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other students because, as the professor put it, “There are enough variables in working with computers without adding the uncertainty of working with people you don’t know.”
    When they broke for lunch, most of the class stuck together and ate in the cafeteria. Since Professor Angle let them out later than originally scheduled, the main dining room was mostly empty. The other students on campus were already back in their afternoon classes.
    Taking their chances with the synthesizer, Stan and Delmar found that it did pretty well with simple things like stew and other foods designed to have all the ingredients cooked together. Some of their classmates punched in orders for more complicated selections involving separate items. The results could be politely described as interesting.
    Exactly one hour after he dismissed them, Professor Angle reconvened the class. More familiar with each other, the group was already showing signs of the unified team they could become.
    “Now that we’ve gotten the social aspects of the class out of the way, I want to address how I run this class,” he said. “This class is both lecture and lab, combined with a heavy emphasis on lab. You will be building, repairing, and trying to operate computers,” the professor stated to several chuckles. “I require each of you to be able to design, build, and operate your own computer by the end of the current term.”
    Two or three students stirred uncomfortably in their seats.
    “To aid you in the process, you’ll get considerable hands-on experience working with existing machines,” the professor continued. “Each of you will be issued a computer to use in your dorm room to aid in your studies. The institute maintenance division will link your computer directly into the main computer here in the lab. Since you’ll have direct access to this computer, there will be no excuse for late assignments.”
    The students shifted nervously.
    “You will also find that your starmail account has already been established for you. Your starmail account should be easy to remember. It is the first letter of your first name, followed by the first five letters of your last name, followed by a forward sign, the letters gss, which stand for Galactic Starmail Service, a dot, followed by the letters mcti, which stand for Mica Computer Training Institute, a dot, and finally, the letters mi, which stand for Mica.”
    Students around the room made hasty notes of their new starmail account addresses. This sounded all too familiar to Stan and Delmar.
    “Now,” the professor concluded, “I want to give you a quick tour of the lab. You will follow me, please.”
    The students rose and followed Professor Angle through a door at the front of the classroom into the computer lab. Delmar and Stan were not sure what to expect in the lab, but it certainly was not what they saw. There, rising from the floor to the ceiling twenty feet above them, was the front of an antique computer.
    “This,” began the professor, “is one of the oldest solid-state computers on Mica.” He paused while he waited for the groans to die out.
    “It’s also still operational, and you will have memorized its workings before the term is over,” he said. Every student groaned.
    “Don’t underestimate this fine piece of equipment,” the professor admonished. “It may look cumbersome and crude, but it’s still comparable to most machines today. What you’ll learn on this unit will be fully applicable wherever you go.”
    “But aren’t its components obsolete?” asked one of the students.
    “Technically speaking, yes,” answered the professor. “But we’re not studying components, we’re studying theory. The process by which it operates is almost identical to anything current today.”
    Again, he paused and waited for more questions. Satisfied that there weren’t any, he started back toward the classroom, his students in tow.
    “In a few minutes, I will dismiss you to tackle your