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Domestic News
September 12, 1958
The Nome Nugget
Nome, Nome County, Alaska
What is this article about?
An electronic scheduling system at St. Louis' Beaumont High School failed, leaving 700 students confused and misplaced in classes after the September 4 school start.
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Automation Not For This School
ST. LOUIS, (AP) -- A noble electronic experiment in education -- believed the first of its kind in the United States -- has short-circuited St. Louis' biggest high school.
It was hoped that the first two days of school -- which began Sept. 4 -- could be used for instruction instead of untangling just where everybody belonged.
The Board of Education and officials of the 2,000-pupil Beaumont High School assigned an electric brain to channel students to classrooms and class periods. The machine gave out cards telling students which classes to attend.
But seven days later the halls and classrooms are still clogged with about 700 wandering, perplexed students.
Boys reported to girls' gym classes and vice versa, voice students found themselves in the band, and a study hall with a capacity of 100 bulged with 160 pupils.
Principal Walter Gammeter said it was the worst snafu he had seen in 34 years of class programming.
"There evidently were errors on both sides," said the principal.
He explained that his students probably made a mass of clerical errors last spring when they filled out the punch cards the brain lives on.
A reporter visited the school Thursday and saw seven psychology students sitting on the floor of a filled classroom.
"This," their teacher remarked dryly, is the result of automation."
ST. LOUIS, (AP) -- A noble electronic experiment in education -- believed the first of its kind in the United States -- has short-circuited St. Louis' biggest high school.
It was hoped that the first two days of school -- which began Sept. 4 -- could be used for instruction instead of untangling just where everybody belonged.
The Board of Education and officials of the 2,000-pupil Beaumont High School assigned an electric brain to channel students to classrooms and class periods. The machine gave out cards telling students which classes to attend.
But seven days later the halls and classrooms are still clogged with about 700 wandering, perplexed students.
Boys reported to girls' gym classes and vice versa, voice students found themselves in the band, and a study hall with a capacity of 100 bulged with 160 pupils.
Principal Walter Gammeter said it was the worst snafu he had seen in 34 years of class programming.
"There evidently were errors on both sides," said the principal.
He explained that his students probably made a mass of clerical errors last spring when they filled out the punch cards the brain lives on.
A reporter visited the school Thursday and saw seven psychology students sitting on the floor of a filled classroom.
"This," their teacher remarked dryly, is the result of automation."
What sub-type of article is it?
Education
What keywords are associated?
Beaumont High School
Electronic Scheduling
Automation Failure
St Louis Education
Scheduling Errors
What entities or persons were involved?
Walter Gammeter
Where did it happen?
St. Louis
Domestic News Details
Primary Location
St. Louis
Event Date
Sept. 4
Key Persons
Walter Gammeter
Outcome
700 students wandering and perplexed; scheduling errors including boys in girls' gym, voice students in band, study hall over capacity; psychology students sitting on floor
Event Details
Electronic brain assigned to schedule 2,000-pupil Beaumont High School failed due to clerical errors on punch cards, causing chaos seven days after school began on Sept. 4