Elmer Morlock has been with the Computer Center since 1968 and is anticipating his retirement in April 2002 for a total of 34 years of service. We don't have a final date or time for his farewell party but keep your eyes peeled for further announcements. The following article written for the UND Alumni Review in 1989 is just one of many testaments to his skills and abilities.
Blindness may be considered a handicap but Elmer Morlock, a computer programmer at the University of North Dakota, doesn't let it dampen his zest for life. This is a man, who at 35, decided to take up judo for a hobby.
Wearing earphones to prevent the mechanical voice of his computer reader from distracting others, Elmer is often bent over a personal computer in his office in Upson II, evaluating computer programs.
A wall hanging over his desk contains a saying that could be called Elmer's philosophy on life: "Not he who lacks sight, but he who lacks vision is blind." On the opposite wall of his office, color screams from three posters: a peacock, Garfield the cat, and Garfield's sidekick, Odie. The posters were created by his artistic 13 year old niece after Elmer asked her to make something colorful for him.
Elmer has been working in the computer center at UND for more than 20 years and his interest in computers isn't waning. This is understandable, considering what the computer has done for Elmer and other handicapped people, and what he is now capable of doing because of his knowledge of computers.
"Computers are a godsend to the handicapped," he said. "Computers allow the handicapped to have equal access to information. Before, you had to have someone read it to you and there was a time lag. Now there is faster access."
A User Services consultant at the UND Computer Center, Elmer describes his job as an administration support position. "If they have problems with programs, I help correct them," he said. He also helps with computer purchasing by matching the client's computer needs with the appropriate software and hardware.
Aside from administration support, Elmer's work also affects students. He has, for example, written lab sheets for the computer learning lab. Disabled students have also benefitted from programs he has adapted which make it easier for them to understand their computer readers, machines which convert letters into phonetic sounds. Elmer also evaluates programs for use by disabled students. Clearly, Elmer is in a position where people often seek his advice and assistance. That he has reached such a position is testimony to his independence, determination and intelligence.
Elmer was born in Carrington, ND in 1937. Both he and his twin brother have a rare hereditary condition that results in retina detachment. Because of this, he had partial vision in only one eye until the age of nine, when he became totally blind. Compounding this handicap was severe cleft palate which made it difficult for him to communicate with anyone but his twin, Albert.
At the North Dakota School for the Blind, then in Bathgate, ND, Elmer learned to read Braille and worked to improve his speaking ability. He graduated in 1957. Then he attended UND, graduating in 1961 with a bachelor's of philosophy in social work and a minor in secondary education. Studying was very time consuming. Although he took notes in Braille, textbooks in Braille were hard to come by. "Sometimes the class would end before the material ever came."
In order to "read" textbooks, Elmer relied on tape recorders: "We (he and Albert) used the 'portable ones' - they must have weighed 30 pounds," he chuckled. "As freshmen we had readers, and arranging a time to get together was always difficult. It got much easier when we could send a recorder home with them."
Elmer thrives on new opportunities. His lively curiosity and an accident of timing led to his computer career.
He had planned to pursue a graduate degree in social work, but arrived in Minneapolis too late to register for classes. The computer industry was just starting blossom when he heard about a computer school in Pittsburgh designed especially for the blind. He graduated from the six month program at The Computer Systems Institute in 1965, and worked for the state of Minnesota before landing a programming job at UND in 1968.
He and Satin, his seeing-eye-dog, were no sooner installed in the computer center when he was put in charge of computerizing the ordering and purchasing at the Chester Fritz Library. Satin and Elmer were a regular sight on campus and about town. Elmer was used to getting around with a cane, but Satin became his ears as well as his eyes. "I 'bumped' into a car one time - didn't hear it coming, and that's when I got Satin." Elmer lost Satin to old age in 1972. He hasn't replaced her, he said, because his hearing aid and cane are adequate substitutes.
As independent as ever, he takes the city bus, exercises at the YMCA and keeps up his own apartment. "I used to own a home but it took too much time," he said. Joking about his cooking abilities, he said, "If the smoke alarm goes off I call it (the entree) 'rare.'"
Since coming to Grand Forks, Elmer has been very active in the community, and his activities have touched many. For example, he has been involved in the Big Brother program since 1969, first as a big brother, then as director. In the early 1970s he was involved in Toastmasters, and was voted Outstanding Handicapped Citizen of North Dakota in 1975.
Many of his other activities directly benefit disabled people. For example, as a member, treasurer, and president of the North Dakota Association of the Blind, he has prepared and conducted motivational classes for the NDAB summer camp.
His most recent project involves a computer user group called VIACT (Visually Impaired Adult Computer Technical Group). He and Betty Bender, of the North Dakota School for the Blind, saw a need for a group which involves both visually impaired and dyslectic individuals. Elmer is the group's technical advisor.
According to Elmer, disabled individuals often lack basic knowledge about adaptive equipment for computers. "I try to teach them the right questions to ask salespeople so they can get equipment that meets their needs and their employer's needs. Employers don't always know." The group currently has 10 members and he hopes to expand it to include handicapped high school students and their parents.
What does a man with so many interests plan to do in the future? Elmer said he may take up other things eventually, but felt that computer technology changes rapidly enough to offer something new and interesting. "I will be in the computer field for years to come."