vyEPA
 Vol. I
                          August, 1978
                        No. 6
CURT LACKEY
SELECTED AS WCC
PROJECT OFFICER
BILL ALLEN, COMPUTER SPECIALIST
In July,  EPA  Dajta Talk  announced
the appointment  of  new Project
Officers for the NCC and  WCC.  Tom
Rogers,  the NCC  Project  Officer,
was featured last month.
Curt  Lackey,  the  new  WCC  Project
Officer,   is   a   new  face   in
MIDSD/NCC.    Although  located  at
Washington's  Waterside
will  report to  Don Fulford
                     Mall, Curt
                         Chief
of the  Data Center
RTP  facility.
                  Branch at the
                                                      CIRT LACKEY
him), one year in Vietnam as Chief
of Computer Operations,  Data Man-
agement  Agency,  and  one year  at
Randolph AFB,  Texas,  where he was
involved with  the procurement  of
the  Advanced Personnel Data System
for  the Air Force. A native South
Carolinian, Curt was born in 19^2,
and  in  1964  received  a B.S.  in
mathematics from Clemson Univer-
sity.   He  then  moved  to Atlanta
where  he entered  Georgia Tech and
graduated with an M.S. in Informa-
tion Science in 1965.
Since
Branch
la n ta ,
region'
      1973,  Curt has  been  ADP
       Chief  for  Region  4,  At-
        where  he  managed   the
       s   ADP   resources   and
provided data processing  liaison
with  EPA  Headquarters.    He  was
instrumental  in  the  successful
            and efficient use of
            PDP-11/70.    Atlanta
            the  first  regional
installation
the  regional
was  one  of
offices
puter.
       to acquire  this  minicom-
Before coming  to EPA,  Curt served
in  the  U.S.  Air  Force for seven
years, four of which in the Penta-
gon  (D.C.  traffic won't be new to
Curt, who enjoys his work,  is also
active  outside ADP.    He  plays
paddleball and golf, and is  active
in church choir groups.  His wife
Judy and their three children, the
youngest  of  which is  six   months
old, are  in the process of  moving
from Atlanta  to Annandale,  Virgin-
ia,  where they  will   live  until
finding  a more permanent  resi-
dence .
                                  Welcome  to the  MIDSD organization,
                                  Curt!   We certainly can use  your
                                  talents  and experience to provide
                                  the IBM  users with  the high qual-
                                  ity utility  they  expect and  de-
                                  serve .

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DIRECTOR'S
     CORNER
                     Willis Grccnsirco
This month I want to emphasize  the
initiation  of  EPA's National  ADP
Institute  (NADPI).    The   first
courses were  held  in  July.    The
NADPI will  become a major  aspect
of  EPA's  ADP  Program  as we move
into  the  1980's.   The  following
excerpts  from  an  article   which
appeared  in  the North C_a_ro_.l_i.n;a
Leader  describe  it  well.     Vic
Cohen  of  my  RTP staff  is   to  be
commended   for   the  good start  of
NADPI.

FOR THE 1980 COMPUTER LEAP

NSCU FACULTY PREPS EPAers
                            mation  about  cloud  cover,  wind
                            direction  and relative  humidity
                            may  be  fed  in to  produce  long-
                            range weather reports,  of  interest
                            to the  EPA  since  it  is  involved
                            with  pollutants in  the  air.
                            At  the  second  or   intermediate
                            level,  a  course  called  "Project
                            Management"  will concentrate on
                            practical  methods  of  managing  a
                            computer  project.   It is designed
                            for mid-level  managers,  systems
                            and management  analysis [sic] and
                            computer  specialists.
                            At the top level, a course called
                            "Executive Seminar,"  for  the  upper
                            echelons  of EPA  managers, teaches
                            more extensively  how  to make  deci-
                            sions  based   on  computer  work
                            others do.   It advises  about how
                            to  ask  for  certain   information,
                            what to  ask for.
North Carolina State University is
providing  the  teaching  expertise
for  the  Environmental  Protection
Agency's Automated Data Processing
Institute in Raleigh  and  in  [two]
other  states.    The  Institute  is
for EPA  personnel  from  across  the
country.   Sessions  also  will  be
held at Gaithersburg,  MD,  and Cin-
cinnati,  OH.
The  NCSU
travel to
James  D.
David  F.
 professors,
all seminars,
Powell
McAllister,
 who  will
 are:   Dr.
  and  Dr.
of  NCSU's
Department of Computer Science.

