Computing and Telecommunication
Center
Newsletter Fall 2002

CTC News and other bytes. . .

Computing and Telecommunication Center
Fort Hays State University

The CTC publishes a newsletter periodically throughout the year.

If you would like to write a guest article contact Viv Zimmerman at vzimmerm@.fhsu.edu or
Jane Rajewski at jrajewsk@.fhsu.edu.

If you have questions or comments about this newsletter, contact Dr. David Schmidt at dschmidt@fhsu.edu or call 4487.

Viv Zimmerman and Jane Rajewski, co-editors.

From Dave’s Desk
by Dr. David Schmidt, Director

For those of you who have been away from campus over the summer, welcome back. For those of you who are new to FHSU, welcome. If any of you have questions about computing or telecommunications issues, please feel free to drop by or give us a call. We hope that you have a very good semester. As we begin the semester, I’ll comment on a few issues.

Sungard Update

As most of you know, the University purchased a new administrative system to handle student and financial information. Sungard is a very solid company, handling financial transactions for the Nasdaq and the federal government (among other activities). Sungard purchased Bi-Tech in Chico, California, and Software Research Northwest on Vashon Island, Washington. We are in the process of converting data, configuring the system with key administrative offices, and preparing the portal for users.

Behind the scenes, the programming staff has been converting data for the new system (they just finished converting housing contract data), and stress testing the system, and the Registrar's Office staff have reviewed the screens they use. Most of you are probably less interested in these behind the scenes activities but are more interested in when you will see it.

We identified some performance problems with the system, and Sungard has agreed to rework the web portal access (among other things). Sungard should have those completed by mid-December. At that point, we will test it by having multiple concurrent users access the web pages, do a number of inquiries, and update data. When we are satisfied that the system is working well, we will start scheduling training sessions.

Again, the goal of providing a portal is to tailor the services to the user: students will see their classes, grades, and financial information; faculty will see their rosters, advisees, degree audit module (used for advising), and personnel information. Department chairs will access budget data and other information for their departments, faculty, advisees, etc.

Overall, we are pleased that most of the data has converted cleanly into the Sungard Oracle tables. The Admissions Module (SAM) is quite usable as is. Some work remains to be done on the Registrar's Module (RIM) and the Student Affairs Module (AFF). Sungard is in the process of moving their data entry screens from an older client-based model to a web-browser model, and much of this should be completed by August, 2003. Sungard will be scripting the DegreeWorks module during the fall, so that we can test its degree audit functions in the spring. The DegreeWorks module should be quite useful in advising students because students should be able to do a number of what-if scenarios when deciding on their major. Because students will be able to review their course needs and requirements using a web browser, the workload of academic advisors will be somewhat reduced. Further, faculty advisors will have options in giving access privileges to the student advisees.

Campus Computing Security

One of our most important goals is to provide a secure, stable campus computing environment. We have an obligation to protect the privacy of sensitive student data (grades and financial information, for example). We also want to provide a high degree of uptime for our networks. Towards this end, we attempt to insulate our servers and routers from outside attacks. University systems are probed by many hackers because most universities have high-speed internet connections, powerful servers, and uneven security policies and procedures. To illustrate our vulnerability, one of the University's servers was broken into two hours after it was put on the campus network. It was infected with a virus, a virus that infected many web servers across the world. This particular virus was timed to flood the White House URL with requests at specific intervals. These attacks, known as denial of service attacks, attempt to bring down a selected target, in this case the White House web server. These attacks on our servers are less successful when the computing systems server software is kept up-to-date, particularly with security patches from the vendor.

Since this past summer, the CTC Security Committee (which includes Drs. John Heinrichs and Gavin Buffington from ITPAC) meets regularly to formulate policies and procedures concerning computing security. We are documenting security incidents in an effort to monitor our vulnerabilities. Since servers are often targeted, we will come to the campus community (with a technical contact) during the year to get information on campus servers. If we receive notice of important security patches that affect campus servers, we want to be able to notify those who maintain these servers.

