COMPUTERS ARE LINKED WITH TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 17, 1993                   TAG: 9304170134
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: PULASKI                                LENGTH: Medium
COMPUTERS ARE LINKED WITH TIMES
Jim Sandidge, computer technology supervisor for Pulaski County schools, provided a timetable of the school system's computer program as it coincided with recent historical events:
\ 1989-1990: Pilot computer labs started operating in county schools before a computer company was chosen to provide computers system-wide. Hugo ripped through Virginia, the Berlin Wall fell, the Hubble space telescope was launched and President Bush delivered his first State of the Union message.
\ November 1990: Pulaski County voters approve a $2 million bond issue for the computers program. The Cold War formally ends.
\ January-June 1991: School officials plan sites, write specifications and order furniture for the computer labs. The Soviet Republics hold their first national referendum and Operation Desert Storm starts.
\ June 1991: Electrical and air-conditioning work starts on the labs. Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Philippines.
\ July 1991: Computers begin arriving. East and West Germany merge their economies; Boris Yeltsin takes office as elected president of Russia.
\ August 1991: The labs become operational. Gorbachev is placed under house arrest; the coup to oust him fails.
\ October 1991: Training starts for all teachers, with teachers' work stations added in November. Middle East peace conference opens. Magic Johnson announces he has AIDS.
\ December 1991: Modems and remote software are installed. The last U.S. hostage is released in the Middle East.
\ July 1992: Conversion of existing computer labs at Riverlawn Elementary and Pulaski County High School is started to make them part of the overall system. Perot withdraws from the presidential race.
\ October 1992: Third-party software begins running in all labs. re-enters race.
\ November 1992: Lab managers receive "Windows" training. is elected president.
\ December 1992: IBM software is tried as a pilot project at Dublin Elementary School. Prince Charles and Princess Diana separate.
\ March 1993: More Windows training is received by lab managers. of '93.
\ April 1993: Jim Sandidge gives School Board this timetable. William Asbury reports that all $2 million of the bond issue money has been spent -except for 51 cents.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB