The Amateur

Computerist

http://www.ais.org/~jrh/acn/

Winter 2018 A Look at the Start of the Amateur Computerist Volume 31 No. 1

Table of Contents

The Story of the Amateur Computerist. . . . . . . . .

Page 1

The 1984-1987 Battle Over Computer Classes . . Page 2

Lest We Forget: The Flint Sit-Down Strike. . . . . . Page 6

Subversive (Poem). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 11

Were You There? (Poem) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 11

Volume 1 No. 1 (Reproduced) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 13

The Story of the Amateur

Computerist*

The Amateur Computerist has been a newsletter

covering computers, the internet, netizens and the

world they are imbedded in since 1988. It grew out of

a battle against the cancellation in 1986 of computer

programming classes for hourly workers at the Ford

Motor Company Rouge Complex near Detroit,

Michigan, USA. The newsletter originally dealt with

computer issues and labor issues. By 2018 there were

60 issues scanning 30 years covering computer and

internet history, the development of netizens and

netizenship and examples of netizen journalism

reporting on events of international importance.

The founding meetings of the Amateur Comput-

erist were in 1987. Ronda Hauben, Norman O.

Thompson, William Rohler, Michael Hauben, and

Steve Alexander discussed how to start and what to

name the new newsletter. ‘Beginning Computerist’

was a suggested name. It was argued that the newslet-

ter would be for all lovers of computing not just

beginners. An amateur does something for the love of

it not for financial gain. The suggestion of Amateur

Computerist was adopted.

The first issue of the newsletter was published

February 11, 1988. It is appended at the end of this

issue after page 12 and is available online at

http://www.ais.org/~jrh/acn/acn1-1.pdf. It was dedi-

cated to the Flint Sit-Down pioneers. Their 44-day

strike (Dec 30, 1936 to Feb 11, 1937) gave impetus to

the development of the United Auto Workers (UAW)

union. Articles appeared in the newsletter from Floyd

Hoke-Miller, one of those pioneers who welcomed

the newsletter and the computer, saying, “From the

Great Wall to the Great Pyramid, from the hiero-

glyphics to the screen of the computer, mankind is

still progressing.” (“Dawn of a New Era,” Vol. 1, No.

1) Hoke-Miller told the editors that the Sit-Down

pioneers who built the UAW believed that the prob-

lems of automation had still to be solved by the

upcoming generation.

The newsletter is dedicated to support for

grassroots efforts and movements like the “computers

for the people movement” that gave birth to the

personal computer in the 1970s and 1980s. Work of

many people over hundreds of years led to the pro-

duction of a working computer in the 1940s and then

a personal computer that people could afford begin-

ning in the 1970s. This history was serialized in

several issues of the newsletter.

The Amateur Computerist was described by

Andrew Ross and Constance Pawley in their book

Technoculture (Univ. of Minnesota Press, 1991, p.

125) as follows:

When worker education classes in com-

puter programming were discontinued by

management at the Ford Rouge Complex

in Dearborn, Michigan, United Auto

Workers members began to publish a

newsletter called the ‘Amateur Comput-

erist’ to fill the gap. Among the colum-

nists and correspondents in the magazine

have been veterans of the Flint sit-down

strikes who see a clear historical continu-

ity between the problem of labor organiza-

tion in the thirties and the problem of

Page 1

automation and deskilling today. Work-

ers’ computer literacy is seen as essential

not only to the demystification of the

computer and the reskilling of workers,

but also to labor’s capacity to intervene in

decisions about new technologies that

might result in shorter hours and thus in

‘work efficiency’ rather than worker effi-

ciency.

In 1993 Henry Hardy wrote: “Interestingly, it

seems that most of the material treating the Net from

the historical perspective has come from those on the

Net itself. Much interesting material has been gener-

ated on Usenet and BITNET. In addition, there are an

increasing number of electronic journals which have

made important contributions, such as the Amateur

Computerist, the Electronic Journal of Virtual Cul-

ture and Computer Underground Digest.”

Articles in the Amateur Computerist on the

history of the net chronicled the development and

spread of computers and then the Internet. The history

of UNIX, the ARPANET, TCP/IP and the role of JCR

Licklider were highlighted.

More recently, articles in the Amateur Comput-

erist have reported on the candlelight demonstrations

for more democracy in South Korea and the role

played by netizens. In particular, some of these

articles are gathered in “Netizens, South Korea, and

Participatory Democracy,” Vol. 29 No. 2 (Summer

2017) at http://www.ais.org/~jrh/acn/ACn29-2.pdf.

Since its beginning, William Rohler, Norman O.

Thompson and Ronda Hauben have been its founding

and sustaining editors. Michael Hauben was also a

founding editor and gave the newsletter its name. He

made substantial contributions during its first 13

years. Jay Hauben joined the editorial team in the

1990s.

In Feb., 2018, the Amateur Computerist began

its 31

year of continuous publication. The tables of

contents and links to all issues can be seen at:

http://www.ais.org/~jrh/acn/NewIndex.pdf. As the

internet and the netizens continue to mature, the

Amateur Computerist evolves with them as a window

on the world of the net and the netizens.

Note:

1. “The History of the Net,” Master’s Thesis, School of Commu-

nications, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI v 8.1.2

September 20, 1993 available at:

https://w2.eff.org/Net_culture/net.history.txt

*Based on a short history at the Amateur Computerist website at:

http://www.ais.org/~jrh/acn/acnindex2.html

[Editor’s Note: The following article gives some

background to explain the origin of the Amateur

Computerist newsletter. The article first appeared in

this newsletter in Vol. 10 No. 2 in Spring 2001.]

The 1984-1987 Battle over

Computer Classes

This is an historical account of the fight that

developed over worker access to computer program-

ming classes at a large auto company in Michigan in

1984-1987. This story contains valuable lessons about

the problem U.S. workers face in trying to obtain

education in the workplace. These events occurred at

the Ford Motor Company’s Dearborn Engine Plant.

Schoolhouse in the Factory

The story starts with the massive layoffs in the

auto industry in the early 1970s. In response, workers

determined that they would fight for shorter hours of

work so that more workers could be employed. From

1973-1979 U.S. auto workers won shorter working

hours in their contracts in the form of individual days

off, called ‘paid personal days.’ Together with the

reduction in hours of work, the auto companies

undertook major investment programs to update their

technologies. Describing this in a 1994 talk, one Ford

management spokesperson explained:

By the end of 1983 the North American

auto industry had spent an estimated $80

billion on retooling and renovating its

manufacturing and assembly plants (more

money, by the way, than it took to put a

man on the moon).

The Dearborn Engine Plant has partici-

pated fully in this industry-wide revolu-

tion. Over a two and one-half year period,

1978-1981, we spent more than $590

million to transform the plant from an

antiquated producer of V-8 engines into

one of the most modern four-cylinder

engine manufacturers in the world. And

Page 2

the improvements continue. Last month

we completed the conversion of our plant

from a producer of 1.6 liter to 1.9 liter en-

gines…. In 1980, we installed state-of-

the-art automation that was hard-line, or

not easily adapted for new applications.

Since 1980, we have increased dramati-

cally our deployment of robots and flexi-

ble automation units. By 1990, we expect

to have 70 such units….

Along with this new technology, the 1982

UAW-Ford contract included a paid education benefit

for auto workers. Under what was called the Nickel

Fund, workers gave up a raise of five cents per hour

to contribute to an education fund.

Describing this fund, the same Ford official

explained:

At the Dearborn Engine Plant our educa-

tion facility includes the UAW-Ford Em-

ployee Development Center, which

teaches basic literacy skills and high

school equivalency courses and the Learn-

ing Center, which provides basic and

advanced technical training.

