pro-tected system master.

7. Never execute programs of unknown origin. If someone gives you a disk with data on it and you happen to find a program with data on it, don't be tempted to run it i< > see what it is.

8. Limit the transmission erf executable codes over networks and other communica­tion links.

9. Do not use network file servers as work stations.

10. Never add data or programs to system master disks.

The association has a 45-page public in­formation packet that gives detailed informa­tion about vimses, how to identify them, the symptoms of the most common viruses, how to clean an infected system, and how to prevent infection. The cost of the packet is $3 plus a self-addressed 8/2 by 11 inch en­velope stamped for $1.70 postage. Mail requests for the packet to CVIA, 4423 Cheeney Street, Santa Clara, CA 95054.

4 8 GEORGIA TECH • Winter 89

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COMPUTER VIRUSES Continued from page 48.

In computers, security is worth worry.

manage your use of them better than that." • Know the origin of any program run on

your computer system. Avoid pirated programs. • Create files using two-word passwords.

Single word passwords are amenable to dictionary attack by a virus and not very secure.

HE HAVOC CAUSED ON INTERNET IS AN EXAMPLE OF

the vulnerability of a system to abuse. The UNIX system infection exploited security loop­holes which were tolerated, LeBlanc explains, "in an environment where there was a great deal of cooperation and a sense of honor among those who work on it. Essentially, this has been a practice of leaving your door unlocked because it was useful."

Infecting the system did not require a "great technical feat," LeBlanc adds. "A relatively small number of people knew about it, mosdy system administrators, and it was assumed that everybody who knew about it had enough sense not to do anything inappropriate. We ran across somebody who didn't."

The incident illustrates the importance of

ethical behavior and responsibility. An important contrast between network

multiuser systems and personal computers is that a program mnning on a multiuser system doesn't own the machine. It only has access to certain memory and files that the operating systems allows. A virus couldn't destroy user files.

Personal computers are particularly vulner­able to viruses because, when a program is mrining, it is in a relatively unprotected envi­ronment. "Whatever program is running at any given time really owns the machine. If the person who wrote the program knows all the details of working with the disk and the screen, the program can do absolutely anything.

"We have to be concerned about security," LeBlanc adds. "The fact that much of the operation of things in this country is strongly interconnected by data networks indicates that we darn well better be concerned about security, because a disruption can happen that can be very widespread once an individual gets past whatever levels of security are there." •

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GEORGIA TECH • Computer Viruses 5 1

PROFILE

Unconventional Teacher A s an undergraduate student,

/ \ Satya Atluri studied under JL J L professors who possessed a depth of understanding that comes only from lifetime dedication to a discipline. From them he received a special learning — the kind that doesn't come from homework assignments and can't be measured by final exams.

Today, as Regents professor of mechanics in Georgia Tech's School of Civil Engineering and director of the Computational Mechanics Center, Atluri seeks to share that kind of learning with his students.

"I like to think through a subject," he explains, "then I can convey a certain excitement and personal involvement. If I can convey a gut feeling from my own understanding, I can be a successful teacher."

Atluri believes students should develop a joy for learning — not simply master course content. "I've always encouraged students to learn on their own," he says. "I want to be an instrument in teaching students how to learn — not what to learn,

but how to learn." As a result, he shuns traditional routines of college teaching. In his classes there are no required textbooks; grades — and tests — have been de-emphasized.

"I don't think that is the way to inspire students," he says. "A Chinese proverb says that any fool can ask more than the wisest man can an­swer. The purpose of an exam should not be to tell students they are stupid."

These unconventional notions about teaching brought Atluri a Dis­tinguished Professor Award in 1986.

Yet inspired teaching is just one part of his career. Atluri has won similar applause for his distinguished research — as well as his long list of books, papers and presentations.

While some colleagues argue over the relative importance of teaching, research and scholarly writing, Atluri insists all three are necessary to truly understand and teach a subject.

"Good research is essential to good teaching," he explains. "You have to keep up with what is going on in a particular discipline in order

The Atluri File 1966: Receives master's degree in aerospace engineering from Indian

Institute of Science. 1969: ScD in aeronautics and astronautics, Massachusetts Iastitute of

Technology. 1969-71: Research associate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1971-74: Assistant professor, University of Washington. 1974: Joins Georgia Tech as associate professor of engineering science

and mechanics. 1979: Named Regents' professor of mechanics. 1986: Receives Georgia Tech Distinguished Professor Award and Out­

standing Faculty Research-Author Award. 1988: Receives Monie Ferst Memorial Award for Sustained Research

from Sigma Zi.

VMttenbyJohnTooa

to convey that in the classroom." By that measure, Atluri is unques­

tionably qualified to convey the con­cepts of computational mechanics.

With more than $10 million in research support awards in the past five years alone, Atluri ranks as one of Georgia Tech's most prodigious researchers. He leads projects looking into subjects as diverse as space station structures, new types of tank armor, fracture of metals and com­posites — and even how the brain suffers injury in auto accidents.

Computational mechanics is a relatively new science in which Atluri has become a nationally-

prominent leader responsible for pushing forward its cutting edge.

Computational mechanics uses large-scale computers to simulate physical processes such as the flight of aircraft, the vibration of a complex structure — or even the movement of delicate brain tissues. Through mathematical formulas manipulated by the computers, researchers can study complex physical processes without actually creating them.

"Computational mechanics allows you to test full-scale systems in a scientific sense without building a prototype and spending an enor­mous amount of manpower and re­sources," he explains. "If you are building a fighter aircraft, there is no substitute for testing it, but you can assess all its performance characteris­tics through a computer model."

In many cases, computational mechanics provides data more accurate than could be obtained by traditional means. In other cases, this simulated world of mathematical formulas and high-speed computers

5 2 GEORGIA TECH • Winter 89

PHOTO BY MAKUAHET BARRETT

Tech's AdurL From "gut feelings" and meticulous research, he's learned techniques for teaching learning.

allows experimentation that could never be done in the real world.

The proposed space station, for example, will be built in the weight­lessness of space from components so delicate that they would be unable to support; their own weight on earth. Yet the structure must provide a stable and controllable platform for scientific experiments or military operations.

"The design of these structures is radically different," Atluri points out. "There is no way we could generate data on these structures by testing them on the ground."

As the cost of computing power declines, more and more experi­ments are moving to computer work stations. But Atluri acknowledges there are some areas where comput­ers may never intrude."Ultimately,

man is the biggest loop in the system, and there is no way to model the man-machine interaction," he notes. Computers may also never replace the "gut feeling" that comes from watching air flow over a vehicle in a wind tunnel — even though the computer may provide more accu­rate data at a lower cost.

But Atluri's research includes an educational component. Computer programs developed to design space station stmctures helped students win first place awards in bridge design competition two years in a row.

And computer simulations pos­sible through computational mechan­ics may one day help sophomore engineering students better under­stand difficult courses in dynamics, statics and mechanics. The Massa­chusetts Institute of Technology has

been developing such educational aids, and Atluri hopes to build on that work for Georgia Tech students.

Teaching, research and scholarly writing might seem like more than enough for any one person. But Atluri — though born in India — is also concerned about Georgia Tech's impact on his adopted home state. He would like to see more bright, young engineers stay in Georgia.

"Education cannot be simply a refinement of the soul," he argues. "It's not enough to make better citizens out of our students, but we should also teach them how to take their experiences into society."

With Dr. Atluri as role model, the future seems to be in good hands . •

John Toon is assistant director of research communications at Georgia Tech.

GEORGIA TECH • Profile: Atluri 5 3

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