The  NCSU  professors  will  teach
three courses.  At the first level
is "Basic  Concepts,"  designed  for
lower level  management  people  and
others without a great deal of  ex-
pertise  in  the  computer  field.
The  course  will deal  with  appli-
cations of computer information  in
an introductory way.   For example,
it might  explain weather  fore-
casting  by  computer  -  how  infor-
                            The courses are being
                               .   .  by  the  NCSU
                            Continuing Education.
                                     coordinated
                                    Division  of
They  are  intended  to  acquaint
their  students  with  recent  ad-
vances  in  computer  technology,
preparing the way for  the tremen-
dous leaps  ahead  expected  by the
1980's.
                            Plans  for  several  more  years  of
                            courses are  in  the  works, with the
                            intention  being   to  expand  the
                            courses in depth.   A student who
                            attended the first course,  "Basic
                            Concepts,"  might  expect  the next
                            year to  come  back  to course 1-a,
                            he   [John   Schulze,   continuing
                            education    specialist]    says,
                            explaining  that  this  might  be  an
                            enlarged version   or  offshoot  of
                            "Basic  Concepts . "

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NADPI

Vic Cohen, Computer Specialist

The trees  appearing  on the  cover
of the brochure pictured  at  right
announcing the  "Executive  Seminar
in  ADP"   serve  as  the  logo  for
EPA's  newest ADP  educational  pro-
gram  called   the  National   ADP
Institute  or  NADPI  (pronounced
"nappy").  Implied by  the  logo is
NADPI1s goal of  individual  growth
through education.

By researching effective classroom
techniques, continuously surveying
course   needs,  and  developing,
presenting,   and  evaluating  ADP
courses,   NADPI  will  provide  a
high-calibre ADP  education  to all
EPA employees.

This   fiscal   year,   NADPI   is
offering  a set  of  three  courses
each aimed at a different  category
of EPA employee:   "Executive  Semi-
nar in  ADP"  for  executives,  "Pro-
ject  Management  and  the  System
Life  Cycle"  for ADP  project  mana-
gers,  and  "Basic  Concepts  in  ADP"
for  those without  prior  ADP  ex-
perience .

The  NADPI  program  recognizes  a
number of new attitudes toward the
way the government should  operate.
Draft reports from the President's
Reorganization Project have  re-
peatedly stated that computers are
indispensable  to the  successful
operation  of  the government.   Of
course,  this  idea  is not  new to
EPA.   As a young agency,  EPA has
easily taken advantage of technol-
ogy,  particulary automation.  With
the advent  of  OMB  Circular A-109
and the approaching procurement of
computer equipment  and  services
for  the  1980's,  the  Agency  will
produce new computer uses^,/ methods
of managing  information,  and per-
haps,  modes   of  organizational
behavior.   As  ADP  permeates  the
Agency,  few  staffers  remain  out-
side  its  influence.    All  of us
                            NADPI
                     .an opportunity to
have a  role  in producing  and  re-
viewing  data,  distributing  re-
ports,  consolidating and digesting
information,   or  managing  one  or
more of these activities.

The  implication  of  this  trend
toward  automation  is that EPA must
help its   staff  acquire  computer
skills  and  accept  the  changes
computers  will bring to  the  work-
place.    All  NADPI  courses  will
prepare  EPA  personnel  for  the
developing information  technology
and will  emphasize  their  role  in
the information process.

