CUBA'S - techlife magazine
CUBA'S - techlife magazine
CUBA'S - techlife magazine
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REWIND<br />
by 1975, there were more than<br />
4,300 full-time students, 6,700<br />
apprentices and 900 staffers<br />
at nait. the ditto machine was<br />
the duplicating technology of<br />
the day and staff perks included<br />
discount haircuts by hairstyling<br />
students. staffers of 35-plus<br />
years reflect on changes to<br />
campus life and technology.<br />
— Kristen Vernon<br />
lIna gIORDanO<br />
Instructor<br />
Medical Laboratory<br />
Technology<br />
Started August 1975<br />
WaYne laRSOn<br />
(Business<br />
Administration –<br />
Accounting ’69)<br />
Instructor<br />
Digital Media and IT<br />
Started August 1975<br />
JaCKIe SaYeRS<br />
Lending Services<br />
Assistant<br />
McNally Library<br />
Started<br />
September 1973<br />
66 <strong>techlife</strong>mag.ca<br />
dO YOu<br />
REmEmBER whEn?<br />
the job was manual. “When I started, 100 per cent of our slides were examined and we did<br />
manual differential counts, where we categorize white blood cells. Now that’s all done by an<br />
instrument and the only slides we look at are those that are flagged.”<br />
with health-care cuts in the ’90s, a lot of labs purchased multi-functional analyzers to<br />
increase the volume of testing and decrease staff. “I started with a class of 90 students and in<br />
the mid-’90s, we went down to a class of 16 students and we’re now at 32.”<br />
culinary students served gourmet meals in a staff-only dining room. “You could come for<br />
a seven-course meal and get white-glove service with silverware and crystal for less than $10 –<br />
and that included drinks. And you had to wear a suit jacket and tie.”<br />
technology always made the job easier. “When the multiple choice scanner was brought in,<br />
of course that was met with great celebration . . . There were only a few in the school and we<br />
did have some other programs find out about it and they would want to use it.”<br />
before the photocopier, there was the ditto machine. The exam “would be on carbonloaded<br />
paper, and you would run that into the machine and then you would crank the<br />
handle . . . and (the exams) would come out in bluish ink. The machine had to be loaded with<br />
this fluid that if you inhaled enough of it, you could get high.”<br />
larson estimates he’s taught 7,500 students. “They help keep me young.”<br />
you knew more people. “President (George) Carter used to make a point of knowing<br />
everybody’s name. He would walk down the hall and say, ‘Good morning Jackie. How are you?’<br />
Well, everything is so big now.”<br />
there were mens’ and ladies’ hairstyling programs. “We would go on our noon hour to get<br />
our hair done. It was very reasonable.” Students in the hairstyling programs, which closed in<br />
1991 after 27 years, practised on staff. In 1982, a shave cost 40 cents, a haircut – $1, a perm –<br />
$6 and frosting – $4.50.<br />
the library was automated in 1988. The benefit, according to the staff newsletter, was that<br />
“rather than thumbing through the card catalogue to find a book, you will be able to find it<br />
through information on a computer screen – a much faster process.”<br />
photos by nait staff photographers