A basic reference document for this and subse-

quent contracts was a University of Michigan evalua-

tion report. The report described the creation and

development of the Employee Development Center at

the Dearborn Engine Plant, or what was called less

officially the Schoolhouse in the Factory. The study

explained that Ford workers desired “education” as

opposed to “training” and distinguished between the

two. Addressing workers’ views on education, the

report said:

An analysis of their remarks reveals that

no matter how stated, regardless of con-

text, and despite specific topic of conver-

sation, these individuals believe that edu-

cation (as distinguished from ‘training’)

can liberate them, can enrich their lives,

can be the vehicle which will allow them

to do and accomplish things they believe

are important to them. Education has an

irresistible appeal. While many of the

participants spoke of the ‘utilitarian’

implications of education, what was most

evident was how deeply they felt about

the ‘meaning’ of education. Education

represents an idea, a touchstone which

literally has become a matter of faith.

(…) In their remarks, these men displayed

a very sophisticated ability to distinguish

between ‘education’ and ‘schooling’….

The single statement which perhaps best

conveys this message came from a man

who is rapidly approaching retirement,

‘Overall, I just think it’s one of the best

things that’s happened to Ford’s and I’ve

been here 15 years…to have a set-up like

this where you can – right here on the job

– you can do anything.’

The report suggests that workers enrolled for

both practical reasons and broader purposes. It ex-

plains:

Participants describe their reasons for

enrolling in such terms as ‘I wish to im-

prove myself’…‘I’m looking ahead’…. At

the same time the participants reported

that education is essential for gaining

insight into their lives and providing di-

rection for the future. When discussing

reasons for participation, the participants

invariably indicated that the decision to

enroll was a personal choice – an act taken

independent of any consideration related

to company or union interest in the EDC.’

The fifty percent drop-out rate that occurred at

the center was similar to what occurred in adult

education across the U.S., but the report states “No

one reported withdrawing because of unhappiness

with the program or staff or because educational

expectations were not being met.” Reasons given for

choosing the DEP program were “the ease and conve-

nience of continuing their education at an in-plant

educational facility. Participants reiterated the theme

constantly. Many participants acknowledged that they

could have gone to their local public school program

and received similar services but it was ‘too much

trouble.’ Being able to go to the Center before or after

work or during lunch “was a powerful inducement

leading to enrollment.”

The report also explained “a clear orientation to

learning is present among the participants. While this

is not to deny the validity of utilitarian outcomes,

most enrollees hold a broader view of the meaning of

their participation in the program.” Among the

reasons for participating was helping children more

readily with their homework. Also, “participants

sense that enrollment in the program will help them

become more flexible regarding future employment

Page 3

and they feel that education is necessary to help them

keep up with the changing technology of their jobs.”

The report continues, “Participants constantly ex-

pressed concerns about the future, about the need to

be prepared, to be able to cope with an increasingly

complex society and a constantly changing work

place. Education was viewed as the basic means for

preparing for the future and for sustaining an orderly

transition into the future.” Referring to the computer

classes offered at the Schoolhouse in the Factory, the

report explained that “participants in the computer

classes are primarily skilled trades workers with at

least a high school diploma, and usually some ad-

vanced training.”

It said, “Participants in the computer classes,

while commenting favorably on the class, frequently

expressed the opinion that too many enrollees were

admitted for the number of computers available....”

Concerning the teaching staff, it found that “Partici-

pants believe that staff members view and treat them

as self-reliant, autonomous adults, – an attitude they

frequently contrasted with the way they were viewed

and treated in their roles as workers….”

Among the study’s conclusions were:

* The response to the computer courses

was enormous. It would make sense to

have these courses ready to go when a

center opens to attract attention….

* More course offerings for workers with

higher educational skills. Many of the

skilled-trades people we interviewed

expressed an interest in further educa-

tional programs though the EDC for the

same reasons as production people en-

rolled – proximity, convenient hours,

pleasant surroundings etc….

Ford received this evaluation in June 1984. A

new contract incorporating these recommendations

was prepared to govern the period of September 1984

– June 1985.

The school established under this contract

employed a full-time program specialist and three

certified teachers assigned to the basic skills program,

each working approximately 22 hours per week.

Further, a computer programming teacher offered two

courses: Computer Literacy I and II.

Although the course title emphasized ‘literacy,’

these courses were at reasonably difficult levels. For

example, after requiring familiarity with BASIC, the

course description for Computer Literacy II read:

“Topics covered will be…nested for/next loops, one

and two dimension arrays, writing programs, on error

statement, trace and no trace, bubble and binary sorts,

flow charting, math functions, string functions and

data types, sequential and random access files, hi

resolution graphics and shape tables, an introduction

to the Apple’s Monitor Mode.”

Facilities were small, with one computer room

equipped with several computers.

Rouge workers greeted the computer classes

enthusiastically. There was much interest in comput-

ers, and especially in programming. Popularity was

such that workers recommended classes to their

fellow workers and the program grew. Interest was

sufficient to open summer classes in 1985. Also,

workers requested that additional advanced classes be

offered, that there be a time when the computer

classroom was open outside of class time, and that

there be an instructor available in a lab setting so they

could come outside of class or if they had to miss a

class. Visitors from around the U.S. and the world

frequently visited the Schoolhouse in the Factory and

the computer classes.

Decline, Resistance, and Shutdown

In Fall 1985 the conditions at the Schoolhouse

in the Factory suddenly changed. At first, union and

company officials wanted to know what was being

taught in the computer classes. The Schoolhouse

director showed them syllabi and the class text.

Then the director told staff that they would not

be allowed to distribute a brochure she had prepared

announcing the computer classes, along with the other

course offerings, throughout the Rouge plants. This

brochure, called “It’s Your Nickel,” was only to be

distributed inside the Dearborn Engine Plant. She was

to create a different brochure to distribute Rouge-

wide that could not mention the days and hours when

computer classes were to be offered. Further, the

union newspaper would include the computer listings

at the Dearborn Engine Plant when its new issue came

out, at a date uncertain. But the union newspaper

appeared with only a vague notice of the computer

classes, and several classes were cancelled as a result.

From then on until classes ended in February 1987,

there was a battle to continue the computer classes.

On May 13, 1986, the following petition was

sent to UAW Local 600 office:

Chairperson at the Dearborn Engine Plant:

Page 4

May 13, 1986

We, the students of the computer training

classes at the Dearborn Engine Plant

training facility, have been informed there

will be no summer classes and possibly no

fall classes.

There are at least 29 people interested in

summer computer classes. And as many

interested in fall classes.

We, the students of this computer class,

would like to know why it is so hard to

continue education in computers. We have

been experiencing for the past two or

three semesters frustration in continuing

education and advancement in computer

training. When polled about advanced

classes, we desire them, but then they are

not offered.

We would like to know why they are not

offered because we want to continue and

advance. (It was also printed in the union

paper which led us to believe there were

summer classes available to computer

students.) We await your answer so that

we may register for summer classes when

they are offered.

Concerned students of the computer

classes, (signed by over 20 students)

Also, computer students wrote, passed out, and posted

a leaflet at the Ford Rouge Plant. The leaflet said:

UAW members have been fighting for

1-1/2 years against attempts to cut out the

classes in computer programming held at

the DEP. UAW members contribute 17

cents an hour straight time and 50 cents an

hour overtime to have these classes avail-

able. The most critical point for UAW

members is to have training in high tech-

nology. How can UAW members be

trained in high technology by cutting

computer classes out?

We contacted the Chairman in the Engine

Plant, and he didn’t give any result. We

contacted the management officials in

charge of training in the Engine Plant. We

contacted the President of Local 600, and

the officials in charge of the program at

Ford Motor Co., and at the UAW. We sent

letters everywhere. We are tired of being

denied benefits we’re entitled to. We’re

tired of being shuffled from one person to

another so as to cover up who we’re fight-

ing. We don’t know what classes are

being offered from one course to the next.

We ask for programming in BASIC and

they offer PASCAL. We ask for PASCAL

to be continued, they offer advanced BA-

SIC. There are no rights to grievance how

the monies are being spent. But the letter

of Understanding (in the 1984 UAW-Ford

Contract) says: “In view of the Com-

pany’s interest in affording maximum

opportunity for employees to progress

with advancing technology, the Company

shall make available appropriate special-

ized training programs for employees.”

But this is not being provided….

Despite the efforts of workers to make the

problems known to Ford management and union

officials, and despite efforts to protest the ever-

worsening conditions via student and staff letters,

those contacted refused to investigate the problem.

