From kriz Mon Apr 15 22:19:25 1996
To: fox@fox.cs.vt.edu
Subject: Re: suggestions for Computing Across the Curriculum task force
Cc: kriz@wave.esm.vt.edu

Ed:

All of your suggestions, items a-g, are good.  I'm inclined to 
budget my time not to commit to all of what you suggest.  I know 
that I can make the computer graphics minor a reality but unlike 
yourself I don't have the resources or connections with others on 
campus to implement the other items you mention, all of which are 
good ideas.  Therefore I would be willing to work with others on
broader issues regarding CAC other than just a graphics minor.

I particularly like the idea of meeting with Provost's office,
CEUT, Educational Technologies, Computing Center and CS and
meet for a 1 day brainstorming session to define a pilot
workshop where computer graphics would only be a part of the
total proposed FDI-phaseII.

Although the overlap between multimedia and visualization is at
times obvious, my definition would not include multimedia into 
visualization or visualization into multimedia.  As a research 
tool "scientific" visualization has very little to do with 
multimedia except for presentation of results in a visualization 
project.  For example the 90/91.../95 Visualization Conferences 
have absolutely no components related to multimedia.   It is how 
these graphical tools are used that differentiates the two 
disciplines.  None-the-less the link between the two should be 
made.  I would however include audio, video, animation, and text as 
different media formats within multimedia.  The way I would explain 
the difference is simply that visualization uses graphics to 
discover new information embedded in raw data.  When used in the 
sciences we classify it as scientific visualization.  I would 
recommend that visualization be included along with other useful 
graphical tools as part of a graphics minor which can part of a 
larger CAC program.  A minor in graphics can than be used by 
students to focus in Multimedia, Scientific Visualization, 
Computer Art, etc.  I would also not put Computer Art under 
Visualization or Multimedia either.  I think if visualization had 
been offered as a subset of multimedia, over half of the students 
in the ESM5984 class would not have taken the course.

I plan of working most of Tuesday on a final report for 
Wednesday's meeting.  I will include many of your recommendations
but mostly I'll try to nail down a graphics minor.  Besides a
graphics minor is something Leonard Ferrari and Jack Carroll both 
agree on.  That in itself is noteworthy and worth pursuing. 

Regards,
Ron Kriz