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March & April 2001
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FEBRUARY 26, 2001
Both of the following are from Reid Albee, Technology Support Specialist

"Do any, and if so how many, STUDENTS require Mac's above and beyond the ones that are already
installed on campus?"
In my opinion, if even one student needs a MAC then we should have a good MAC for that student to use.
Many students learned on the MAC platform in high school. It is no more fair to deny a PC student a PC,
then it is to deny a MAC student a MAC.
The MACS we have are outdated and need to be replaced.

"Would the virus situation have been averted by the administrator of Academic Computing updating the
virus protection UMM had already purchased?"
In a word no.... Users have to take some responsibility for controling the virus situation. That means
they have to update the virus scanner on their computers weekly. It is impossible for me to take the time
to go to every machine on campus and update the virus definitions, when the user can do it with just a
couple of clicks of his/her mouse.
The MTX virus hit us before any of the virus scanning vendors could update their definitions. There is
nothing we could have done to avert this virus, except to be more diligent about clicking on attachments.

"What justification is there for purchasing a new virus protection, if this too will need to be updated on a
regular basis?"
PC Cillin has fallen behind in the press, in the trade journals and in our campus experience as being the
best out there. Norton Anti Virus has better alogrithms and more frequent response to new virus
outbreaks. That is why we are looking at purchasing it. And of course it will need to be updated every
week. Evey time a new virus breaks out, a new virus defintion file has to be created by the anti virus
vender, and downloaded to individual users computers to get the latest protection from new viruses.
This is not Academic Computing responisblility, and is considered the individual responsibility of each user
to download the updates every week. Since this can be set to happen automacticly in Norton Anti Virus,
this is not really an issue.

"Are residence hall students seeing a vast improvement in their internet/computer connections?"
For the most part yes. All the ports work now, and students usualy get hookups within 48 hours of their
request, many the same day.
Usualy if a student has a problem, I am able to get to it that same day.
There are still some speed problems at peak hours because of network overloading, but this is being
addressed by a new fiber line that will be installed in the comming days.
The most frequent complaint I get is about Hotmail, AOL and Yahoo messenger accounts. These sites
are notorius for being very slow.

I hope this is of some help.

Respectfully,
Reid

** Editors' note **
1. Having used both Mac's & PC's, there doesn't seem to be that big a difference. Simply having
used a Mac in High School appears to be flimsy reason for requiring UMM to supply them,
especially in view of the fact that some high schools are getting rid of Macs, and PC's are
predominant in the work force. Isn't college meant to prepare students for the work force?
In addition, while Macs were once far more adept at handling graphics and imaging, PC's
can now provide those services and generally cost far less.
Then there is the issue of the expense of repairing Macs. Last spring Judy Kemp told the
Student Senate that the technician who works on the Macs lives in Ellsworth and charges
UMM $40 an hour from the time he leaves home in Ellsworth until he arrives back home.
Is this a wise way to spend our technology fee dollars? The less out-sourcing we have
to do the better, it would seem.
However, if a number of students already own Macs, that would be more of a consideration,
since the software and disks may not be compatible with the lab PC's.
Be that as it may, UMM doesn't regularly accommodate students simply on the basis that
"one student" may want this or that. If that were the case, far more changes would be
afoot at UMM than the addition of Macs to the computer lab.
Where exactly are these "outdated" Macs? Are you referring to the Macs that have not been
used for many years and are still sitting in Torrey 25?

2 & 3. We are told that the virus problem did not affect the student computer labs due to the server
preventing viruses from entering there. The problem was on faculty and staff computers. Your
reply seems to indicate that the infection COULD INDEED have been prevented if the USERS had
updated their protection and been more judicious about opening attachments. A virus scan that
will update itself appears to be more a convenience than a necessity. Can UMM afford mere
conveniences in light of all the cost-cuttimg measures taking place campus-wide? What will
Norton cost?

I thought I would take some time and reflect my personal thoughts on these issues. Please note that my
responses here are just my own opinion, based on knowledge of the issues and do not necessarily reflect
the opinion or policy of administration, which has the ultimate authority to address these issues.

