When he set out from Mount Oglethorpe in Georgia on May 31, 1951, alumnus Gene Espy had no idea his name would be woven into the Appalachian Trail's history. Espy's remarkable adventure is the cover feature of the GEORGIA TECH ALUMNI MAGAZINE being distributed Oct. 7.

The magazine also looks at the mass phenomenon of computer games and the serious study it is receiving from a group of interdisciplinary faculty and students in Georgia Tech's School of Literature, Communication and Culture and the College of Computing.

The award-winning magazine goes to all Roll Call contributors.

Equipped with a lightweight down-filled sleeping bag, 35 millimeter camera, a quart canteen for water, a small Primus cookstove, a pint canteen of white gas for fuel, pocketknife, spoon, small miner's carbide light, Band-Aids, Boy Scout cook kit minus the frying pan, toilet kit, plastic rain poncho, extra shirt, two T-shirts, extra leather shoelaces, sewing kit, small clothesline and the New Testament, Espy, IM 50, marched off into Appalachian Trail lore. At 78, Espy is the second person to hike the entire trail in a continuous thru-hike.

Video games have evolved from playing Pong to a program at Tech in which students can earn a master's degree in information design and technology.

The Washington Post wondered in an article Sept. 29, "Video game school. Sounds like a joke, right? Sort of like ‘School of Rock'?"

But the newspaper observed Georgia Tech, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Southern California offer degrees in game development or interactive media.

"Computer games are really becoming a mass phenomenon, not just something teen-agers do in their basements. In the 21st century, games will play the same role as films and books to give deep, clultural experiences," says Janet Murray, professor and director of graduate studies in the School of Literature, Communication and Culture.

"Ours is a design program that is based on research. Our master's program emphasizes design and our PhD program emphasizes research, but they are deeply intertwined."

To contribute to the Georgia Tech Alumni Roll Call and receive your copy of the Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine please go to https://vitkar.gtf.gatech.edu/awc_alumni/MakeAGift.aspx. printer-friendly version of this article