3/24
Class Panel: “Giving Back” | Join Us Virtually April 18th !
Then & Now: CS @ Brown | By Stacy Bereck Chernosky ’90
Spotlight | Toby Loftus ’90
Reunion Weekend | May 24th Weekend in PVD
CLASS OF 1990 PANEL
“GIVING BACK”
THURSDAY | APRIL 18
Save the date! Join us in conversation with our classmates Greg Baldwin, Susan Friedland, and Bill Fulton on the theme of “giving back.” Get inspired!
Then & Now: Computer Science at Brown
By Stacy Bereck Chernosky ‘90
Brown has long been at the forefront of Computer Science – starting with the arrival of Professor Andy Van Dam at the University in the Applied Math department nearly 60 years ago. Van Dam came armed with the nation’s second PhD in Computer Science and a plan to bring the nascent study area to Brown.
Computer Science has now become the most popular concentration at Brown for the last seven years in a row. However, back in 1986, some members of the administration were concerned that the excitement around computer science had already come and gone.
In an article in the Brown Daily Herald from October 24,1986 headlined “CS Classes Lose Students”, writer David Temkin reported that the class of 1990 had only 22 students who had selected Computer Science as an intended major — down from 48 from the class of 1986 (which actually graduated nearly double that number of concentrators—78—a record for the University at the time.) Temkin said Brown’s decline in computer science class enrollment marked a big swing from two years earlier when students slept out overnight to get a spot in an introductory computer science class. The decline in enrollment was not unique to Brown, according to Temkin, but part of a national trend.
Then head of Admissions James Rogers told Temkin, “People are just more sophisticated about computers when they come out of high school than they used to be. They aren’t seeing computers for the first time at Brown. Most have already learned what they want to know about them.”
It is true that for those merely looking to become computer literate, or looking to use computers for routine tasks, Brown during our tenure offered ample opportunities at computer time without the need to enroll in a computer science class.
Personally, I showed up to the University with a typewriter. However, I began using a Macintosh computer regularly — disk in hand – as a staff reporter for the Brown Daily Herald. Clusters of computers were available publicly in other locations on campus including libraries and some dorms (although most required that you provide your own software via disk).
For those who wanted to move beyond computer literacy to actually learn computer science programming you could have studied Artificial Intelligence at Brown while we were there. Other classes in the curriculum at that time such as Database Management, Software Engineering and Systems Architecture are all still offered in various forms today. The current curriculum has expanded to include classes in Cybersecurity, Law & Society, and Ethics as well as breaking AI out into different specialty areas.
Despite any lingering worries about computer science enrollment, Brown broke ground on the Computer Information Technology center (CIT) in October, 1986. The Center was completed in October of 1988 and a weekend-long celebration for the new building, christened the Thomas J. Watson, Sr. Center for Information Technology, brought to campus luminaries from Apple (John Sculely ‘61 among others), hp, NEXT, Sun, Wang and of course the Watson family from IBM, according to the Brown CS Digital Archive.
The Computer Science Department clearly weathered any dips in enrollment over the past several decades. As of May, 2023 one-fifth of the undergraduates who graduated from Brown held a concentration or joint concentration in computer science. Brown CS grads appear to be highly employable—even when graduating into a soft employment market for tech, the class of 2023 ended up at top companies in the field including Adobe, Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Tik Tok, among others according to a Computer Science Department blog post by Jesse Polhemus. Of course, in keeping with Brown being Brown, at least one of the computer science graduates joined the Peace Corps.
Spotlight | Toby Loftus ‘90
Louise Davidson-Schmich ‘90 & Toby Loftus ‘90 (East Germany, 1989)
VW or Ratty?
Ratty
What did you study at Brown?
My concentration was Psychology, although I also studied German and spent a year abroad in West and the former East Germany.
What did you do outside of class?
Freshman year I worked in food services in the Ratty and later as a Student Computer Consultant in the then new CIT building. I was a member of Delta Psi (King House). Senior year I started ballroom dancing in Brown Ballroom Dance Club (BBDC).
Favorite Brown Memory?
Certainly the first memories that come back are from King House and from my year abroad in Germany, especially East Germany. The Berlin Wall fell just months after I returned, and the 30th anniversary of that fateful date brought back a flood of memories. I've blogged about my time in the DDR at:
https://rememberingrostock.home.blog/
What are you up to these days?Can you talk more about your work educating people about the impact of Executive Order 9066 on Japanese Americans and your family in particular?
I work in IT for the City of Tigard (a suburb of Portland, OR). I started ballroom dancing again a year ago after a 20+ year hiatus. I'm also enjoying traveling again (Germany, Italy, and will be going to Finland and Japan this year).
My mother, now 91 and still very strong and feisty, has been giving talks for as long as I can remember about her family being forced from their home in Hood River, OR and into concentration camps surrounded by barbed wire, guard towers, and soldiers with bayonets. Her entire family -- except for her four brothers who served in the U.S. armed forces -- was imprisoned for a year at Tule Lake, California, then two years at Heart Mountain, Wyoming, before they were released from "camp." They endured persecution and racism after the war but persevered, survived, and thrived nonetheless.
With her approval, during the pandemic I began giving online talks about Japanese American Incarceration (including a talk hosted by Brown Alumni clubs of San Francisco and Oregon). I continue to give talks, my most recent being last week for the City of Tigard commemorating February 19, Day of Remembrance.
Mom wrote and self-published a memoir back in 1990 about her parents and their family's experience in Hood River and during the war. My oldest brother edited and expanded the book and I collected additional photos to include in it. A friend made a painting that became the cover art and inspired the new title, From Thorns to Blossoms. The book is now being published by Oregon State University Press. Together, we are scheduling book talks and signing events with mom around the Pacific Northwest. Information about the book, where you can purchase it, and the latest schedule of upcoming talks can be found at https://tobyloftus.com/newbook
Mom was only a grade schooler when she was imprisoned, and is now 91. She is part of a fast dwindling number of survivors of Japanese American Incarceration. The vast majority of those incarcerated never spoke about it. Mom is unusual in that she has been outspoken about it as long as I have been alive.
I am passionate about sharing this history. I feel a strong responsibility to carry on the tradition of speaking out about this history and the lessons we may learn from this dark chapter.
Anything Else You'd Like to Add...
If you'd like to learn more about this history, I've compiled a webpage with links to prior talks mom and I have given, plus many more resources:
Additionally, mom and I will talk to just about any group interested in hosting us. Feel free to reach out to me!
Reunion 2024
We know that this is somewhat of an “off year” for us but maybe you’ll be around for May 24th weekend? Maybe your kid is graduating? We still plan to show up with our regular table at Campus Dance and walk with the banner to show off 1990 pride. Let us know if you plan to be there!
– Your Class of 1990 Leadership Team
– brown1990leadership@gmail.com
Lisa Ryers ‘90, Editor
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