Frank Hobbs and I were the first two interns at the Rose Institute, rolling into those roles after Sacramento internships in 1972.  We were recruited by Alan Heslop, Fred Balitzer, and Tom Hofeller to focus initially on California reapportionment and demographic projects.  We were welcomed into a largely empty space in one of the original administrative buildings next to the Hub.  There were fluorescent ceiling lights and cement walls, but no computers (other than Tom, who had an astonishing grasp of California political demography down to precinct levels).  I’ve never encountered anyone with a similar degree of knowledge about California as Tom.  I can recall flying with him to Sacramento, as he repeatedly pointed out the airplane window and identified some river, ravine, or other feature, that marked the boundary between one county and another.  But if we wanted to compute the specific political or demographic characteristics of cities, counties, or districts, we carried boxes of sorted punch cards to the Seaver Building at Pomona College, where a huge computer sat on risers in a large uncomfortably cold air-conditioned room.  We waited until it was our turn to run cards through the computer and we’d take back our results in folded piles of computer print-outs that were thick as phone books (if anyone remembers what those were).  Our group would then analyze the results, sometimes accompanied by late-night rounds of Scotch.  We then adjusted the piles of punch cards.  Frank and I both recall how we feared we’d drop the boxes of punch cards and ruin hours of technical work.  I also recall how, several years later, a digitizer and desktop computer did this type of work at the Institute so much more efficiently.  I can only imagine the type of sophisticated equipment that now powers the work of the Institute and its interns.

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