Instead, students and staff faced retaliation threats and

job harassment. By February 1987, no further com-

puter classes were scheduled at the Schoolhouse in

the Factory and classes ended.

Realizing that computer classes would no longer

be available, several students and their teacher de-

cided to wo

rk on a newsletter, the genesis of the Amateur

Computerist. As our first issue in February 1988

explained:

This newsletter is to inform people of

developments in an effort to advance

computer education. Workers at the Ford

Rouge Plant in Dearborn, MI were denied

computer programming classes. There

was an effort by administrators of the

UAW-Ford program at the Dearborn

Engine Plant to kill interest in computers

and computer programming. We want to

Page 5

keep interest alive because computers are

the future. We want to disperse informa-

tion to users about computers. Since the

computer is still in the early stage of de-

velopment, the ideas and experiences of

the users need to be shared and built on if

this technology is to advance. To this end,

this newsletter is dedicated to all people

interested in learning about computers.

[Editor’s Note: The following brief history of the

1936-1937 Great Flint Sit-Down Strike was written

for the 50

Anniversary of the victory of that strike.

This article first appeared as an introduction to a

pamphlet, The Story of the Searchlight (Spirit of '37

Press, Flint, Mi., 1987). Online at:

http://www.colum

b i a . e d u / ~ h au b e n / G r e a t _ F l i n t _ S i t - D o w n

_Strike_1936-1937/Story-of-the-Searchlight.pdf.]

Lest We Forget: In Tribute to

the Pioneers of the Great

Flint Sit-down Strike

by Ronda Hauben

[email protected]

Remember when the ‘Sit Down’ came?

And all the papers laid the claim

Against each Union Member’s name?

“SUBVERSIVE!”

(from the poem “Subversive” by Floyd

Hoke-Miller)*

Fifty years ago [eighty-one years ago in 2018],

on February 11, 1937, auto workers in Flint, Michi-

gan marched triumphantly out of the factories they

had occupied for 44 days. They had endured cold, tear

gas, gunshot wounds, injunctions, etc., but they did

indeed “Hold the Fort” until GM agreed to grant sole

bargaining rights to their union, the UAW. One

historian, evaluating the significance of the Sit-Down,

writes:

The era of the New Deal was studded with

great strikes, many of them signifying an

upheaval of unskilled labor in the nation’s

mass production industries.

(Thomas Karman, “The Flint Sit-Down

Strike,” Michigan History, June, 1962, p.

98)

The strike wave of the 1930s made it possible,

for the first time to have industry-wide, rather than

craft unions in the United States. But to understand

the strike wave of the 1930s, it is necessary to look

back to its roots in the 1880s.

“There has been labor unrest ever since there

was a factory system,” points out one commentator,

“but the movement referred to [in the 1930s] can

properly be traced back to 1886-87, a period of open

warfare characterized for the first time by a series of

important strikes on the issue of the right to organize

and bargain collectively through nationwide unions.”

(Fortune Magazine, Nov. 1937)

The “right to organize and bargain collectively”

was the long-sought goal of the labor movement

through the fifty year period from the 1880s through

the 1930s. That right had been conceded in other

industrial countries, while it was bitterly resisted by

employers in the U.S.

American businessmen adamantly opposed this

right. 35% of the workers in Britain were in unions

and 70% of the Swedish workers were unionized in

the mid-1930s. But the U.S. nonagricultural labor

force had only 18% of its workers in unions. Now in

1987, once again only 18% of the U.S. labor force –

down from 37% in 1945 – is unionized [less then 11%

in 2016].

The period before and after the Depression of

1929 was one of radical technological change. The

auto industry of the 1920s was heralded as the epito-

my of the modern world. It was pointed to as proof

that the “old-fashioned” features of modern industrial

life like trade unions had been “eliminated.”

But for workers, the situation was quite differ-

ent. Ken Malone, a 1937 sit-downer described what

life in the shops was like before the Depression:

We were a pretty good bunch of guys in

those days. No Seniority. No Union. No

Contract. No Committeeman. No Pay. No

Nothing but work, work, work, and more

work. There wasn’t a war on then, but we

worked 14 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Absenteeism was unheard of. Failure to

report to work cost you your job.

(“Whadda Yuh Mean, Tough Cookies,”

The Searchlight, Jan. 20, 1944, p. 2)

The assembly line had become the definition of

modern labor relations.

Page 6

With the stock market crash of 1929 came even

more intolerable working conditions. Malone de-

scribes the effect of the Depression on his working

conditions at GM:

About this time the depression hit. Thou-

sands...were laid off without any means of

making a living…. I well remember the

boss coming to me and saying, Ken, pro-

duction has been cut out two-thirds and

we are going to lay off a large number of

men and here is the way we are going to

do it. The next two weeks we are going to

watch all men and see who runs the most

production and WE ARE GOING TO

KEEP THE MEN WHO RUN THE

MOST…. We all speeded up, so instead

of 70% being laid off it was 90%. After

the lay off we worked about two days a

week, but in those two days we did about

four days work, for everyday the boss was

threatening us if we didn’t run more stock.

(Ibid.)

By the mid 1930s the economy was recovering,

but there were still more than 11 million out of work.

The AFL called for a Congressional Investigation into

the new technology that management was using to

displace workers. The headlines of a typical article in

an AFL newspaper during the period read: “Business

Recovers, but Millions are Kept Jobless.” (Flint

Weekly Review, Jan. 17, 1936)

Workers were organizing and looking for some

mechanism of fighting their intolerable conditions. In

1936 the newly formed UAW sent an organizer to

Flint, MI the heart of the GM empire. Wyndham

Mortimer wrote a series of articles he sent to workers

describing the problems brought about by the rapid

technological change and outlining the UAW pro-

gram. In one article he describes the kind of trouble

auto workers were facing:

In Cleveland 1,000 workers have perma-

nently lost their jobs as a result of the

elimination of wood in the all steel bodies.

In Norwood, Ohio, 200 men are perma-

nently out of work for the same reason….

There is the ever increasing productivity

of the improved machinery that produces

prodigiously with an ever decreasing

number of workers.

His articles proposed shorter hours, higher

wages, and unionization in the mass production

industries. (“Mortimer Points Out the Evils of New

Machinery,” Flint Weekly Review, Sept. 18, 1936)

To combat the growing movement for industry-

wide unions, companies like General Motors intro-

duced company unions, known as Works Councils.

An individual grievance procedure was set up, but

workers found the Works Councils, controlled as they

were by the centralized power of GM management,

powerless.

On Dec. 30, 1936, management in the Fisher II

plant in Flint, MI tried to fire three UAW members.

Fellow and sister workers stopped work and occupied

the plant. The major daily newspaper in Flint re-

ported:

A sit-down strike in which 22 men are

said to have taken part, halted all opera-

tions at the No. 2 plant of the Fisher Body

Division here this morning...throwing

2,200 men out of work.

(“Strike Halts Car Assembly,” Flint Jour-

nal, Dec. 30, 1936.)

A sit-downer in the plant remembers the story

quite differently. Not twenty-two workers, but every-

one he worked with stopped work to join the sit-

down. “Everyone of those fellows,” he recalls, “had

pretty much the same idea and they weren’t taught by

anybody…. The idea was to stay put and to hold the

plant.” (Interview with Roscoe Rich, December 30,

1986)

“We were,” he stressed, “all different people

thinking the same.” Roscoe Rich, who was elected the

Sit-downers’ Chief of Police in Fisher II, explains that

before the sit-down strike most of the men working in

the plant didn’t even know each other’s names. But

they got to know each other once the sit-down be-

gan.” “A lot,” he explains, “were young guys since

GM usually threw a man out by the time he was 40.”

But he and others felt that working under such bad

conditions meant “there were no tomorrows so what

have you got to lose.”

An anonymous sit-downer, writing in his strike

diary, describes the seizure of the Fisher II plant on

December 30, 1936 at 6:45 a.m.:

Men waving arms – they have fired some

more union men. Stop the lines. Men

shouting. Loud talking. The strike is on.