Compared to courses  available from
other  sources,  those of  NADPI have
several advantages.   They are free
to  EPA  employees.   They  will  re-
flect   actual  EPA   experiences
through the  use  of  tailored  case
studies.   Most will be  developed
and presented  by  university  fac-
ulty,   and  the  students  will  re-
ceive  continuing education credits
(CEU's).

Next fiscal  year,  NADPI  will  un-
doubtedly  repeat  portions of  the
current  schedule.    The  current
project management  course may  be
changed to include  the  use  of  a
project  management  game,  again
customized to  fit  the  EPA experi-

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ence.   But there  will  be renewed
emphasis  on  users  not  formally
trained  in ADP,  exemplified  by a
systems course  specifically de-
signed  for personnel managers  or
environmental  protection  special-
ists.   Other  ideas include  an ADP
procurement  seminar,  a  series  in
data  analysis,  a  course in  data
base  applications,  and  reviews  of
new  books  on management  infor-
mation  systems.

The  future  looks  bright  for NADPI
and  all EPA employees are encour-
aged  to  take  advantage  of  the
unique  opportunity it offers.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE WCC

Maireei Jehnson
                                          v.
   V
     Curt  Lackey,  newly-appointed
EPA  Project  Officer for  the  WCC,
is  rapidly  familiarizing  himself
with  the management  of  the  con-
tract.  Having  served  as  the  ADP
Branch  Chief for  Region  4,  Curt
brings a valuable user perspective
to  the  direction   of the  data
center.    Jim Flatten  and  Neil
McNamara will be  working with Curt
at Waterside Mall.
    JA  new  project  management and
control  system,   PC/70,  from  At-
lantic  Software,  Inc.,  will  soon
be  implemented  at  the  WCC.   De-
scriptive information on this sys-
tem  will be  presented  in  future
issues of EPA/WCC SIGNQN.
     A schedule and plan will soon
be  completed  for  the  implemen-
tation  of  IBM's  Multiple  Virtual
Storage  (MVS)  operating  system.
Generally,   MVS  is  expected  to
increase  productivity  in  appli-
cations    development,    expand
operations  flexibility,  and  im-
prove system  performance.   Copies
of  a COMNET  working  paper  de-
scribing MVS  may  be obtained from
WCC Users Support.
     'Robert   T.   Caravella   has
joined  the  WCC  staff  as  Deputy
Project  Director.   And  the  posi-
tions  of  Security  and  Fire  Pro-
tection Officer, Quality Assurance
and Certification Officer,  Network
Manager,  and  two  Senior  Perfor-
mance Analysts have been filled.

    ^Morino  Associates,  Inc.,  has
been  awarded   a  subcontract  to
study  WCC performance  monitoring
requirements  prior  to  the  devel-
opment of a Performance  Monitoring
Information System.
                                           'Under  development  is  a  new
                                       user"  orientation  package,  pro-
                                       viding new  users  with  pertinent
                                       information  about how  to  use the
                                       WCC  and  where  to  obtain   assis-
                                       tance .
HEWS FROM REGIOH 3

Ted Stindish, Region 3 ADP Branch Chief

Work  is  continuing at  a  steady
pace on  the  design  of  the  Hazard-
ous  Waste Data  Management  System
for  the  Hazardous  Waste  Program.
Several  meetings of the  Steering
Committee were held  and, as  a  re-
sult, we  at  Region  3 sent  to  the
other  regions  information  on  a
design  proposal   for  the  Notifi-
cations  System   and the  Permit
Issuance  System.   In addition,  we
also requested regional  comment on
several data  processing issues.
We  will  keep  the regions  informed
as work on this system  progresses.

Last  week,   Arthur  Young   and
Company briefed  the  Steering  Com-
mittee  on  the  status of the  Data
Standardization Project.   Commit-
tee  members  agreed that  Arthur
Young  should define alternative
ways for the Agency  to  implement  a
Data  Management  and  Standardi-
zation Program.   This briefing  was
videotaped and will  be  sent  with  a
briefing document to each  region.