Reid's replies

1. Inadequate amount of tech staff	A tech has finally been hired. Is that enough?	I think this has been resolved.. Its a hectic pace but I think we can handle it.
2. Equip. not working properly even if usable	Seems to be improved. What do you think?	The equipment is working much better, because it is constantly getting attention, however there will always problems cropping up now and then, but we will fix them as they arise.
3. "A" drive not readily accessible	Is this still a problem in the computer labs?	The A drives are all working. If one goes bad it get replaced that same day. We have several new ones in stock to address this issue. Editors' Note This was more an accessiblity problem than repair. The ghosting made the A drives difficult to access. Are they still?
4. Academic Computing uncommunicative	Seems to be improved. What do you think?	I think the answer is obvious. :-)
5. Often no printer paper/toner in computer labs	Is this still a frequent problem?	As far as I know this issue has been resolved.
6. Administration uncooperative	Seems to be improved. What do you think?	I think this has vastly improved.
7. Labs closed if lab assistant doesn't show up	Still happening, is it not?	The policy is to keep the labs open at the hours they are supposed to be open. I know that Marilyn has covered, even on the weekends.
8. Residence hall hook-ups unreliable	Seems to be improved. What do you think?	All the hookups work now, and new wiring has been installed. The final upgrade will be a fiber optic node to lower and upper middle as soon as the cable comes in.
9. Res. hall rooms not connected for months	Seems to be improved. What do you think?	I connect new orders the same day the request comes in, in 98 percent of cases. The president has made this a very high priority. We officially have 48 hours to make the connection, but routinely get it done the same day when we can.
10. Change to Macs	With only a 5% market share, is this practical?	No this is not practical at all. The costs would be prohibitive and would cause a revolution among PC users. There is talk of installing a small cluster of new Macs for Mac users. That would be it. Also talking of getting new software products for existing Mac platforms.
11. Get into the Mac / PC debate	Mac having a 5% market share, is this practical?	Again, this is not practical.
12. Computer staff without technical expertise	Has hiring a tech been a big improvement?	I hope so (snicker)
13. Student complaints ignored	Seems to be improved. What do you think?	Student complaints are no longer ignored. I try to address them the same day if I can.
14. Untrained lab assistants	Is this still a problem in the computer labs?	Not my department, but the techs we have this year seem to be a good crop.
15. Lab assist. blamed for computer lab probs.	Lab assists., are you being treated more fairly?	I believe so.
16. Skilled lab assistants' talents ignored	Lab assistants, are your skills being utilized?	Not my department yet, but I believe they are.
17. Equipment of questionable quality	Is this valid? Are the new Dells any better than the Ponys?	No brand of PC is going to func- tion reliably 100 percent of the time. The Pony's are of fairly good quality, using high quality ASUS motherboards, but like any mechanical device are prone to breakdowns now and then. I think Dell and Hewlett Packard are of higher quality, but even these have problems from time to time.
18. Low wages for computer staff	Computer staff, has there been improvement?	This is not a problem Academic Computing can do anything about. Wages are set by Financial Aid. Editors' Note The original issue was raised about regular staff as well as student workers, and only student workers wages would be governed by Financial Aid.
19. CLL fee misdirected	Increase student paid technology fee?	I would be for increasing the fee. It makes sense that the more dollars we have, the better equipment and support we can buy. Editors' Note That fee has ALREADY been raised since this question was posed last year.
20. Unprofessional department	Is this still a problem?	I would like to think that we are very professional, and are working very hard to improve our image.
21. Low enrollment and retention at UMM	Do technology problems still effect enrollment?	Not qualified to answer this one.
22. UMM home page not updated	Seems to be improved. What do you think?	Gerald does a good job of this and my hat goes off to him for a great job.
23. UNET needed to help out	Has UNET been the answer?	They have helped immensely, but you may recall the Student Senate meeting when Jim Lehman told you that they do not work routinely on lab issues. They helped with ghosting, but even that is not their primary responsibility. UNET's function is to provide network infrastructure and support for asynchronous course ware and to maintain the UMS networks.
24. Bad attitude toward UMM	Do technology problems still effect attitude?	I have seen a tremendous upgrade of attitude.
25. Scanners useless	Can one print from scanners in the library & T21?	This is on my list of things to do.
26. Ghosting NOT complete in the computer labs	Is ghosting complete? Is ghosting helping?	No, but I will be trained in this soon and it will be completed, and, yes it helps. Keeping the lab machines consistent alike and cloned, makes for an improved repair and support environment. Editors' Note Was it worth sacraficing convenient A drive accessibility?
27. Computer issues remain "idle"--stagnant	Seems to be improved. What do you think?	Not if I can help it.
28. Revamp the computer labs	Seems to be improved. What do you think?	The labs have had a lot of work over the past months, and you can thank Marilyn for that. She has spent countless hours in there improving the software issues.
29. Unable to get the administration's attention	Seems to be improved. What do you think?	Seems so, but not my place to answer. I know that she is extremely concerned about issues. Now that more work is being done, she is able to concentrate more on administra- tion of the department. That was not so easy when she was having to make many of the repairs last year.
30. UMM radio station without Ethernet connect.	Seems to be improved. What do you think?	The radio station has had its connection for almost a year now.
31. Computer equipment inaccessible to many	Has any progress been made in this regard?	Please be more specific on this one. Are you talking about the handicap machines? Editor's Note Not sure what of last year's feedback this referred to. Don't think it was exclusive to equipment designed for use by persons with disabilities.
32. Academic Computing hectic	Seems to be improved. What do you think?	Its always going to be hectic, but it is hectic in an organized way.
33. No computer security	Still no individual log ins. Should we have them?	There has been talk of this, but I am not sure if it is practical. I am looking into installing a firewall in the very near future which would vastly improve security. Editors' Note If the server already protects the labs from viruses, what need is there for a firewall? How would a firewall identify vandalism to a particular computer or misues of the equipment?