Because FHSU received a FIPSE grant last year, we were able to purchase a sophisticated intrusion detection system. This system from Enterasys makes it possible to watch for various "signatures." Attacks on the system have telltale patterns, and we can select which patterns to monitor. In one typical month, for example, there were over 3,000 port scans. This means that there were over 3,000 probes of a number of servers to see what kinds of services were enabled on a variety of servers. Because attacks can come from within as well as from outside the network, the signatures check on traffic both ways. Often, probes come from as far away as Asia. I suspect that many probes are relatively benign; however, using our disk space to save music and video files uses up bandwidth and storage.

As many of you are aware, there can be tradeoffs among security, privacy, and ease of use. Typically, we aggregate statistics to detect anomalies. However, in the course of tracking down errant behavior and solving a particular problem, we may see and may need to see traffic from an individual PC. Keep in mind that we follow the principle of least interference and least intrusion. We look at the least amount of data to solve a particular problem. We respect individual privacy as much as possible. Concerns about security can also require logins, and thereby impact ease of use. We try to make things easy, but there will be some inconveniences.

When the Security Committee has drafted and tested some policies and procedures, they will be shared with ITPAC (Information Technology Policy Advisory Committee). The faculty representatives are: Dr. Tom Schafer, Gladys Swindler, Dr. Ron Fahey, Glen McNeil, Cynthia Danner-Kuhn, and Dr. Gavin Buffington. If you wish to express any concerns or would like ITPAC to address other issues, please contact a faculty representative or me.

Helpdesk/Switchboard Update

Over the summer, we worked with the Dana Cunningham, Director of Facilities Planning and Campus Architect and Dan Heater, Director of the Physical Plant, to bring the HelpDesk area and the Switchboard into one location (TH113). Dana and Dan got the project designed and constructed in record time. It involved creating new walls, redoing the electrical work, and redoing the duct work. Many thanks to all who helped on this project. The area looks good and it is very functional. We are well pleased with the outcome.

Nancy Cunningham, HelpDesk Supervisor and Melanie Chapman, Senior Administrative Assistant, will find ways to support one another in this common space, and it will help in training efforts, in creating a knowledge base, and in other unforeseen ways.

Statistical Consulting

The CTC employs a part-time statistical consultant (Phillip Fox) to help faculty and staff with programming support. The CTC does not enter data, but the statistical consultant can give advice to departmental workers who do enter the data.

The University has purchased a limited number of licenses for PC versions of SAS and SPSS. If you wish to use one of the PC versions, please submit a CTC Request for Services on LNapps. Click on the Microcomputer Services section button and then an electronic form will appear on the screen. Fill in the blanks; be as specific as possible. Click on Submit to submit the request to the CTC for approval at least three working days or more before the desired completion date.

Reminder to All LN Users . . .

"Junk" E-mail, Bulletin Board, & Group Mailing Issues

"Unwanted" E-mail is, of course, a matter of one's perspective. If you are looking for a house and you receive E-mail advertising a house, for you that is quite valuable information; however, for the other 99.9% of users it is unwanted. On the other hand, the State has policies against using state-funded resources for personal use; so you will be unable to advertise personal businesses through FHSU E-mail or on the FHSU Buy/Sell/Trade bulletin board. For more information about this, visit http://www.fhsu.edu/ctc/acceptable.shtml and read the FHSU Acceptable Use of Computing Resources Policy document. I can attest that when questionable E-mail is sent across Lotus Notes or questionable ads placed on the Buy/Sell/Trade bulletin board, the CTC staff hears about it from the faculty and staff who have received that questionable E-mail or viewed the questionable ad on the bulletin board. I hear State folks talking about policies concerning the use of E-mail at Information Technology Advisory Board meetings.

We attempt to keep spam off E-mail by providing a space for "advertising." There is a Bulletin Board on Lotus Notes that users should consider using for advertising items for sale, rent, want to rent/buy, or give away; however, it is for FHSU use only -- not commercial or personal business ads. Please do not post entries to the LN Bulletin Board that advertise items for businesses or any other kind of commercial enterprise. In addition, LN users are asked to please not use their LN work accounts for non-work related E-mail, which includes but is not limited to advertising, spamming, virus and hoax prank notes, get-rich- quick schemes, chain letters, etc.