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Region  3  arranged  for  WCC  Users
Support to operate the Model State
Information  System  on  a  daily
basis.   We  have  documented  this
arrangement.   At  the end  of  the
fiscal  year,   together   with  User
Support, we will issue a report on
the  advantages  and  disadvantages
of this arrangement.

The meeting of the regional Branch
Chiefs should occur in October, in
conjunction   with   either   the
meeting  of  the  minicomputer  re-
gions or the  proposed Agency Data
Processing Conference.  As soon as
I  have  a  firm  date,  I will  let
each of you know.

Please let me know if you have any
information you wish to include in
this column.
NETWORK ACTIVITIES

Fred Hastier

The   General   Services   Admin-
istration     recently     granted
approval   for  seven   new   data
circuits.   This will allow EPA and
COMNET to  proceed  with  a network
reconfiguration to  improve acces-
sibility and  reliability  for  San
Francisco,  Dallas,  New  Orleans,
Grosse lie, and other northeastern
cities.
RJE  access   to  NCC  is  still  not
available over  the  network facil-
ities.    COMNET  is  testing  the
capability and cannot at this time
provide an implementation date.
COMNET  currently  provides  WATS
lines  and  commercial  numbers  in
Washington  to  access NCC  and  WCC
with  1200  bps  full-duplex  VADIC
modems.    But  access  to  either
system  with   similar  Bell   212
modems   is   limited   to   local
Washington commercial numbers.   To
service   Bell  212  modem  users
outside  the  Washington  dialing
area,  COMNET  will  install WATS
lines by August 2.

Users are  reminded  and  encouraged
to report all communications prob-
lems.   If you  are not  satisfied
with problem resolution or  if  you
are  still  experiencing  problems,
please contact me a (919)  541-2932
or (FTS) 629-2932.
EPA/HUB CONTRACT

Robert Yoni, UP letvork Services, lie.

EPA has awarded  a contract  to  ADP
Network  Services,  Inc.,  through
First Data Corporation,  to  provide
a  "Mathematical  Modeling  Time-
Sharing Service" to all EPA  loca-
tions  throughout  the  country.
This  service  centers  around  the
MLAB software  package  developed by
NIH and resides  on a DEC System-10
in Ann Arbor,  Michigan.  The  net-
work   is  readily  accessible  by
phone  from most  major  U.S.  cities.

MLAB is an interactive  system  for
mathematical  modeling.  The  heart
of the  system  is a curve-fitting
program  which  will  adjust   the
parameters of  a model  function  to
minimize  the  sum of  the  squared
errors.   Mathematical  operators
and functions,  routines for  tele-
type and CRT  plotting, and  mechan-
isms   for  saving  data  between
sessions  provide  a  powerful  and
convenient environment for  data
manipulation,  arithmetic  calcu-
lations,  and building and  testing
models.   MLAB  was originally  de-
signed  and  programmed by   Gary
Knott  and  Douglas  Reece.    It  was
inspired   by   earlier   work   of
Richard  Shrager  at NIH and  uses
the Marquardt-Levenburg method  of
curve-fitting.

The user communicates  with  MLAB by
typing  commands.    Most commands
are executed at  once,  but   a  few,
such  as  the  FIT command,   will

-------
prompt  the  user  for  additional
information.  Should  the  user  have
questions,  typing  "HELP" will  put
the  system  documentation  at   his
disposal.

In addition  to its suitability for
quick   and   convenient   curve-
fitting,  MLAB  provides  facilities
for  data  manipulation  and  graph-
ics.    Models  are  expressed  as
real-valued  functions of  arbitrary
numbers  of  independent  variables
and  parameters.    These  functions
may  be  expressed  in  terms  of  the
built-in  operators and  functions,
other  functions  defined  by  the
user, and  recursively  in  terms of
themselves.   Systems of  differen-
tial  equations  may  be  specified
and  solved   or  used  to  implicitly
define  functions  to  be  used  as
models  in curve-fitting.

