Network Unreliable
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
DR. PREM SHARMA BIO LAB Author preaches message Students explore of diversity at SJSU the human body NEWS 6 NEWS 3 SERVING SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1934 SPARTAN DAILY VOLUME 121, NUMBER 39 WWW THESPARTANDAILY COM THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2003 Power outage strikes campus Wednesday Library By Daniel Lopez and Ron Pangrac Daily Sports Editor and Staff Writer Powerless. That's how San Jose State University was left network Wednesday night. "It just went out," said Sean Owyang, an operator at the campus cogeneration plant. The power outage struck at 6:57 p.m., sending Owyang scrambling to restore power. "Facilities Development & Operations is still looking unreliable into what caused the power loss campuswide and actually in the surrounding area," said Sgt. Boaz Mariles of the University Police Department at 9:30 p.m. Administrators Left in complete darkness, students spilled out of build- ings including the Student Union and Market Café, as they were forced to close. say they are putting "Everything on campus went down including us," said Cpl. Victor Quintero of the UPD. out the fires' Quintero said though power was quickly restored to the police department when a backup generator came online, the phone system, including 9-1-1, was interrupted. By Robert Hong "I pushed the button on the blue-light phones, and Daily Staff Writer nobody was talking back to me," said Janine Gonzalez, a freshman majoring in marine biology. Beyond closed doors and security-coded walls in the Dr. "I'm scared," said Gonzalez, who walked around the Martin Luther King Jr. Joint Library lies an intricate com- darkened campus with two of her friends. puter system responsible for a variety of electrical wonders Regardless of the individual circumstances, people on and technological problems in the campus computer net- campus found themselves in a common light darkness. work. "Different buildings had different problems elevator "It's a whole new system from what the school or the pub- entrapment and such," Mariles said. "Everything happened lic library previously had," said Rick Woods, library all of a sudden." Internet technology director. With the lights out, reactions and activities around the The merging of the university and public library networks campus varied. have created a larger and more complex computer structure "I was in class, but I didn't have to do my speech," said for facilitators to work with. Angela Corbett, a sophomore majoring in child develop- Woods said the new computer system has potential to ment. "It was perfect timing by the blackout gods." provide quicker and more powerful networking, but because Corbett walked along Paseo de Cesar Chavez with some It is in its initial phases, has also caused many problems. friends, including Luis Forbes, a freshman kinesiology Communications graduate student Dina Medina has been major. a victim of unreliability in the campus computer network. Forbes said he was in his dorm room writing an essay "As a student, especially a grad student, you need to be when the power went out. able to log on to the Web site," she said. "I went into the hallway to see if anyone else was in the Medina discussed the necessity of access to databases and dorms," he said. "Then I was finding out where everybody other useful resources that are available to students only was at to see if they were safe and OK." through the library network. Many people congregated around lampposts or other "Students may not be able to complete their assignments light sources. if they are required to sec articles from newspapers," she To provide light to sorrie dark areas of the campus, UPD said. It is completely unacceptable at a university of this used the headlights on police cars. caliber." Erik Smith, an undeclared freshman, said he had been Woods agrees that there have been a number of network playing a video game in his dorm room when the screen problems since the opening of the new library and that the went blank. Outside Hoover Hall, he tossed a football technical crew is doing everything it can to get things in with some friends while as he waited for the blackout to shape. end. "It is difficult because once we have nailed a particular Dan Kirwan was in a class in Duncan Hall when the out- problem, another one may spring up in its place, he said. age hit. People were completely calm, he said. But we are in firefighting mode, and almost all the fires Kirwan, a graduate English student working on a teach- have been put out." ing credential, went to the UPD to learn what he could The system that Woods and his team work with is a com- about the situation. His teacher and classmates waited for plicated series of computer connections that are assembled him to return and give them an update. by individual floors and come together in one large central "There were no emergency lights," Kirwan said. "As I Photos by Ryan Balbuena / Daily Staff operation room. -Each computer in the King Library has a cable that is walked from the second floor to the first floor, I had to take Emergency lights silhouette lames there were no lights to Above: connected to the !network closet" on its floor. A fiber optics baby steps on the stairs because account- guide your way." Chang, center, a junior majoring in shelf, which connects all the cables from its floor to the After he talked with a UPD officer, Kirwan headed back ing, as he talks on his cell phone as another central operations room, is present in each closet. to Duncan Hall to tell his teacher and classmates that the student walks out of the Boccardo Business However, this is not the extent of the computer sys- blackout was campuswide. Center Wednesday evening. tem. Outside the Music building, Alan Chen played his violin. "There are actually three networks operating within this Chen, a sophomore majoring in music, said he was'arriv- Right: From right, industrial design majors library," said Woods. "There is the public network, an administration network and a network for people who bring ing for class when the outage hit. Madsen work on their said. "A J.B. Kim and Jesse in their own laptops." "I was getting off the 10th Street garage," Chen lap- couple of people were stuck between floors on the eleva- voting machine presentation on their Another problem students have found with the library is tor. tops for an interactive design class. Kim and that the checkout systems have been intermittently out of Chen found classmates waiting outside the Music build Madsen continued to work on their project service. said unde- in the dark after a power outage forced "It feels like the self-checkout is out a lot," clared freshman Minh Nguyen. See OUTAGE. page 7 many classes on campus to be evacuated. Medina also has had problems with services inside the building. "There have been times where I couldn't use my card to make photocopies, or that the checkout was down," she During crisis instructors donate by hour said. "It's hard to maximize your time (in the library)" As time passes in the library, Woods has faith that the problems will improve. By Ron Pangrac While participation is voluntary, the pro- income protection. 'less must not be work-related, he said. gram has operated successfully for more Casillo said the donation program is for Other resources are available if the situa- He said as of now the two major problems are accessing Daily Staff Writer than 10 years, Casino said. employees who have long-term medical tion is work-related. the network from off campus, and slowdown of the com- "There are so many long-term relation- situations, such as cancer treatment, but For a non-work-related medical condi- puter systems. of 'San across campus, we usually get a good who do not have enough sick leave tion, the employee may qualify for nonin- "We have come a long way since we opened when we had Sometimes when an employee ships daily," Woods said. "For the last week we Jose State University is facing a crisis situ- response," he said. , accrued to Cover the time they are away dustrial disability insurance after the sick to fix problems support may Jose Carrasco, professor of Mexican- from work. pay runs out. have been pretty quiet (as far as network problems)." ation in life, a unique form of said that his team has temporarily removed a piece come from fellow employees, said a man- American studies, has previously donated When a person on long-term leave is The insurance however pays no more Woods the program. running low on sick pay, Casino said he than $250 per week, which is not enough of equipment that communicated between the library's ager in the Human Resources department. time through that has helped with acces- If an employee is away from work for an "These were people that I had interacted looks at the circumstances to determine if to cover a person's usual income, Casino Internet service providers, and med- not in my department, but on the employee is eligible to receive dona- said. sibility to the network. extended period of time because of a with with library electronics to ical issue, the Catastrophic Leave campus," Carrasco said. tions. Teri Reuck, who works in payroll, said He anticipates the problems Donation Program may allow faculty and For employees who are absent from work One factor is that the person must be a donated hours are used to make up the slow down in the weeks to come.