Well here we are Mr. Diary…. This strike

has been coming for years. Speed-up

system, seniority, overbearing foremen.

You can go just so far you know, even

Page 7

with working men. So let’s you and I stick

it out with the rest of the boys. We are

right and when you’re right you can’t lose.

(Holding the Fort: A Sit-downer’s Diary,

Spirit of '37 Press, Flint, MI, 1986)

Several hours later, on the afternoon of Dec. 30,

workers at the Standard Cotton Products Co., a

supplier for GM, sat down. Then around 10 p.m. that

night, workers at the big Fisher I plant in Flint took

over their plant.

“Thus began the first great auto strike, one of

the most dramatic labor conflicts in our history,”

comments J. Raymond Walsh in his book CIO:

Industrial Unionism In Action, (New York, 1937) He

goes on to document how the impetus for the Flint

Strike came from the ranks of the auto workers, in

opposition to the leadership of the CIO “The CIO

high command,” he explains, “preoccupied with the

drive in steel, tried in vain to prevent the strike; it was

fed by deep springs of resentment among thousands

of men against a corporation grossly derelict in its

obligations….” (p. 112)

Then on Jan. 3, 1937, 200 UAW delegates from

around the country met in Flint to create a Board of

Strategy. They elected Kermit Johnson, a rank and

file autoworker at the Chevrolet Engine Plant as the

head of their strategy committee. The delegates

authorized a formal corporation-wide strike and they

served GM with a set of the following eight demands:

First of all, that the representatives of the

United Auto Workers and General Motors

meet for an industry wide conference to

discuss the differences between labor and

management; second, that all piece-work

be abolished and straight hourly rates of

pay be adopted; third, that a thirty hour

work week and a six hour workday be

established with time and a half for over-

time; fourth, that a minimum rate of pay

commensurate with the American stan-

dard of living be established throughout

the corporation’s domestic plants; fifth,

that all employees unjustly discharged be

reinstated; sixth, that seniority rights be

based upon length of service; seventh, that

the UAW be recognized as the sole bar-

gaining agent between General Motors

and its employees; and , finally, the speed

of production be mutually agreed upon by

management and a union committee in all

General Motors plants.

(Thomas A. Karman, “The Flint Sit-Down

Strike,” Michigan History, June, 1962,

pages 105 and 106.)

General Motors responded to the strikes with a

back-to-work movement called the Flint Alliance

(The Flint Alliance for the Security of Our Jobs, Our

Homes and Our Community). The Flint Journal was

filled with news of petitions signed by “happy”

workers who wanted the strike ended. (Even in 1987,

50 years later, the Flint Journal is still trying to

rewrite history, claiming that 91% of the workers in

Chevrolet signed back-to-work petitions. See Flint

Journal, Jan. 9, 1987, p. D1.)

A union newspaper called The Chevy Worker

was started on Jan. 7, 1937 to counter the company

back-to-work movement. One article in the first issue

exposed how workers were being forced to sign the

Flint Alliance petitions and were threatened if they

did not sign. “A petition is supposed to be a voluntary

expression of opinion,” the article explained, “How

voluntary are these petitions that you have had to

sign”

Chevy workers: Glance at a few facts.

1. Thursday morning, January 7

, a peti-

tion was circulated in Plant No. 5 and

those refusing to sign were told that their

names would be referred to the office and

that they would be ineligible for loans

from the company thereafter.

The article goes on to give other examples of

supervisors threatening workers to solicit their signa-

tures.

While the petitions were being passed around

and forced on workers by supervision, a group of

workers meeting outside the Chevy union hall were

attacked by some GM supervisors: “Violence has

been started in this strike by the company,” Chevy

workers reported, “We know who the men were….

We are going to name the dirty rats right here and

now, so that they can be shunned by all honest men.”

(“GM Starts Violence,” Chevy Auto Workers, Vol. 1,

No. 2, Jan. 8, 1937)

The police came and arrested not the attackers,

but the victims of the attack. Two union men were

taken off to jail. The police charged them with fight-

ing with each other. 200 demonstrators went to the

jail protesting the arrest and demanding the release of

the two. In the meantime, a union member from

Fisher I, William Coburn, leaving the demonstration,

Page 8

was hit by a car and died as a result of his injuries.

On Jan. 11, 1937, police tried to cut off food to

the strikers in Fisher II. A battle ensued when the

police shot tear gas and shot-gun bullets at the strikers

and their supporters who surrounded the plant. “At

midnight,” reported Rose Pesotta, a CIO organizer

who was sent to the scene, “the police tried a second

time to force their way into the plant, but were met by

a deluge of cold water from a fire-hose and an ava-

lanche of two-pound steel automobile hinges. The

cops’ line broke under this defensive onslaught.

Defeated and shame-faced they left the scene at top

speed.” (Bread Upon the Waters, New York, 1944, p.

241-2)

The victorious battle of Jan. 11 became known

as the Battle of Bulls Run, for the police, who were at

that time called “bulls”, had been routed.

Pesota visited the sit-downers inside the occu-

pied plants and describes how they endured the 44-

day ordeal to hold to their goal. She writes:

Newspapers and periodicals of various

political shades, labor papers and mystery

magazines were among the reading matter

in evidence…. Most of these men had

worked for Fisher Body from four to 12

years. They told me it was tough to sit around and do

nothing after the speed-up had got into their blood.

“But I’ll sit here till hell freezes under me,” said one.

“I won’t give up the fight for I know where I’ll land

if we don’t win this time.” (p. 238-239)

Each occupied plant had its own governing body

to make decisions and to carry out discipline. There

was a kangaroo court charged with disciplining

violations of the regulations passed. There were

sanitation committees, recreation committees, educa-

tional committees, among others. “Punch Press”, the

official strike bulletin of the sit-downers, provided the

following description of how strikers organized

themselves in the plants:

The most astonishing feeling you get in

the sit-down plants is that of ORDER.

Every activity is systematized. Communi-

cations are automatic; each striker has his

hours of duty, his hours of play and rest;

there is an organization set up for every

routine problem, plus a lot of other prob-

lems; if you want first-aid, it is a depart-

ment, a subdivision of Welfare; Transpor-

tation? That also is a section by itself.

Would you beautify yourself? It has a

department. The plant has been re-admin-

istered. As one striker said, “No matter

what happens, this plant will never be the

same again!”

(“Punch Press, Official Strike Bulletin,”

No.7 U.A.W.A. Local #156, p. 1)

By January, 1937 strikes had shut down a large

part of GM’s operations. Almost all of the company’s

200,000 employees were out on strike or were out of

work because of the lack of parts. Eighteen plants in

ten cities were on strike. Besides Flint, the other cities

hit by strikes were Detroit, MI, St. Louis, Mo., To-

ledo, Ohio, Cleveland, Ohio, Janesville, Wisc.,

Anderson, Indiana, Norwood, Ohio, Atlanta, Georgia,

and Kansas City, Mo.

GM seemed to be getting desperate. There were

growing indications that the company was willing to

try to use violence to break the strike. Mobs had

attacked strikers in Anderson, Ind. on Jan 27, in Bay

City, MI on Jan 27, and in Anderson, Ind. on Jan. 28.

The sit-downers felt that it was important to go on the

offensive. But they understood the need to take into

account the presence of company-planted stool

pigeons inside the union, as shown through the

LaFollette investigation being conducted by Con-

gress. Rose Pesota, explains, “As in war, something

unexpected and startling was called for….” (p. 243)

What followed was one of the most skillful

strategic plans used by labor in all of American

history. Kermit Johnson, the rank and file chairman of

the ‘37 strike strategy committee describes what was

done:

A few of us on the strike committee had

met almost constantly for a week on a

plan to shut down the Motor Plant of

Chevrolet…. Plant 4 was huge and

sprawling, a most difficult target, but

extremely important to us because the

corporation was running the plant, even

though they had to stockpile motors in

anticipation of favorable court action; GM

had already recovered from the first shock

of being forced to surrender four of their

largest body shops to sit-down strikes.

They already had the legal machinery in

motion that would, within a short time,

expel by force if necessary the strikers

from the plants. If that happened, we

knew the strike would be broken.