The  graphics  routines  provide  a
means  of  rapidly examining  the
results of  a fit,  and,  using a CRT
display,  a  graph  can  be  prepared
for  publication.  Special  facili-
ties for  drawing perspective views
of   3-dimensional   surfaces   or
space-curves are  included.   Vari-
ous  means of  modifying  the views
are  available.

The  most  salient  feature  of  MLAB
is  its  civilized  interface  with
the  users.    Its  statements  are
simple  and  direct,  and  all  un-
necessary details relating to pure
programming have  been  suppressed.
Functions   are  evaluated  inter-
pretively,   avoiding  the  need for
user programming.

A comprehensive  set  of  assumptions
or "defaults"  is in  force to allow
command components to be neglected
when desired.    The  PDP-10 monitor
is  easy  to  interact with,  and no
elaborate operating  system control
specifications such  as  JCL  are
required.    The  use of   files  is
relatively  simple.

MLAB  has been  used  to  solve  dif-
ferential equations,  fit models to
data,  and  produce  pictures  for
publication  in  a variety of  situ-
ations .

The system is available  to  all  EPA
personnel.   For  more  information
on MLAB  or to  set  up an  account,
please contact:

  David Cline
  Environmental  Protection  Agency
  Athens,  Georgia   30605
  (H04) 546-3123
  (FTS) 250-3123
or
  Bob Young
  First Data  Corporation
  2011 Eye Street,  N.W.
  Washington,  DC   20006
  (202) 872-0580
     The   commercial   number
     for   the  National  Com-
     munciations  Network  is
     (202)  537-2611.   Marvin
     Rosenstein  is the Branch
     Chief for  Region  1.  EPA
     Data  Talk gave this in-
     formation  incorrectly in
     the June  issue .
  EPA Data Talk is published monthly by
  the National Computer Center, Manage-
  ment  Information  and Data Systems
  Division, for EPA personnel  and con-
  tractors  interested  in general  ADP
  topics.

  Comments  and suggestions  are solic-
  ited and should be addressed to:

      William G. Allen
      Editor, EPA Data Talk
      National Computer Center
      Research Triangle Park,
      North Carolina  27711

  To ensure that our  distribution list
  is up-to-date, please indicate  any
  required changes on the mailing label
  attached to this issue and mail it to
  the above address.

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DEVELOPMENT, MAINTENANCE & OPERATIONS
CONTRACT

Anne Parkis

[Editor's  Note:    Anne  Parkis,
formerly   of   the  WCC   Project
Office,  accepted  the DM&O Project
Manager   position  within  MIDSD.
This  position  became  vacant  when
Frank Bullock  transferred  to the
Department of  Defense.   Anne wel-
comes  any  questions  or  comments
concerning  the DM&O  contract and
can be reached at 755-2839.]

Elgin Fry  of  the Office of Pesti-
cide  Programs  (OPP)  must  process
huge  quantities  of site/pest data
to  analyze  the  composition and
effect  of  various   pesticides.
Elgin asked  CSC  to supply profes-
sionals  in  entomology,  agronomy,
microbiology,  plant  pathology, and
plant physiology,  who will encode
pesticide  data  into  a  computer-
compatible  format,  run the  data
through the COMNET computer system
after key-to-disk  conversion, and
verify  the  computer  edit  output
before sending the  data on to EPA
scientists  for  final  analysis.
The   key-to-disk  conversion  is
performed  by  CSC  under  the  DM&O
contract.   With  CSC's help,   Elgin
and the OPP will soon get the bugs
out of their systems.

