Computer Science | Grinnell College

On Thursday, September 22, Professors Janet Davis and Jerod Weinman will host a panel discussion as part of the Thursday Extra series to discuss what graduate school in computer science is like, why you might consider it, what opportunities there are for graduate education, employment after graduate school, applying (for computer science or related fields in particular), and other related issues attendees may be interested in.

Refreshments will be served at 4:15 p.m. in the Computer Science Commons (Noyce 3817). The panel, "Graduate School in Computer Science: What? Why? How? When? Who?" will follow at 4:30 p.m. in Noyce 3821. Everyone is welcome to attend.

This Friday at CS Table, Martin and Alicia will be leading a discussion about Personal Health Care Records, discussing some past and current implementations of EHRs. We'll meet at noon in JRC 224A. The readings can be found at the following link: http://foswiki.cs.grinnell.edu/foswiki/bin/view/Courses/HealthCareAndCom... All are welcome!

On Thursday, September 15, David Cowden, April O'Neill, Erik Opavsky, and Dilan Ustek will give a talk in the "Thursday Extra" series:

Using robots in introductory computer science classes has recently become a popular method of increasing student interest in computer science. With faculty member, Henry M. Walker, we developed a new curriculum for CSC 161, Imperative Problem Solving and Data Structures, based upon Scribbler 2 robots with standard C. Come hear about

• creation of a modular course structure
• focus on imperative problem solving and C
• wrapping of commands from C++ to C
• inclusion of innovative pedagogy
• sharing of software with the international community

Refreshments will be served at 4:15 p.m. in the Computer Science Commons (Noyce 3817). The group's talk, "A C-based introductory course using robots" will follow at 4:30 p.m. in Noyce 3821. Everyone is welcome to attend.

This Friday at CS Table, Liyan and Radhika will be leading a discussion about Personal Health Care Records, and what they are. The readings can be found at the following link: http://foswiki.cs.grinnell.edu/foswiki/bin/view/Courses/HealthCareAndCom... We'll meet at noon in JRC 224A.

On Thursday, September 8, Terian Koscik 2012 will give a talk in the "Thursday Extra" series:

For many children, computer science is seen as mysterious, difficult and inaccessible. Even for those who want to study computer science, there are very few resources for learning available until college. Without a program that kids can use to learn on their own, all but the most privileged are prevented from getting started on computer science before they are scared away. The goal of the Looking Glass IDE is to provide a fun, self-directed environment for 8-16 year olds without access to formal computer science classes to learn basic programming concepts by creating movies and games. This summer, I helped to design and implement an online community for users of Looking Glass to share projects, collaborate, compete, and support one another's programming efforts.

Refreshments will be served at 4:15 p.m. in the Computer Science Commons (Noyce 3817). Ms. Koscik's talk, "An online community for peer-supported learning of computer science," will follow at 4:30 p.m. in Noyce 3821. Everyone is welcome to attend!

This Friday at CS Table, Kyle and Josh will be leading a discussion about the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and how to meet its requirements for health information privacy and security. As usual, we'll meet at noon in JRC 224A. See http://foswiki.cs.grinnell.edu/foswiki/bin/view/Courses/HealthCareAndCom... for readings.

On Thursday, September 1, Assistant Professor Juan Pablo Hourcade of the University of Iowa will speak:

Peace is an important value for the human-computer interaction research community, yet it has not resulted in the development of a research sub-community or even a research agenda. In this presentation I seek to address this void by first motivating the need for computing research on promoting peace and preventing war. I will then review evidence on the factors that affect the likelihood that armed conflict will occur, as well as the aspects involved when individuals make moral decisions on whether or not to support a war. Based on this review,I propose a research agenda, citing research examples from the human-computer interaction literature and discussing new ideas.

Refreshments will be served at 4:15 p.m. in the Computer Science Commons (Noyce 3817). The talk, “HCI for Peace,” will follow at 4:30 p.m. in Noyce 3821. Everyone is welcome to attend!

Welcome back, CS students! Thanks to Josh Raymond's work this spring, this semester's CS Table will focus on current topics in health care and computing. Topics will include electronic health records, safety critical systems, online health communities, diagnostic tools, and much more. See the course front door for more information.

We will meet on Fridays at noon in JRC 224A (upstairs in the Marketplace), starting with introductions and topic sign-ups this Friday.

Please consider registering for CSC-295-02 (one credit). Students who are registered for CSC-295-02 will collaborate in small groups of 2-3 to lead discussions (see below) on 2-3 topics over the course of the semester. Several students interested in health care have already registered for the course, so you'll have great opportunities for interdisciplinary interactions.

Any interested student may participate in our discussions. If you do not have a meal plan, you may sign in at the Marketplace entrance. Hope to see you this Friday!

Although we're still using the same access name (www.cs.grinnell.edu). we've actually upgraded from an older Web server machine (aiken.cs.grinnell.edu, 132.161.33.192) to a new one (baran.cs.grinnell.edu, 132.161.196.27). Enjoy!

The Computer Science majors of the class of 2011 are:

• Shitanshu Aggarwal
• Ravi Tushar Chande
• Alexander Gerould Cohn
• Charles C. K. Frantz (with honors)
• Dylan Taylor Gumm (with honors)
• Jeffrey Daniel Leep (with honors)
• Jesse Wayne Queen
• Jordan Rose Shkolnick (with honors)
• Aaron Bristow Todd
• Dennis David Vaccaro, Jr.

Congratulations to all!