(from “Lest We Forget,” The Searchlight,

Page 9

Flint, MI, Feb. 11, 1960.)

Kermit Johnson and the rest of the strike strat-

egy committee realized that if they could get and hold

Plant 4, they could stop production sufficiently to

mortally wound GM. But 100 feet from Plant 4 was

the company personnel building which was used as an

arsenal for the company police.

“Even the top leadership in the CIO, including

John L. Lewis,” Kermit wrote, “were seriously

worried about the GM situation. When Lewis’ right-

hand man, John Brophy, approved our plan of action,

he did it with great reluctance and a complete lack of

confidence. He couldn’t conceive of a successful

strike in a plant that was less than one-fourth orga-

nized.”

The strike strategy committee developed a

diversionary plan. They held a meeting of carefully

chosen union men, but insuring that included was a

General Motors’ stool pigeon. They convinced the

men at the meeting that they would take Plant 9,

despite the fact that Plant 4 was the vital plant for

Chevrolet production. The stool-pigeon convinced

GM that the strikers planned to seize Plant 9. Thus the

strikers lured the plant guards away from Plant 4.

With the guards gone, the thousands of workers in

Plant 4 were able to fight the necessary battles against

supervision and company goons to gain control of

their plant. And when the police tried to enter Plant 4,

they were stopped at the gate by the Women’s Emer-

gency Brigade, a paramilitary group of women

wearing red tams and red armbands who played a

crucial role in defending the sit-downers.

Writers in Fortune Magazine in Nov. 1937 were

compelled to admit, “Out of all the sensational news

of the auto strike, the seizing of Chevy IV was the

high point.” They saw it as an “illustration of labor’s

growing initiative...it serves as a landmark,” they

acknowledged, “measuring how far labor had traveled

in less than three years and through some 4,000

strikes.”

On February 11, 1937, sit-downers emerged

from their occupied factories and joined a long parade

through the streets of downtown Flint. General

Motors had been forced to sign a one page document

conceding to the UAW the basis to become the sole

bargaining agent for the auto workers.

The sit-downers went back to work by Feb. 18.

They found that GM had not changed. To the con-

trary, the LaFollette Committee hearings document

how GM management singled out union people and

threatened or tried to fire them when they returned to

work after the Feb. 11 victory. In Chevrolet, Arnold

Lenz, the anti-union plant manager, marched 1000

men armed with clubs through the plant. And the

workers fought back, sometimes with slowdowns,

sometimes with sit-down strikes as their way to

resolve grievances or settle injustices. For example,

later there were sit-downs at Plant No. 4 and No. 8 in

Flint on March 6 when 6500 workers sat down, and

on March 8, 500 workers in Plant 4 sat down. (Sidney

Fine, Sit-Down, Ann Arbor, Mi, 1969, p. 322)

Floyd Hoke-Miller, a sit-downer in Plant 4,

sums up the victory of ‘37. “We didn’t win the war,

but we developed the unity to fight the coming bat-

tles.”

The sit-downers of `37 went on to lead the fight

for the contractual rights workers have today: senior-

ity, a grievance procedure, vacation pay, COLA,

pensions, 30 and out retirement, medical insurance,

etc. The story of how they won these gains is even

less known than the little known story of the Great

Flint Sit-Down Strike. But the story is a tremendously

important one.

The Chevy Worker, the newspaper started by the

Chevy workers on Jan. 7, 1937 to name the “dirty

rats...so that they can be shunned by all honest men”

became the precursor of shop papers put out by UAW

locals across the country.

The newspaper put out by the Plant 4 sit-down-

ers, was called The Searchlight. It was subtitled, “The

Voice of the Chevrolet Worker.” In testimony before

the War Labor Board in Washington, GM’s Director

of Labor Relations complained, “We always had a

tough bunch of cookies up at Chevrolet-Flint to deal

with. That was the breeding ground for the sit-down

strikes…. It is this same group of people,” he went

on, “that we thought that through the evolution of

labor relationship...would probably be changed and

improved.” He lamented, “They are now back in the

saddle and one very interesting paper (The Search-

light, official local publication) they got out recently

is directed at ‘Herr Thomas’ [Pres. of the UAW]. So

the worm has turned and they have got their own

union officials, some of whom they dislike, to replace

us in the news.” (The Flint Journal, January 7, 1944)

In response, George Carroll, the first editor of

The Searchlight, explained, “We have criticized (not

attacked) R. J. Thomas [Pres. of UAW] and Phillip

Murray [Pres. of CIO] and shall continue to exercise

the right to criticize as long as they pursue a policy

Page 10

we feel to be detrimental to the best interests of the

membership of this Local.”

Floyd Hoke-Miller, co-editor of The Search-

light, replied in verse to the labeling the Chevy

workers as “tough cookies”:

You can’t be nice to human lice

That feed upon your blood,

And boast with pride about their side

A liftin’ you outta the mud.

(from “Tough Cookies: With No Apolo-

gies” by Floyd Hoke-Miller.)

In 1987, all of the gains of the past 50 years won

by the hard efforts of the sit-downers and the workers

who followed in their footsteps, are under attack. And

the sit-down pioneers are still being treated as “sub-

versives.” UAW union officials have vetoed any

appropriate commemoration to mark the 50

anniver-

sary of Feb. 11 in Flint or elsewhere in Michigan. But

if the history is known of what was won and how,

there will be the basis to carry on the proud tradition

of Feb. 11, 1937.

*Excerpts of poems are from a collection of poems by Floyd

Hoke-Miller, A Laborer Looks at Life: Then and Now, Flint, MI,

1984.

[Editor’s Note: The following two poems about the

Flint Sit-Down strike were composed by auto-

worker/poet Floyd Hoke-Miller (1898-1990). They

are reproduced from the collection A Laborer Looks

at Life: Then & Now complied by Ronda Hauben

(Spirit of '37 Press, Flint, MI, 1984). Available at:

http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/Great_Flint_Sit-

Down_Strike_1936-1937/LaborerLooks.pdf ]

Subversive

by Floyd Hoke-Miller

Remember when the “Sit Down” came?

And all the papers laid the claim,

Against each Union Member’s name?

“SUBVERSIVE!”

‘Twas then the ‘Big Shots’ howled with fear,

“The revolution now is here;

The stand they take is naught but sheer.”

“SUBVERSIVE!”

You worked in chains that galled your pride,

And when you tried to save your hide,

The “Bulls” and “Bears” stood up and cried:

“SUBVERSIVE!”

The economic ills you feared

And increased crops of “Stools” appeared

But when you called their hand they jeered:

“SUBVERSIVE!”

Note: “bulls and bears” refers to stock market investors.

Were You There?

A Saga of the Flint Sit-Down Strike

by Floyd Hoke-Miller

Were you there when they hung

the GM goose,

When the tear gas rained

and hell broke loose

In gushing blood, in broken bone

and mad mayhem?

Did you hear the toilers scorn

a gallowsed effigy

In heartfelt words about the

sour apple tree

And see a union born all

because of them?

Were you there when slavers ran

like frightened rats

And flounced in the fracus like

blinded bats,

When workers pulled the power

and shut the Chevy down

Did you observe the company’s

strong armed thugs

When they showed their traitorous,

turncoat-mugs

And made the hand-made hickory

stick renown?

Page 11

Did you hear the shrilling

screams of angry wives

That dared the slugging blue

coats with their lives

And stormed the streets outside

the factory gates?

Did you see them break the windows

glass by glass

And let escape the blinding,

strangling force of gas,

In fighting female fury to succor

endangered mates?

Note: During the 1936-37 Sit-down in Flint, there was a song

popular among the strikers, “Hang Old Sloan to the Sour Apple

Tree” which was sung to the tune of “The Battle Hymn of the

Republic.” The “goose” in this poem refers to the effigy hung out

the window of their occupied factory by the Sit-Downers. Alfred

P. Sloan was the President and chief executive of GM from

1923, including at the time of the Sit-down strike.

The following nine pages reproduce the first issue of

the Amateur Computerist, Vol. 1 No. 1, issued Feb.