Bruce Almich  is  establishing  a
Minicomputer Software  Exchange for
the  EPA  PDP-11  user  community.
This  exchange  should  help elimi-
nate  duplicate minicomputer  soft-
ware  development in  the Agency and
provide software sharing to PDP-11
users.   The exchange  will  be de-
veloped   through  two  DM&O  con-
tracts.    The  first  will  produce
minicomputer   documentation   stan-
dards and policies/procedures for
the exchange.  Draft  copies of the
results  will  be  distributed for
review  and  comment  at  the EPA
minicomputer   managers   meeting
scheduled  this fall.   The second
contract  will  establish and  oper-
ate the exchange.
The CSC  staff  at the  Large  Lakes
Research  Station  (LLRS), Grosse
lie,  just  published  their  first
newsletter giving their  user  com-
munity  general   interest  informa-
tion  concerning  data  operations.
Dr.   Swain,   Station   Director,
wrote, "I think  reviewing  it  that
you will discover why  we  consider
Ralph [Allen] and his  group  to  be
such a valuable asset to the  over-
all LLRS program."   Anyone  inter-
ested may request a  copy from Bill
Richardson,    the    EPA   Project
Officer.
AGENCY SAMPLE FILE CONTROL SYSTEM

Brace Alnicb, Gonputer Services and System Division

Computer Services and Systems  Di-
vision (CSSD)  is currently  engaged
in  the  design  and  implementation
of  data management  software  for
the EPA analytical service  labora-
tories.  A  prototype  "Sample  File
Control" (SFC) system  for ERC-Cin-
cinnati is  in  the  detailed  imple-
mentation  design  phase  and  will
run  on the  EPA-Cincinnati  PDP-
11/70   minicomputer   under   In-
form-11.    The prototype  is  ex-
pected  to  be  operational  by  the
end of 1978.

During  1979,   the  CSSD-developed
automatic  telecommunications  net-
work (available to  all  PDP-11  IAS
sites  using  HASP)  will  be  aug-
mented  to  provide  automatic  data
exchanges  of  laboratory  sample
backlogs   and  results  through
PDP-11  batch  jobstreams between
laboratory  minicomputers  and  the
regional  RJE   minicomputers.  Thus
the  laboratory minicomputers  will
serve  as  data  concentrators,  re-
porting on automated instrument
analytical quality control,  sample
status, and project results before
the  data is either  purged  or sent
to  the national data bases,  either
STORET or  SAROAD.   The  SFC  system
is  also designed for entry of man-
ual  results  data  into  the  PDP-11
data  base  and  as  a  protocol  for

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automated entry by  other  mini-
computers.   These  machines would
be  programmed  to   transmit  the
appropriate PDP-11 Batch  Inform
jobs and  receive reports via HASP
emulators  and  4800  baud synchro-
nous telecommunications  with the
PDP-11 SFC systems.

A larger  Regional  Service Labora-
tory Sample File Control System is
now in the  Data  Elements Diction-
ary definitions phase of implemen-
tation design.

Delivery  of Sample File  Control
systems to  primary  users is sche-
duled for 1979, with all major de-
sign  issues  to  be   frozen  during
the  fall  of 1978.   Anyone  inter-
ested in  obtaining  further  design
or  status information  is invited
to  request  a  copy  of  the  recent
report  from  CSSD  and/or  to  be
added  to  the  design   documents
mailing list.
STATUS OF HOP STUDIES

Ed Franklin. Project Officer

Of  the  current  nine   active  and
seven  proposed  Directives of Work
(DOW)  under  MIDSD's  Feasibility
Study  contract  with  Arthur Young
and  Company,  four  projects  are
nearing  completion  and  are  in an
EPA  review phase.    The  Hazardous
Waste   Data  Management  Supple-
mentary  Study  and   Underground
Injection Control  System  Feasi-
bility  Study  are   now  being  re-
viewed by  EPA Headquarters and the
regions.   MSED  is  now  reviewing
the alternatives definition evalu-
ation  and  cost  analysis  for their
Emissions  Data  Feasibility Study.
For further information  from MIDSD
on these  studies  call Ed Franklin
(755-0879)  or  Mike   Carpentier
(755-0623).
       UNITED STATES
 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

 National Computer Center

  Research Triangle Park

   North Carolina 27711

     OFFICIAL BUSINESS
 PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE S3OO
  AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYE*
           POSTAGE AND FEES PAID
            U S ENVIRONMENTAL
            PROTECTION AGENCY

               EPA-333
                                      THIRD CUSS
                                       BLK. RT.

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