Funding totaling $97,000 for a computer lab in the lower lounges of the C and D wings of Lincoln Hall has been approved, and the system is expected to be operative this fall.

David Lasker, manager for the Douglas computer lab, said the emphasis of the lab will be on word processing, but some of the computers also will be used by classes that meet in the lab.

The computers are used when classes are in session and there will be computers that are always available to students, he said. Lasker added when classes are not in session all the computers become available. The classroom also will be used for English classes.

Robert Self, director of freshman English, said the computer lab is “still in its planning stages. We are in the process of putting on the final touches.”

Self said Apple Computers Company Inc. has made a grant of $50,000 worth of Macintosh computers to NIU. He said the remaining $47,000 was the result of a joint funding effort between the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Housing Office and Provost’s Office.

“It is a fully networked lab and the teacher and student will be able to interact with each other through computer,” said Self. He said all the terminals are interactive so that students and teachers can work on the same file. It also allows for students to be able to share and review each other’s work.

He said the lab will be similar to the Douglas Hall computer lab, and all the students who live in the residence halls will be able to use it. The computers will arrive in August and representatives from Apple Computers will install the system, he said.

Self said the English Department will issue about 24 sections of freshman English to be taught in the new lab during the fall semester of 1989. “We’re going be doing (computer) training sessions with teaching staff during the summer and before classes begin,” he said. The Education Alliance, 901 G, Lucinda Ave., was helpful in the acquisition of the computers, he said.

Carol Seibert, Higher Education Purchase Program II account executive for Education Alliance, said HEPP II is a part of Apple Computer Co.

She said the Education Alliance dealer, NIU and Apple Computers work together as a team. She said Educational Alliance is training the professors, lab managers and lab assistants for the new Douglas lab. They also have open classes throughout the year for anyone who wants to attend.

“It’s a wonderful service (the computer lab) students have available for their use,” said Sheryl Mullis Lincoln/Douglas Hall area coordinator. She said that she is looking forward to having a lab in Lincoln.