11, 1988. It is included here in celebration of 30 years

of continuous publication.

EDITORIAL STAFF

Ronda Hauben

William Rohler

Norman O. Thompson

Michael Hauben (1973-2001)

Jay Hauben

The Amateur Computerist invites submissions.

Articles can be submitted via e-mail:

jrh29@columbia.edu

Permission is given to reprint articles from this issue in a non

profit publication provided credit is given, with name of author

and source of article cited.

The opinions expressed in articles are those of their

authors and not necessarily the opinions of the Amateur

Computerist newsletter. We welcome submissions from

a spectrum of viewpoints.

ELECTRONIC EDITION

ACN Webpage:

http://www.ais.org/~jrh/acn/

All issues from1988 to present of the Amateur Computerist

are on-line at:

http://www.ais.org/~jrh/acn/NewIndex.pdf

Page 12

The Amateur

Computerist

February 11, 1988 volume 1 no 1

INTRODUCTION

This newsletter is to inform peo-

ple of developments in an effort to

advance computer education. Workers

at the Ford Rouge Plant in Dearborn,

MI. were denied computer programming

classes. There was an effort by ad-

ministrators of the UAW-Ford program

at the Dearborn Engine Plant to kill

interest in computers and computer

programming. We want to keep inter-

est alive because computers are the

future. We want to disperse infor-

mation to users about computers.

Since the computer is still in the

early stage of development, the

ideas and experiences of the users

need to be shared and built on if

this technology is to advance. To

this end, this newsletter is dedi-

cated to all people interested in

learning about computers. We welcome

articles, programs, reviews, etc. We

want this newsletter to help people

use their computers in ways that

will be useful and fun.

Table of Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . Page 1

Dawn of a New Era . . . . . Page 1

Dedication . . . . . . . . . Page 2

World of Telecommunications Page 3

Try This (IBM) . . . . . . . Page 4

Future Belongs to Programmers Page 4

Why Learning Programming . . Page 5

Commodore Tips & Tricks . . Page 9

The Amateur Computerist invites con-

tributions of articles, programs,

etc. Send submissions to:

R. Hauben

P.O. Box 4344

Dearborn, MI 48126

Additional copies of this issue are

available for $1.00 each. Send check

or money order to above address.

DAWN OF A NEW ERA

From the Age of Darkness to the

Age of Enlightenment — from the Ma-

chine Age to the Mind Age, here we

are. Let not any force or forces

keep it under wraps. Let it be free

to circulate in the Public Domain.

Let us base it upon principle, not

on price, like Truth or Love. From

the Great Wall to the Great Pyramid,

from the hieroglyphics to the screen

of the computer, mankind is still

progressing. So make the new born

science that has given us the com-

puter for the amateur and not as a

prerogative of the professional to

be shrouded in secrecy from human-

ity, the choice of the individual,

not an election of a minority. From

the falling star to the falling

apple, from the minute to the

multitudinous, from secrets to dis-

closure, I am pleased to endorse the

amateur method. Therefore I implore

all to plan and to participate even

though I have been on disability for

26 years and have not had the oppor-

tunity to participate in the great

sea of knowledge that has flowed

over the Dam of Secrecy since I was

activated physically and mentally —

in my advanced years and state of

general debility I still see the

mind of man as the greatest computer

of all — So Let Us Continue to Make

Use of It to the Advantage of the

Masses — Come, Let Us Reason Togeth-

er. With an open mind and a free

spirit, let me reiterate, there is

so much more to know, that what we

do know, is still insignificant. It

gives me great pleasure to endorse

this free-for-all program of a rest-

less mind.

Floyd Hoke-Miller

UAW Retiree and

Flint Sit-Down Striker

DEDICATION

This first issue of the Amateur

Computerist is being published on

February 11, 1988. This date was

chosen so that this issue could be

dedicated to the Flint Sit Down pio-

neers on the victory of their battle

to win industrial unionism 51 years

ago.

Floyd Hoke-Miller, whose article

"Dawn of a New Era" appears else-

where in this newsletter, was a sit-

downer in Plant 4 in Flint, MI dur-

ing the Great Flint Sit-Down Strike.

He continues to participate in the

battle for industrial unionism and

for the progress that industrial un-

ionism has brought to this land.

Another pioneer of the Flint Sit

Down Strike, Jack Palmer, when he

retired, wrote an article in his

union newspaper in which he tried to

sum up the gains and unresolved pro-

blems that the sit-downers had left

behind them. He wrote, "Each genera-

tion has to solve its own problems.

The sit-down generation solved the

problem of organization. The postwar

generation solved the problem of

pensions and inflation. Not entire-

ly, but a good start was begun. The

present generation is faced with the

greatest problems of all. They are

Automation, Peace and Politics."

(From "The Searchlight"((newspaper

of UAW Local 659, Flint, MI), April

21, 1960, pg. 2).

The Amateur Computerist is an ef-

fort to encourage discussion on the

problem of Automation. Microcomput-

ers are now an important fact of

life. They are new. The first micro-

computer design was announced to the

public only 14 years ago. (It was

the Mark-8 by Jonathan Titus fea-

tured on the cover of the July 1974

issue of Radio Electronics.) Today,

personal computers are everywhere.

They are affecting and changing

homes, factories, offices, etc. They

are revolutionizing all fields of

knowledge. Therefore, it is crucial

that computers not be kept from

people — that knowledge about com-

puters is available to amateurs as

well as professionals.

In a book written shortly before

the invention of the personal com-

puter, Ted Nelson warns against al-

lowing a computer priesthood to de-

velop. He writes, “Knowledge is

power and so it tends to be hoarded.

Experts in any field rarely want

people to understand what they do,

and generally enjoy putting people

down.”

"Thus if we say that the use of

computers is dominated by a priest-

hood, people who splatter you with

unintelligible answers and seem un-

willing to give you straight an-

swers, it is not that they are dif-

ferent in this respect from any oth-

er profession. Doctors, lawyers and

construction engineers are the same

way."

"But," he goes on, "computers are

very special, and we have to deal

with them everywhere and this effec-

tively gives the computer priesthood

a stranglehold on the operation of

all large organizations, of govern-

ment bureaux, and anything else that

they run…."

"It is imperative," he concludes,

"for many reasons that the appalling

gap between public and computer in-

sider be closed. As the saying goes,

war is too important to be left to

the generals.... Guardianship of the

computer can no longer be left to a

priesthood.... Indeed, probably any

group of insiders would have hoarded

computers just as much.... But

things have gone too far. People

have legitimate complaints about the

way computers are used, and legiti-

mate ideas for ways they should be

used which should no longer be

shunted aside." (From Computer Lib,

pg. 1-2.)

Thus to deal with the problem of

automation, it is necessary for peo-

ple to be familiar with computers,

to use them, and to know their capa-

bilities and limitations. To that

end, this newsletter is dedicated to

continuing the work begun by the

Flint Sit-Down Pioneers.

The World of

Telecommunications

Do you want advice about which

programming language is worth learn-

ing? Are you interested in a discus-

sion on why the shuttle blew up?

These and many more questions were

recently discussed on a computer

bulletin board system (BBS. BBS’s

are part of the world of telecommu-

nications.)

For example, there is an on-line

computer magazine on the BBS "Chess

Board." In an article on "Telecom-

munications: The Interactive Pro-

cess," the writer explains: A bul-

letin board system (BBS) is a pri-

vately owned and maintained computer

based communications system. A per-

son, or sometimes a group of people,

have invested computer, data stor-

age, telephone lines and bills and

much time into giving others a means

for communicating with another with

their computers. They each have

their own reasons and goals for in-

vesting hundreds or thousands of

dollars and hours to this activity."

Another article on "Chess Board"

points out that each bulletin board

has a purpose. It can be a fun

board, with puzzles and games, it

can be a board whose purpose is an

exchange of ideas with discussion

formats which include debates on va-

rious issues like current events,

world affairs, etc. It can be a

board that will let users exchange

software through uploading and down-

loading programs.

