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From: rmm@itivax.UUCP (Ron Martin)
Newsgroups: net.cse,net.flame
Subject: Anecdotes
Message-ID: <109@itivax.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 16-Nov-83 11:06:52 EST
Article-I.D.: itivax.109
Posted: Wed Nov 16 11:06:52 1983
Date-Received: Thu, 17-Nov-83 23:39:10 EST
References: pyuxqq.538
Lines: 23

I had a memorable experience as an undergraduate at Dartmouth College.
I was taking a sophomore physics course.  One lab experiment involved
measuring the charge to mass ratio of an electron.  While everyone
else in the lab was working in pairs, with one person making measurements
and the other doing calculations, I worked alone.  Rather than making
two or three measurements, I made 25.  

Bear in mind that the year was 1963, I was a freshman with two years
of programming experience, I was working on the time-sharing system
project, and that I had access to an IBM 1620 at the Amos Tuck business
school.

I wrote a program to do the calculations and ran all 25 sets of numbers
through it.  Needless to say, I got the best results of the class.

The catch is that for all the extra work I did, my work was reduced
one grade because I "didn't show my work."  Producing a program listing
was to no avail.  I was glad I wasn't going to take any more physics
courses.

                                          Ron Martin
                                          Industrial Technology Inst.,
                                          Ann Arbor, MI