If you need help using the Buy/Sell/Trade database or have questions about an item that you’d like to post, contact us at 4031 or 5819.

We have created the faculty, staff, and allusers groups in the LN FHSU Address Book on NotesHub for FHSU business use and your convenience. All LN users should be considerate when using any of these large groups for mass mailings. If this privilege is abused, the offending IDs may be revoked.

Unauthorized Use of LN E-mail

We have a number of student employees from various offices across campus who are on Lotus Notes. Their LN accounts have been set up for business or office purposes ONLY and NOT student purposes. Each student also has a student account on Scatcat that can be used for non-office-related business.

Student employees are asked to please not use their LN work accounts for non-work related mail. This practice only clutters the server and uses up valuable resources. If you have student workers on LN in your area, please advise them about this policy. If this privilege is abused, the offending IDs may be revoked.

Systems Programming
by Michael Lacy, Manager

Miscellaneous Computer Info

The FHSU Mainframe is an ES9000 IBM 9121 Model 260 with 512 Meg Main Storage and speed of 16 MIPS. The operating system is VM/ESA 2.3 running VSE/ESA 2.3 as a guest operating system. One 9394 controller controls I/O to the ten 9395 disk drives containing 110 gigabytes of storage.

Three 3490 cartridge tape drives at IDRC capacity allow us to retrieve data stored on tape or can be used to create backup tapes or archives.

One 3174 controller controls console access to the mainframe along with one Bus-Tech 3172 controller for Ethernet connected PCs.

An IBM 6262 printer at 1400 lines per minute prints many reports, labels, special forms, and a variety of other jobs. In addition, an IBM 3812 LED page printer with graphics capabilities prints reports, letters, and other tasks submitted from across campus. Other printers attached to the system via RSCS and TCP/IP print other jobs as submitted.

The Information Center consists of Computer Operations and User Services. In addition to the scheduled services provided to the University departments, the following user services are available through the Information Center. Following each item is the procedure to follow to ensure the best service.

Standard Report Programs, Mailing Labels, Ad Hoc Reports, or Data to be Downloaded

Please submit a CTC Request for Services and click on the Information Center button. If you have any questions or concerns about what data is available or the type of reports the CTC can produce, please contact Alvin Hearne at 5687 or Jane Rajewski at 5819.

Test Scoring Using the OMR Full-Page Scanner

150 question answer sheets are available for pick-up at the Dispatch Window (TH111). Please make sure the students use No. 2 pencils and erase cleanly. No. 2 pencils are available at the Dispatch Window. Return the score sheets and complete the test scanning request form at the Dispatch Window. Your test will be scored and the desired reports printed within eight working hours.

You will be notified when the job is completed. Please refer any questions or concerns to Jane Rajewski at 5819 or Alvin Hearne at 5687.

Training for Faculty and Staff

Send an LN note to vzimmerm@fhsu.edu or jrajewsk@fhsu.edu indicating the administrative systems for which you would like training offered. Training will be offered if enough users indicate an interest for a particular item; users will be notified of classes offered through LN notes. We try to offer several sessions of each system at different times each semester to allow you to choose the session that best fits your schedule.

As new administrative systems are developed, we will be offering courses in that area for the appropriate personnel. Please notify Viv at 4031 or Jane at 5819 about new employees who need to be trained or other training needs. Also, please let us know when someone resigns or leaves your area so that his or her security to the system can be removed.

HelpDesk for Users

Feel free to call the CTC HelpDesk at 5276 with any problems or questions. If we don't have the answer, we will route your concern to the appropriate person.

Requesting IDs

To request CICS IDs and passwords, please submit a CTC Request for Services and click on the Information Center button and include your name, SSN, department, phone number and office number. If you are having any problems with security violations, please call Jane Rajewski at 5819.

If you need a CMS ID to use the mainframe software, please submit a CTC Request for Services and click on the System Services button; however, most users will not need a CMS ID.

Passwords and Security

Having a protected password is essential to the security of the information you have on your account and the protection and privacy of the information you may have access to on CICS.

