Diablo
Valley College
Computer
Science / Computer Network Technology
Leslie Asher
Instructor
Continuation
Page
Contents
2010 Spring
Tutoring
Tutoring
for computer students will be available in room
L-145. A sign-up sheet should be
posted on the door of that office. The
tutor will be Yosuf Ebrat.
Tutoring and other free resources are mentioned at
http://www.dvc.edu/org/departments/computer-science/resources.htm
Books
The DVC administration is making known to
students a couple options for renting
or buying books online. Students may
want to check these sources for somewhat more economical book arrangements than
in the past:
The instructor is making known an
alternative for subscribing to electronic books at:
For more information, below please read 2009
Spring – Books.
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Courses
In the 2010 Spring semester, Leslie Asher
will teach two evening courses at Diablo Valley College:
·
CNT-105,
Computer Networking Hardware/Software
(for the first time)
·
ComSc-105,
Introduction to Computer Science (again)
CNT-105
Notes
The CNT-105 class will meet in a large
lecture room. The room number is ET-112. No computers are in this room. To take computerized quizzes, students will
accompany the instructor to a computer lab room to be announced.
ComSc-105
Notes
Both sections of the ComSc-105 course this
semester will use different programming
languages than last year. Instead of
C++, the evening section that Mr.
Asher teaches this semester will use Visual
Basic, a popular language that is less complex than C++.
(The day section of this course that
another instructor teaches will use the Ruby language. The Computer Science Department will continue
to teach the C++ language in other ComSc courses after 105.)
The ComSc-105 course this semester will
use the same textbooks as last
semester.
For information about formats in which
students will be able to buy books or subscribe to them, see the Books section above.
For information about specific books that
the course will use, see the Schedule
section below and click the link for course ComSc-105.
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Budget
In the 2009-2010 school year (and for
perhaps several years, thereafter), budget cuts may result in fewer services
available, fewer classes offered, and more classes full.
The college provides a letter at the
following link with more information, including names and addresses of
government officials to contact:
The letter is saved in Portable Document
Format, which is readable with Adobe Reader software. To get Adobe Reader for free, visit www.Adobe.com
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2009 Fall
Books
Beginning
with the 2009 Fall semester, students in courses that Mr. Asher teaches will
have the option of either buying printed
books or subscribing to electronic
books.
As
usual, students will be able to buy printed
books from the college book store or from other sources. Regardless of source, students should have
their books by the first class meeting.
Since
class begins at 7:00 p.m., and since the
DVC bookstore closes at the same 7:00
o'clock hour, students unfortunately will NOT be able to buy printed books at the bookstore during a break in
class.
As
a new alternative, students will be able to subscribe to electronic books from CourseSmart.com. Electronic book subscriptions exist for about
six months and cost about half the price of printed book purchases. Students will have the choice of reading
electronic books online or downloading them to computers. (However, downloading electronic books to
computers require bringing computers to class so, unless students have notebook
computers, this choice would not be good.)
For
more information about electronic books and their subscriptions, point a web
browser to http://www.CourseSmart.com.
For
information about specific books that courses will use, see the Schedule section below and click its course links.
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2010 Spring
Course # (Sec.) Course Title Units Eves.
Times Rooms
CNT-105 (8864) Computer Networking... 3 Th 7:00–9:50p
ET-112
ComSc-105 (8268) Intro. to Computer Science 4 M, W 7:00–9:50p
ATC-109
To
see a syllabus for a course that Mr.
Asher is scheduled to teach, please click a course link above. (Syllabi are preliminary until courses begin. They at least provide book information early
so students may buy books or subscribe to them ahead of time.)
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E-mail Type LAsher "at" symbol DVC.edu
Typing
either upper- or lower-case letters should work. The actual address does not appear here as a
link to minimize the chance of attracting unsolicited commercial e-mail
messages to the college's e-mail server.
