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Document Faults Gulf War Studies
Abstract: A report by the U.S. General Accounting Office has harshly criticized both the Pentagon and a special White House panel that investigated illnesses reported by Gulf War veterans. The report, scheduled for release later this month, is being prepared for the Senate Armed Services Committee, and was "leaked" to the New York Times. It is the basis for a front page Times article, written by Philip Shenon and published on June 15th.
According to the article, the GAO alleges that the Pentagon and the Presidential Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses mistakenly concluded that Iraqi chemical and biological weapons were not likely responsible for veterans' health problems. The GAO report allegedly states that the Pentagon and the White House panel prematurely ruled out a list of chemical and biological weapons, and several tropical diseases. The report concludes that the research programs now under way are poorly focused, contain methodological flaws, and may not be able to provide accurate information about the cause or causes of the veterans' illnesses.
Designing Databases
Abstract: Three short articles in the June issue of the computer magazine Byte discuss different aspects of database design. An article by Michael Barnes and David Kelley discusses business rules (simple statements that govern the validation, computation, and presentation of data) during application development. The organization codes its practices, constraints, and policies into applications. The authors consider business rules from a data-centric (business rules define the way application interact with data) and business-centric (business rules define the business policies and logic associated with an application) viewpoint.
The second article discusses data modeling, which its author, J.L. Weldon, describes as "the practice of designing a database using a series of related models." Modeling allows the database designer to develop a database that is flexible and supports new features. The author believes that "a sound data model leads to a database that is shareable, reusable, and flexible and that accurately reflects the business it supports."
Written by David Linthicum, the third article evaluates Rapid Application Development (RAD), from the viewpoint of recently-developed software. The author discusses the advantages of three-tier and multi-tier client/server development tools. Among the RAD software tools evaluated are those marketed by Microsoft, Borland, Powersoft, and Oracle.
The articles in the "Designing Databases" feature begin on page 98.
Taking Computers to Task
Abstract: An article in July's Scientific American questions long-held beliefs about the computer's usefulness as an engine of economic and productivity growth. The author (staff writer W.Wayt Gibbs) discusses the dismal lack of productivity growth in most computer-intensive service organizations and seemingly poor performance of information technology (IT) as an engine of economic growth. He also discusses several problems with current productivity measurement.
According the article, the greatest IT payback has occurred when routine and repetitious tasks are automated. On the other hand, much time that could be saved by office automation is lost by using software that is increasingly difficult, unpredictable, and inefficient. Employees also spend significant time performing data quality checks, waiting for programs to run, waiting for help to arrive, waiting to access network applications, rearranging files, and playing games like solitare. The article begins on page 82.