Following are listed just a few

of the many BBSs in the Detroit area

- (or if the number has a one before

it, in this case, it is because it

is in the Ann Arbor area.)

Genesis II (291-2520) Has lots of

files to download.

PC Playhouse (381-8633) Mostly IBM

compatible information.

Starship Enterprise (843-1581) Can

ask for prices on computer equip-

ment.

Chessie's BBS (291-2160) Good

discussion.

Trading Post (882-7104) In general

good board.

The Outpost (277-1513) Good for

downloading programs.

General Store (728-2863) Good for

downloading.

M-Net (1-994-6333) Lots of lively,

informative discussions, and can

have on line conversations.

If you want to call Ann Arbor,

you can call thru MERIT so it isn't

a toll call. An article on using

merit will follow in a future issue

if there is interest.

Along with BBS's in one's local

area which are usually available

free of charge, there are also com-

mercial services like Compuserve or

the Source. They bill users a fee

for the time on line.

Another user sums up the value of

telecommunications: "You exchange

ideas, you discuss, you might not

see these people, but you have con-

nection with them thru the modem so

if you're stuck at home, you're

still out in the world. You exchange

ideas, message programs, etc. You

reach a whole community."

TRY THIS

This is a graphics program for IBM

PC & compatible machines.

5 REM Trythis.bas

10 KEY OFF:CLS:SCREEN 1

20 X=4*RND:Y=4*RND:IF X=Y THEN 20

30 COLOR X,Y

40 FOR A=-120 TO 120 STEP 4

50 FOR B=0 TO 1

60 LINE (160,100)-(A,199*B),RND*4

70 LINE (160,100)-(319-A,199*B)

80 NEXT B

90 NEXT A

100 FOR D= 1 TO 5

110 FOR C=1 TO 23

120 COLOR 4*RND,4*RND

130 CIRCLE (160,100),5*C,4*RND

140 NEXT

150 NEXT

160 FOR E=1 TO 10

170 PAINT(160,100-E*2.5+2),RND*4

180 NEXT

190 LOCATE 13,17:PRINT"THE END"

The Future Belongs to Programmers

An article in the Jan/Feb.1988

issue of Computer Update, the maga-

zine of the Boston Computer Society,

explained that Microsoft is recom-

mending that computer users learn to

program in BASIC. Microsoft spon-

sored a two day seminar in the state

of Washington in October, 1987 for

representatives of big computer

clubs. Microsoft was expected to

introduce some of its new products.

Instead, to the amazement of many,

Microsoft used the seminar to ex-

plain the importance of learning to

program. "Microsoft today is bus-

tling with activity...Oddly enough,

Microsoft chose not to talk about

any of these activities with the

user group community. Instead, it

focused all of the sessions on its

work on programming languages,"

reported the Boston Computer Society

representative.

The article goes on to explain,

"Microsoft believes the future be-

longs to programmers. Although pro-

gramming languages were once thought

to be relics of the early days of

personal computers, they are enjoy-

ing tremendous growth today. As

users become more sophisticated,

Microsoft believes, they will even-

tually find themselves needing per-

formance and specialized functions

that only a programming language can

provide."

The article quotes a Microsoft

engineer, "In the future, everything

should have programmability." The

User Group Representatives were

further surprised by another devel-

opment at the conference. Not only

did Microsoft stress the importance

of programming, they also stressed

the importance of the BASIC program-

ming language. The writer noted,

"Most serious programmers consider

BASIC an obsolete language." The

Augusta Ada Byron

(1816-1852)

The First

Programmer

writer went on to cite the slowness

and lack of sophistication of BASIC

as the reason. "More and more" pro-

grammers "are opting for C as their

language of choice," he explains.

But not only is BASIC available

on more personal computers than any

other language, it is also easier to

learn than any other language. "For

this reason," the article explains,

"Microsoft sees BASIC as "the lan-

guage of programmability for the

future."

Bill Gates, Chairman of Micro-

soft, is quoted as recognizing "the

need for a `universal macro lan-

guage' for personal computers." The

article goes on to suggest that

"This language would allow users to

write procedures that work on all

different application programs and

operating systems. (It could, for

example, permit you to write a macro

in 1-2-3 that called up a program in

dBase III and then transferred

information to PageMaker.)"

The article sums up the confer-

ence, "Although the presenters did

not say so directly, they implied

that Microsoft was working to make

BASIC the basis of this universal

micro language." The result would be

that BASIC, "then could become the

Esperanto of the applications soft-

ware world."

WHY LEARN PROGRAMMING

Three years ago there were class-

es in computer programming (in

BASIC) at Ford's Dearborn Engine

Plant and at Ford UAW Local 600.

Also, there were classes in program-

ming in BASIC at many local public

schools. Now, in 1988, computer

programming classes are gone from

the Ford Rouge Factory and there are

Augusta Ada Byron

(1816-1852)

The First Programmer

fewer or none left in local public

schools. For example, there are no

longer classes in programming in

BASIC in the Dearborn Public

Schools. Thus there has been a sub-

stantial change in computer educa-

tion both at the workplace and in

the public schools. Why has this

change occurred? Also there were

public moneys, from both the Federal

and state government allocated to

provide for these and other classes.

When public funds are involved,

there are a set of regulations to be

followed so there can be public

scrutiny of what is happening with

the money. The money is still being

provided but the classes are gone.

What has happened?

Over the past three years UAW

members at the Ford Rouge Plant made

clear that they were interested in

learning computer programming. The

personal computer is a young tech-

nology. It's only beginning to be

developed in terms of uses at home.

More people have computers in their

homes now and they want to be able

to use them for things they pre-

viously had done on paper. Most

software is not customized to the

individual. If you have knowledge of

how to program, you can make the

software meet your needs. For ex-

ample, on IBM compatible machines,

you can write BATCH programs which

will help you use your application

programs more efficiently. You can

use the computer even when there is

no commercial software for the task

you want to accomplish. Also, it is

much harder to use store bought

software when you are not familiar

with programming skills. By learning

to program you learn how the com-

puter works so you aren't intimi-

dated by it. And personal computers

are being used in more and more

workplaces, which makes it doubly

important to be able to get the com-

puter to do what it is needed to do.

It is not only that people need

to know the computer to be able to

do their job. It is also that the

computer needs to be developed in

the workplace. The workers who oper-

ate computers will need to develop

the uses of the computer and will

have to be able to get them to work.

Our times are like the early days of

the industrial revolution when mach-

ines were first introduced into fac-

tories. Workers needed to know the

principles of physics, mathematics

etc. to be able to get the machines

to function properly. But the fac-

tory owners were afraid of educated

workers. They wanted workers who

were obedient and passive and resig-

ned to their conditions. Thus, it

became necessary to set up special

technical schools for workers called

Mechanics Institutes to make this

technical knowledge available to the

workers who needed it. And when

those schools finally were set up,

there was a sharp struggle as to

whether the factory owners or the

workers would determine the content

of the classes offered.

Herman Goldstine, in his book The

Computer from Pascal to vonNeumann

(1972, N.J., p 32) offers an account

of the problem workers faced being

denied technical education. He

writes:

"This exclusion was going on just

at the time when the Industrial Re-

volution was making education ever

more essential for all members of

society. In 1823 George Birkbeck

(1776-1841) founded his first Me-

chanics' Institute in Scotland, and

similar institutes spread into Eng-

land under the patronage of Henry

Brougham (1778-1868). These brought

to the workingman the advantages of

technological training just when it

was most needed in England...for ex-

ample, Stephenson, the inventor of

the locomotive, was a poor boy who

taught himself to read when he was

seventeen." (p 32)

A similar but more subtle exclu-

sion from technical education has

occurred at the Ford Rouge Plant.

Company and union officials say that

the union is teaching computers at

UAW Local 600. Originally there were

computer programming classes at

Local 600. They were taught by

teachers from Henry Ford Community

College. But suddenly those classes

were ended, and a private subcon-

tractor was brought in to teach com-

puters. The new classes, however,

were no longer classes in computer

programming. They were classes in

how to use a certain word processing

program, or how to use a particular

spreadsheet program. Why were the

computer programming classes desig-

ned by Henry Ford Community College

teachers ended at the union local?