** Editors' Note **
We have heard from Reid, and thanks to him for his communication and hard work on our behalf.
However, we also need to know how the equipment users feel.
Contact ummfeedback@hotmail.com

February 28, 2001
A student writes: In response to the hub "upgrade" in Sennett:
I had a perfect connection all year long until a couple of weeks ago. I saw Reid messing around
in the hub closet and the next time I went to use my internet (about an hour later), it didn't work.
I figured they were just fixing stuff and it would be all set soon. When it still wasn't working a day
later, I reported it to Marilyn. Reid came over promptly and worked for a few hours, but got nothing
done. That was about two and a half weeks ago. He hasn't been back. Rather than my connection
working whenever I need it to like it had been all year, it works at around 2am for a little bit.
Everyone else in Sennett that I've talked to has the same problem. So what exactly did they fix?
It seems to me that they broke more than they fixed.

Mike Colucci

March 4, 2001
    Reid replies: The hub that Mike is connected to is not part of the lower middle or the hub that was moved and
changed. Mike is connected to the same hub that all people in upper middle are and some users
experience fast response (for instance room 217 right across the hall) and some experience latency
and slow response. This has absolutely nothing to do with upper middle.
Mikes reporting that I have not been back is not true. His room and four others was checked over
winter break and I routinely go into Sennett and reset the hubs every other day.   In fact I visited
Mike last Thursday and we did a trace route check of his port and found that the response from his
room to the server and on through to Portland was fine, but slowed as it went past the Portland
gateway and onto the MCI-Sprint backbone.
UNET did a probe of the Sennett network on Friday and found high latency in the hubs. As a result
of recurring network problems and extremely high loading in Sennett we are looking at converting to
switches that will vastly improve the throughput of that network.
I have visited many rooms over the past month and the most common problem observed is slow
access to high traffic sites like MSN, AOL and some others.
I have explained to students that when 'web site found, waiting for reply' is observed in the browser
that this means that the site they are going to is busy and is responding slowly.
Repeated trace route queries and other network probing has shown, that while the Sennett network is
slower than Dorward's the traffic is getting out to the Internet on an average of 280 milliseconds from
here to the gateway in Portland. Mike observed this on the laptop from the port in his room and his
response to that test indicated a much better understanding of the issue
then he reveals above.
After it leaves Portland it goes over the MCI Sprint network. Its the trip back from the internet that is
extremely slow, according to my tests and those of UNET.
I can't explain why Mike's connection changed after we upgraded lower middle, but, we are
investigating it.   I can tell you that it was not as a result of that work, because upper middle is
connected to a totally separate hub that has not been changed or altered in any way. I went into
Mike's room with the laptop last week during break with another student as an observer and we
checked Mike's port and four others on upper middle. The response was extremely fast during those
tests, because the network was not loaded.
Another thing I have noticed is that some students have changed their DNS server settings, or they
were improperly set when the connections were made last fall.
The correct settings for DNS servers are as follows:   130.111.130.11 and 130.111.32.7    If these
settings are incorrect, access will be extremely slow.   One of the students I checked had incorrect
settings last week and after the settings were corrected,
access improved dramatically.
Any network will slow down quite a bit when the network is fully loaded. The network as it currently
exists in Sennett is a shared resource rather than a modern partitioned resource. Again, we really need
to upgrade from hubs to switches in Sennett.
In a nutshell the Sennett network is overloaded, resulting in high latency. This is why we are doing
the work we are doing. We have spent several thousand dollars on that network, and the upgrades
will continue. In addition to this we are migrating the computer labs to a separate network. Currently
they share resources with the Sennett network, resulting in severe
congestion at times.
I would hardly describe the work we are doing as 'messing around'.
Lastly, I can understand Mike's frustration.   We would all like to have fast internet service.
I have a cable modem at home and sometimes it works FAST, and at others it works very slow.
Whenever it is running slow I get similar results to trace route probes that I do in Sennett. Students
need to understand that when the browser says (lower right bottom of screen) "Web sight found,
waiting for reply", that our network has sent the web page request to the server hosting the web
page they are trying to get.
When web sight found, waiting for reply appears, it means that the server on the other end is
overloaded and a delay will result in the page loading.
All I can say is we are working on this issue.   President Joseph, Dr. Rosen, and Academic Computing
have made this a very high priority. And for me, it is also an extremely high priority.
These kids are paying my wages.
Reid Albee

