NEWS

SSCC Summer Training Schedule

SSCC's summer training schedule is now available on SSCC's training web pages. We have three guest instructors this summer. Chris Thorn, from Wisconsin Center for Educational Research, will present classes on NVivo (qualitative analysis software) and Transana (a video analysis tool). There will be two classes on analyzing spatial data: ArcGIS, taught by Bill Buckingham of Rural Sociology and GeoDa, taught by Dave Long, also from Rural Sociology. We'll once again be offering some of our old favorites. Summer is a great time to learn new software like SAS, Stata, Thunderbird, and Dreamweaver. Classes start in June so be sure and register early before sessions fill!

A New Web Tool for Checking Printing Balances

We've added a web page for checking your printing balance. The page displays each of your Windows print jobs for a given month.

Printing totals continue to decline. We had our lowest ever printing total for the month of April, down over 50% from April 2004. Click here to view a bar chart of SSCC's monthly printing history since 2001.

Recent Software Upgrades

The following software has been upgraded in the last month:

  • Stata was upgraded to version 9 on Linux and Terminal Server. This new version includes many new features, the most exciting being an all-new matrix language called Mata. For a complete list of new features see Stata's web site. As usual, upgrades will not be handled through GradPlan--Stata handles upgrades directly. Stata 9 will be available to purchase new through GradPlan.
  • Lisrel was upgraded to version 8.72 on Terminal Server. Visit Lisrel's web site for a list of new features.
  • HLM was upgraded to version 6.01 on Terminal Server. Visit HLM's web site for a list of new features.

X-Win32 License Extended for Off-Campus Use

X-Win32 is terminal emulation software that allows PCs to display Linux graphics. This is a requirement for using Stata or SAS in interactive mode on Linux, and many other programs. The campus license was recently extended so that you can now install the software on off-campus PCs. If you are installing it at home and are a member of the SSCC, go to our X-Win32 download page. For instructions on connecting to SSCC servers using X-Win32, see Connecting to SSCC Linux Computers using X-Win32.

Question of the Month

Is there a convenient place in the building to print documents not appropriate for SSCC printers? Actually, there are two places. The Socail Science Microcomputing Lab (SSML) in 3218 Social Science provides printing for their account holders at $.07/page. Anyone belonging to the College of Letters and Sciences is eligible for an account. Users deposit money via check for printing. SSML PCs have the ICA client installed so you can print files from SSCC's network after copying them to the SSML PC's hard drive from any of the terminal servers (Wincenter1-3 or Winstat1-3). Otherwise, print files can be brought in on floppy disk or CD.

The Copy Center in 6120 Social Science is another alternative. Charges vary depending on several factors, but it costs $.04/page for departments to print to 8.5x11 inch paper. Jobs submitted to Copy Center printers are held in a queue until you phone them with billing information or stop by and pay with cash or Wiscard. You can print directly to Copy Center printers from the terminal servers (Wincenter1-3). Simply use the "COPY CENTER" queue to print to these printers. If you plan to print to Copy Center printers a lot, you may want to consider making arrangements to send print jobs directly from your office PC. The Copy Center will need to install a special print driver. Note that turn-around time is usually one business day except during very busy times like around the beginning of semesters. Contact the Copy Center (262-5396) if you are interested in pursuing this option.

Visit SSCC's printing policy page for guidelines on appropriate use of SSCC's printers.