Bulletin Number Two 1982

(From left) Dr. Stanislaus Hu, Dr. Ma Lin, Dr. Wang, President of Wang, Dr. F.C Chen and Mr. Boris Yip, Department Manager, Wang Pacific Ltd. A Small Giant-the Wang VS-8S The Wang Pacific Limited generously decided t o sponsor a project to promote electronic business data processing in an educational institution. We are proud that Wang has chosen this University. The Wang VS-8S, a virtual Storage Computer System used by many trading and manufacturing companies in Hong Kong as well as the rest of the world, has been installed at the Computer Services Centre. It is an efficient machine particularly suited for business data processing. The System together with its peripherals is easy to operate and maintain. It does not require special operating environment such as false flooring, special air conditioning, etc. It is intended that students from the Business Administration Faculty will operate the machine with minimal supervision. The terminal with many functional keys readily endears itself to a DP professional and as readily allows first-time users to learn the art of data processing. Most professionals have found it to be a small-sized giant of a machine. It is a truly welcome addition to the other mainframes at the Computer Services Centre. Wang has not only made the machine available to the University through its sponsorship of the project, it has also provided the software required to run it efficiently. The standard operating system and utility programmes, together with different compilers for students to learn high-level languages are included in the package. An additional software package that is most popular among local Wang users is the Generalized Business System. It contains such application systems as Order Entry, Accounts Receivable, Inventory Control, Accounts Payable ， Payroll and Sales Analysis. One might wonder how a non-profit-making organization like our University could benefit from this package. The answer is: accounting and business administration principles can be demonstrated on the machine. It is expected that teachers of the Business Administration Faculty will heavily use the machine to solve problems, teach programming languages and demonstrate simulated business situations. It will be an instructional machine, a research tool and a definite asset to the University in general and the Faculty of Business Administration in particular. The University has always enjoyed a fine relationship with this internationally well-known company. Its sponsorship of this project is another vote of confidence to the Unviersity. Our sincere thanks to Wang Pacific and the managers of the company who arranged the sponsorship. -S.Hu RECENT DEVELOPMENTS 15