** Editors' Note **
As always, U. Machias Online would like to hear about any problems you are still
experiencing AS WELL AS any areas in which you feel there has been marked improvement.
If we don't hear from those who have had good experiences, we can only assume that there
haven't been any--which is unlikely. While we should feel free to express discontent, we should
also strive to be fair and send positive feedback when progress has been made.
Hopefully we are all happy to have Reid working so diligently on our behalf, even if things
are not quite perfect--yet.

March 6, 2001 I just wanted to clear up to Reid that I sent that e-mail to you way before he came with the laptop
to my room. I think he's doing a great job with what he has and it's nice to see that we're getting
a big upgrade in Sennett. My connection has steadily improved over the past couple of days and
it's now working nicely for the most part.
Mike Colucci

April 13, 2001 I don't think that was a very good portrayal of Academic Computing. They
may have cleaned up this area you have displayed on your web site, but
chances are more people will notice and remember the disaster shown here
than what it looks like today. I don't think this is responsible reporting.
Instead, I see it as sensationalism just like we see in the tabloids at the
supermarket.
Claudia

** Editors' note **
We haven't heard back yet on exactly what Claudia is referring to. The story on the
Academic Computing open house has yet to be written (we hope to post it tomorrow).
So far, only this announcement of the open house appeared on the homepage:
"Please join us Friday from 2-4pm for
Open House at Academic Computing in Torrey 20.
YOU WON'T BELIEVE
THE DIFFERENCE!"
The link is to a story that was written nearly 1 year ago, and depicts the condition of
the Academic Computing offices at that time.
U. Machias Online provided the link for the benefit of those who may not be aware of the
extent of the cleanup.

April 16, 2001 Thanks for the update on technology issues. Things are indeed looking up.
Before long we are going to be the small campus that everyone else in the
system will envy.
I am sorry I missed the reception last Friday. I tried, but everything
went the wrong way.
Keep the faith.
Gerard NeCastro

April 20, 2001
Sent to "all@acad..." Monday afternoon the server crash[ed] over here in Torrey Hall, and no sooner
then we realized that something was wrong, Reid was already on it. He was
up until 2:30 a.m. Tuesday morning and back at it 7:00 a.m. And even though
the IMC lost ALL of its files on that drive we would like to thank Reid for
the his promptness and extra hours to get the system back up and running
again. We are still having printing difficulties, but Reid made sure that
we had at least 2 computers we could print from as of yesterday afternoon
and he was here again this morning on his day off to make sure that we were
still doing ok.
Reid your dedication and efforts are not going unnoticed.
We here at the IMC THANK YOU very much.
IMC Staff

** As a service to the Student Senate we are posting their URL on our site **
http://www.umm.maine.edu/student.center/Senate/default.htm
** Note the Senate URL has changed **

** Spelling errors have been corrected, but content has not been altered without notation. **

** Objectionable language and personal attacks will be edited out of submissions. **
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