Postal
Mail Leslie Asher
Computer Instructor
Diablo Valley College
321 Golf Club Rd.
Pleasant Hill, CA 94523
Phone (none
on campus)
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Around
the year 2001, in the aftermath of the so-called "dot-com bust," the
number of computer-related jobs in the United States began declining. A few years later, the number of technology jobs
began rebounding. Government studies
project a growth in jobs for many (but not all) categories of technology.
Below
are links to government papers and news articles about jobs related to computers
and information technology (IT). Computer
courses at Diablo Valley College may help, in part, to prepare students for
some such jobs.
Government
papers (from U.S. Department of Labor)
Computer and Information and Systems Managers
Computer Scientists and Database Administrators
Computer Support Specialists and Systems Administrators
Data Entry and Information Processing Workers
News
articles (from
newspapers, industry magazines and/or web sites)
Stimulus Could Boost IT Job
Prospects
Gates to Students: Consider
IT Careers
Starting Salaries for Most
IT Pros Will Climb in 2008
Why Should Women Want to be
in IT?
In Growing Job Market, IT
Pros Get More for the Soft Skills
Desparately Seeking
Business Skills
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Can
too much of a good thing be bad? Can you
have too much technology?
News
columns
(Newsweek, print date 11/02/2009,
Psychology, p. 28)
Facebook addict pulls the
plug
(print title, Contra Costa Times,
11/04/2009, Business, p. D1)
This
teen is done with Facebook
(online title of same column)
High tech taking toll on
attention, relations
(print title, San Francisco
Chronicle, 11/15/2009, Business, p. D1)
Attention
loss feared as high-tech rewires brain
(online title of same article)
Internet addiction harms
real relationships
(print title, San Francisco
Chronicle, 11/15/2009, Business, p. D2)
Internet
addiction can harm real relationships
(online title of same article)
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Here’s
a brief bit of biographical information about the instructor.
In
2008, Leslie Asher returned to the Contra Costa Community College District as a
part-time instructor. In the past, he
had taught full- or part-time at Contra Costa College, at College of Marin, at
Truckee Meadows Community College, and at San Francisco State University.
Mr. Asher has an M.S. degree in business /
information systems from San Francisco State, a B.A. in math from Cal State Los
Angeles, and a teaching credential from the California Community Colleges.
He currently works full-time as the technology
director for a labor union, where he supports a computer network and develops
database applications. In the past, he
had owned a computer consulting business, and had worked as a
programmer/analyst and technical trainer for several corporations in northern
and southern California.
Mr. Asher is a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer
(MCSE) and Administrator (MCSA). He is
also a Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) Network+ and A+
Certified Professional. In the past, he
had become a Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA), and a Novell Certified
NetWare Engineer (CNE).
After several years away, Mr. Asher is pleased to have
returned to the Contra Costa Community College District.
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This page is reached directly
at http://www.LeslieAsher.com/DVC/
or from the link
at http://www.LeslieAsher.com/
to Diablo Valley College
or from the link
at http://www.DVC.edu/org/bios/LAsher/
for more information.
Below are links to several other pages on
the college web site.
College − Diablo Valley College home
page
Department −
Computer Science Department web page
Instructor − Leslie Asher (initial instructor
page, also known as "bio" page)
Continuation − Leslie Asher (this continuation page)
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This page: This is an unofficial web page
and the views expressed here are those of the author, who is solely responsible
for the content. The opinions expressed on this page do not necessarily
represent the views of Diablo Valley College.
Web links: Though web links in this document were accurate at the time
they were typed, web links may change without notice. Students should use initiative to seek
addresses that work, and may inform the instructor of those that do not.
This
page was last revised 2/6/2010.
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321 Golf Club Road
Pleasant Hill, CA 94523
DVC is passionately committed to student learning through the
intellectual, scientific, artistic, psychological, and ethical development of
its diverse student body. Diablo Valley College prepares students for transfer
to four-year universities; provides career and technical education; supports
the economic development of the region; offers pre-collegiate programs; and
promotes personal growth and lifelong learning.