Computer cutbacks may cost U.

If the corporate hardships brought on by the recent recession prevail, the University could feel the economic crunch in yet another aspect of its program -- high technology. The Engineering School is accustomed to hardware gifts from Apple Computer and IBM, but those donations may be drastically decreased, according to some of school's faculty members. Ira Winston, director of computing and educational technology services for the Engineering School, said the companies used to be participants in major giveaway programs with the University during the 1980's. But the financial woes have caused both companies to announce cutbacks in their giveaway programs, including those with the University. "It used to be that computer companies would essentially dump hardware [on universities]," said David Farber, an Engineering computer science professor, "but as the big companies get into trouble, they don't do that anymore." Instead companies are choosing only to donate hardware if the recipients will be conducting research with the materials that can be helpful to the companies, Farber added. "Companies really aren't giving away [hardware] for general purposes," Winston said. "They are targeting specific programs." While the new policy may not put masses of computers in regular undergraduate labs, Farber said the gifts earmarked for research projects could actually be better off for the Engineering School. According to Farber, the University does not have a lot of trouble paying for regular computer lab machinery. Rather it is new technology that is underbudgeted. "Basically, everyone was predicting doom and gloom," Farber said. "This is not necessarily true. We may be better off rather than worse off." Undergraduate Engineering Dean John Keenan said yesterday he is not sure whether or not the corporate cutbacks will greatly affect the University. "We've been able to keep the labs up to date and current," Keenan said. "It might be a problem down the road." But Winston said that large corporations are not the only source of computer grants that have been drying up on the University. State funding has also dramatically decreased. "Every year we used to get half a million dollars from the state of Pennsylvania," said Winston. "That program terminated last year as part of the budget cuts. I don't believe that it is included in the recent restorations." Although the prognosis for the future of computer hardware grants may look grim, not all avenues by which the University can obtain hardware have been exhausted. According to Winston, the National Science Foundation has recently increased its budget for educational grants. "The National Science Foundation budget for educational programs has gone up," said Winston. "There are several educational grants that they did not have five years ago." He added that professors can write grant proposals to get equipment for undergraduate labs. Keenan said he is optimistic that Engineering will not suffer from a lack of up-to-date computer equipment. "I suspect that we'll have to work harder," Keenan said. "We'll write proposals and try to find new donors as the situation changes."