Monthly Archives: August 2007

What Do You Make?

Posted on August 23, 2007 by | 8 Comments

Please forgive me if this is old hat – it’s new to me, and I just can’t stop thinking about it. It’s a poem called “What Teachers Make” by Taylor Mali, a high school teacher and poet.  It’s about, well, what teachers make. I found it at the right time of the summer semester, right at the end when I needed it most. I suspect it’s equally appropriate at the beginning of the term as well. Enjoy!

What Teachers Make

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Posted in Uncategorized

Sherzer After Hours

Posted on August 23, 2007 by | 11 Comments

So, I come on Thursday nights for Astronomy Club. Almost every time I come up here, I noticed two things about Sherzer.

  •  Someone has left the lights on in a classroom, or two, or three. There’s no one in it, the door is locked, but the lights are on. I’ve been here late at night (2-3am) and noticed that these lights are still on. Seriously, is it THAT hard to flip the lights off if you’re the last person there?
  • The windows are open all the way. Tonight is a good example. Second floor, west facing classroom – windows are wide open. We just had a thunderstorm roll through that had 50-60mph gusts of rain. That classroom now has a nice soaking of rain and wind blew things around. I understand that it’s hot in here during the day and the windows may allow a breeze – but once you’ve left, do they need to be wide open? I even went down and checked to see if I could get into the room, but the door was locked (that’s a plus, at least)

Now, if someone can give me good reasons as to why these two things are okay I’d love to hear it. Personally, I see it as a waste of energy and carelessness. I can’t imagine that a classroom with rain blown in is a good thing.

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Posted in Buildings and Grounds

Inside Edition (More on Dickinson)

Posted on August 23, 2007 by | 5 Comments

There will be a story on Laura Dickinson on Inside Edition tonight.  You can see the main page for a video preview (the site might change), or go directly to the hard copy.  

Opps, this isn’t a show that I watch much (or ever), and I guess that it was already on at 4:30.  Did anyone happen to see it or have any reactions to it?  Clearly, this would be one of the more sensationalist venues.  I wonder if it was as much so as the preview suggests.

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Posted in Dickinson Murder

Some email Q&As

Posted on August 23, 2007 by | 7 Comments

I’m sure that a variety of folks will have questions about their email accounts as the system creeps back online. I thought I’d create a post for people to ask questions and maybe get an answer.

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Posted in EMU Technology

Instead of complaining, maybe you should help!

Posted on August 23, 2007 by | 55 Comments

That’s Ahhhhhh-nuld from Predator.

First, I want to thank the front-line ICT folks who have been knocking themselves out to restore mail service. I also want to apologize to them for some undeserved shabby treatment they’ve received.

Second, I want to thank the front-line ICT folks who have given status reports in the absence of any useful/meaningful information from the higher-ups. I also want to apologize to them for some undeserved shabby treatment they’ve received.

Third, I want to thank the front-line ICT folks (jmo, Evil Twin Bob, Workwife Debbie, Fez Prime, Mr. Matt, etc.) who have so patiently explained things to me and given me invaluable advice over the years. I’m hoping that they might add some additional tips and hints in the comments.

Continue reading →

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Posted in Uncategorized

John A. Fallon III caused university email system to crash

Posted on August 23, 2007 by | 16 Comments

In his two long years as President of Eastern Michigan University, John A. Fallon III failed to ever undertake a critical assessment of the technology needs of the University, and he failed to ensure that the IT division was given proper oversight. As a result, the email system was allowed to deteriorate and go with unaddressed critical system weaknesses, and the system crashed about a month after Dr. Fallon was dismissed by the Board of Regents for unrelated causes. The system went down for over a week, and had been unstable immediately prior to that crash.

Responsibility for the IT problems at EMU rests at the top, not with the front line techs in ICT. EMU is a university where academic needs are the lifeblood of this campus, but over the years the various administrators who’ve overseen ICT have not ensured that the mission priorities and actual budgetary priorities of ICT was clearly and consistently devoted to supporting academics. This is not the only area of the University where the Fallon administration failed to act responsibiy on the facts

Hence, ICT for years has let the email system hang on by a thread. Reports indicate that nobody in ICT had primary responsibility for the system since 2002.

This entire campus will be paying for years to come for the “indifferent to details” style of leadershp practiced by John Fallon, and ICT employees right now are no doubt bearing that burden most heavily, as they work to fix a collapsed technical system admist a failed administrative system.

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Posted in Academics, Budgets, EMU President, EMU Technology

Email back– not.

Posted on August 23, 2007 by | 5 Comments

Well, the good news (or just news) is that when I went to mail.emich.edu this morning, it popped right up. The bad news (perhaps worse news for some people) is that when I actually logged in, I was given a message about how “quota root does not exist,” and I also happened to notice I had no messages in my in-box. And when I tried just now to log back into mail.emich.edu, I got a problem loading page message. And then I got back in, still to discover I lack a quota root.

Oh, and just to make matters worse:  here’s a message that was posted to my Facebook page from a friend of mine who teaches at Michigan State U.:  “Dude, your university is broken. I tried to send you an e-mail and I’ve been getting spammed by your Daemon every 6 hours when it can’t get through.”

Try again, ICT folk, try again….

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Posted in EMU Technology

“Useful flow chart,” something some ICT suits might want to check out…

Posted on August 22, 2007 by | 4 Comments

I’m not sure if we are going to enter week two of no emich email or not, but I wouldn’t bet against it. In the meantime, some folks in ICT administration and elsewhere might want to take a look at this link to char their next path, “useful flowchart (foul language).”

A couple of important qualifiers here:

  • There is excessive (albeit humorous) use of the “F word” in this chart. So if you are offended by such language, even for comedic effect, don’t look at this.
  • I found this via the fantastic blog Boing Boing, a blog that everyone in the universe should read.
  • Just trying to point folks to something that’s funny, even if there is a lot of truth in comedy.

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Posted in EMU Technology

EMU Branding (or, something other than email…)

Posted on August 22, 2007 by | 9 Comments

Yes, there are things going on other than email failures at EMU. Though, to be honest, I have to work hard to get too excited about them, personally.

The new school year is about to begin, and while this is usually an exciting event for me, it hasn’t been so much this time around. I realize others are excited about starting classes, both students and teachers, but since I am on sabbatical– or, as I’ve been calling it on my official blog, “sabbatical lite”– I’m not looking forward to teaching because, um, I’m not teaching this fall. Instead, I’m at the very beginnings of a research project that looks to have no end in sight, a daunting prospect indeed.

I can’t get too excited about McKenny remodeling since it sounds like it has been remodeled into a series of suit holding pens I will be unlikely to see anytime soon. New cash registers in the dining centers? Yippee.

On the other hand, the new branding campaign is something to keep an eye on.
Continue reading →

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Posted in EMU Branding, EMU Events, EMUtalk.org News

Good places on campus for haunted house?

Posted on August 22, 2007 by | 13 Comments

Halloween approaches fast. The best haunted house in Ann Arbor, bar none, was in the basement of North Hall (the ROTC building). Where would you stage a haunted house on EMU campus?

iihs at http://emutalk.org/?p=481#comment-13547 indirectly suggests the east basement of Rackham. I’ve found the one-way observation room (7th floor PH) kind of chilling. Most of Mark Jefferson is nightmarish. Other suggestions?

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Posted in Buildings and Grounds, College Fun