Why were computer applications sub-

stituted for computer programming in

the classes at the union hall? And

why were these classes then used to

cut out classes in computer program-

ming at the Dearborn Engine Plant?

The computer programming classes at

the Dearborn Engine Plant were part

of the pilot program set up in early

1984 under the UAW-Ford contract.

Computer literacy classes which in-

cluded 60 hours of computer program-

ming instruction were made available

as part of this pilot program. The

classes were supposed to be avail-

able as adult education classes run

by a local school system. And there

was State and federal funding sup-

plementing the class offerings. A

Professor from the University of Mi-

chigan who wrote an evaluation of

the program in Spring, 1984 said

that the computer classes were the

most important aspect of the pro-

gram, and he recommended that when-

ever other programs be set up, they

include computer offerings. His e-

valuation was used to justify fur-

ther funding from the State of Mich-

igan and the federal government.

These funds required all workers at

the Rouge be notified of all the

classes that are offered at the

Dearborn Engine Plant. Yet in Fall

1985, the computer classes were re-

moved from the brochures advertising

the classes available at the Dear-

born Engine Plant. And then some of

the computer classes were cut out.

When UAW members tried to inquire

about why this was happening, they

were told that there were computer

classes at the union hall.

But the federal funding required

that the contract signed by Ford and

the UAW to provide computer literacy

classes at the D.E.P. be maintained.

And the D.E.P contract also stipu-

lated that there would be advanced

computer classes offered at the

D.E.P. Yet when U.A.W. members tried

to register for these advanced clas-

ses, they were told that they would-

n't be available. They were told

they could take classes in computer

applications at Local 600. Why was

such an effort made, despite federal

funding requirements, to cut out the

computer programming classes at the

Dearborn Engine Plant?

First of all, it is said that

workers won't have to program a com-

puter, they will only have to op-

erate it. Thus computer classes need

only teach how to run a commercial

computer program. But the computer

is not a word processor or a spread-

sheet or a data base machine. Almost

any personal computer can be used in

a variety of ways. It can be used

for word processing, to run a CAD

program, to run a spreadsheet. It

can be used to run programmable con-

trollers or robots. It can be used

to do typesetting. To learn a par-

ticular application is not neces-

sarily helpful in learning the flex-

ible nature of the computer. The

personal computer is an all purpose

machine. It has only begun to show

its varied potential. But to utilize

this machine, you have to understand

how it works and how to get it to do

what you want. Thus you need to know

how to program it.

In the 1930's, some auto workers

in Flint, MI, had lathes in their

basements so they could become fam-

iliar with the operation of the ma-

chine and be able, therefore, to get

it to do what was needed at work.

The same goes for the personal com-

puter. The more you use it at home,

the more you will be able to under-

stand how it functions and be able

to use it at work. Some U.S. cor-

porations seem to believe they can

control the computer, so they are

keeping workers and schoolchildren

from learning programming. One com-

pany officials told a mother his

company didn't want people learning

programming. They would teach what-

ever someone needed to know. Also

supervisors have said they don't

want workers typing in programs,

tying up the machines. And maybe it

is feared that if workers learn to

program they will change the opera-

tion of a machine. But are these

fears realistic?

First of all, the computer is

new. People using computers will be

running into new, unknown situa-

tions. Management may claim they

don't want workers trying to deal

with these situations, they want

PRODUCTION. There are salary pro-

grammers. But they can't write ev-

erything that needs to be written,

because they can't do all the cus-

tomizing that is needed. To get pro-

duction, management will need work-

ers on the shop floor who are able

to solve the day to day problems

that occur in the course of oper-

ating the computers that are being

installed on the shop floor.

In the pre-computer era, someone

running a Keller machine needed to

know what cutters to use in what

areas, what direction to run in, how

to set the job up, the size of the

tracers, which cutters to use for

certain areas, when the job was

done, etc. It was only practical ex-

perience that made it possible to

run the machines. Then numerical

control machines were introduced,

which run with paper tapes as pro-

grams. They are often programmed by

salary programmers at another loca-

tion. But if the cutter gets dull or

hits screws and dowels, or there's

too much stock or no stock (for ex-

ample you can't take off 4 inches of

stock at one time as you would break

the cutter) then the operator has to

intervene in the program and over-

ride it. Kellers, now, are run by

direct numerical control, rather

than by paper tape. In the past,

there wasn't enough memory storage

to store the whole program at one

time to be able to edit it. Now the

operator can load the whole program

into the machine at one time to run

it. If the operator finds something

is wrong, it is now possible to edit

the program and correct the error.

Therefore, it increases efficiency

for the operator to know how to pro-

gram the machine. Also, it is more

likely a worker who doesn't know

programming will make some mistake

that may interfere with the program

in a machine, while one who knows

how the machine operates and is

equipped to solve its problems may

actually improve the situation. It

is workers who keep machines run-

ning, and they need certain neces-

sary knowledge to be able to do

their work.

Learning BASIC can be an easy

introduction to how a computer uses

programs. It also makes it possible

for a beginner to write simple pro-

grams. If someone doesn't know BASIC

or another programming language, he

doesn't know what a computer can do.

He doesn't know if the computer is

capable of adding, subtracting, or

how it does it. If he runs into

trouble, he has no idea why. Someone

who has learned a little BASIC

programming, however, knows that a

computer can do calculations. He

understands how a program can get

stuck in a loop. And if he needs to

go for some kind of specific train-

ing, for example, for robotics

training, or numerical control

training, he has a background that

helps because he already knows what

a program is. He might be learning

another programming language, but he

doesn't have to start from scratch.

Learning to program a computer

can also help to demystify the com-

puter. It can give someone confi-

dence in using the computer because

the person knows he can control the

outcome by changing a few commands.

Also, he has accurate knowledge of

how the computer functions. Thus he

can deal with the unexpected and the

problems. One of the pioneers in the

development of the personal com-

puter, David Ahl, observed that

there is great misunderstanding

about the kind training required to

develop the technology of the per-

The cover of Personal

Computing announced the Pet

Computer October, 1977

sonal computer. "We are dealing with

one of the most important concepts

and tools developed by man," he

says,"and yet some continue to hope

they can check it off as they do

driver education or typing." (Cre-

ative Computing, Nov. 1984, p.16)

COMMODORE TIPS & TRICKS

BLOCKS FREE

If you would like to know how

many blocks are free on a disk,

enter: LOAD"$$",8. Then LIST. The

result will display the blocks free

on the disk but not the directory.

DIRECT MODE DISK-ERROR READER

The next time you need to read

the disk error channel, try this

line in direct mode:

OPEN 1,8,15: POKE 58,0: {about 20

spaces} INPUT #1,A$,B$,C$,D$: PRINT

A$,B$,C$,D$ : CLOSE 1

EASY LOAD AND RUN

Type: LOAD"filename",8 {shift and

run-stop keys}

SHORT FILE-READER

Here is a one-liner for reading

sequential files. Change "filename"

to the name of your sequential file

and type in RUN:

2 OPEN8,8,8"filename" : FOR I = 0 TO

1 : GET#8, A$ : I = ST : PRINT A$;:

NEXT : CLOSE 8 : END

NEW FIRST FILE

This program will let you swap

the first file in a directory with

any other file on the disk:

10 INPUT "name of current first

program"; F$

20 INPUT "name of program to be

first"; P$

30 PRINT "validating disk" : OPEN

15,8,15,"V0"

40 PRINT "swapping files" : F1$ =

F$+"." : P1$ =

P$+"."

50 PRINT#15,"C0:"+F1$+"=0:"+F$ :

PRINT#15,

"S0:"+F$

60 PRINT#15,"C0:"+P1$+"=0:"+P$ :

PRINT#15

, "S0:"+P$

70 PRINT#15,"R0:"+P$+"=0:"+P1$ :

PRINT#15,

"R0:"+F$+"=0:"+F1$

80 CLOSE15 : PRINT"{ 2 curser

downs} all done!"

STAFF

Steve Alexander

Ronda Hauben

William Rohler

Norman O. Thompson