CICS passwords cannot be changed by the user at this time. If at anytime you feel that your CICS password may have been jeopardized, please call Jane at 5819 to get your password changed. Also, please call Jane to change the CICS password for any generic CICS accounts that you may have for your student employees anytime a student terminates employment with your office.

We also encourage you to periodically change your Lotus Notes passwords. You can easily change your password (both Client and Internet) by following the instructions in the on- line Beginning LN 5.0 Client Handbook (see article on page 9 FHSU CTC Handbooks Database).

CICS Security for New Faculty

CICS security for the basic inquiry functions in the course, student, and transcript systems is automatically set up for the advisor level for all new full-time faculty after we receive the list of new faculty from the Provost’s office.

Security for all other CICS administrative systems will still require the user to request the appropriate security; contact Jane Rajewski to start the approval process. This additional security will require the chair person’s approval. The user will be notified when the security is set up.

If you have questions/concerns about your CICS security, contact Jane Rajewski at 5819 or jrajewsk@fhsu.edu.

Helpful Information

For your convenience, the CTC Staff Directory, Media Equipment Checkout information, and the FHSU Acceptable Use of Computing Resources Policy are included as the last pages of this issue of the newsletter.

So that we can serve you more efficiently, please keep these pages near your phone or in your 2002-2003 FHSU Campus Directory and Student Handbook for future reference.

Helpful Links

Following are some helpful links for you and your students:

Fort Hays State University
http://www.fhsu.edu

FHSU CTC HelpDesk
http://www.fhsu.edu/ctc/helpdesk

Student Web Services (SWS)
http://www.fhsu.edu/sws

Scatcat Activation
http://scatcat.fhsu.edu/activate/

Blackboard
http://blackboard.fhsu.edu

Media Equipment Checkout
http://www.fhsu.edu/ctc/media_checkout/

Acceptable Use Information
http://www.fhsu.edu/ctc/labs/ethic.html

Lotus Notes Browser
http://tiger.fhsu.edu

FHSU CTC Labs
http://www.fhsu.edu/ctc/labs

FHSU Campus Labs Info Page
http://www.fhsu.edu/ctc/labs/clip.html

CTC On-line Newsletters
http://www.fhsu.edu/ctc/newsletters/news.shtml

Reserving CTC Computer Labs
http://www.fhsu.edu/ctc/labs/reservinglabs.shtml

CTC Newsletters on the Web

For your convenience, we have past CTC newsletters posted on the web at http://www.fhsu.edu/ctc/newsletters/news.shtml. There are a number of previous newsletters out there if you are interested in viewing them.

CMS Availability Policy

CMS is available after 7am until midnight Monday through Friday. The systems are up and running unattended on holidays and from 2:30am Saturday until Monday morning.

CICS Administrative Database Availability Policy

The administrative databases, which are in CICS, are up from 6am to 10pm Monday through Thursday and 6am to 5pm on Friday. They run unattended from 6am to 7am each of those days and also unattended from 2:30am Saturday through 7:00am Monday and on holidays.

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Dispatch Window Hours

Fall semester hours for the CTC Dispatch Window TH111 are:

Mon-Fri 8am to 5pm
Weekends CLOSED

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For Your Information
by Viv Zimmerman, User Services

Tomanek Hall Lab News

A lab monitor is present during open lab hours; however, labs may be unavailable to users at times so that we can perform routine maintenance. The CTC labs resumed regular hours after the Labor Day weekend.

NO food, drinks or tobacco of any kind are allowed in any of the labs. Also, users may not bring and use their own zip drives or any other peripherals in any of the CTC labs.

Many of the lab users want to bring food and beverages into the labs but the possibility of spilling a beverage onto the equipment or a power source exists and could severely damage equipment or shutdown the lab indefinitely for repairs.

Anyone caught bringing food or beverages into the lab will be asked to remove it immediately. Repeat offenders will not be able to reserve the labs in the future. Please abide by this policy.

An FHSU Student ID Card is required to use these labs. In addition, students are required to sign in at the front lab monitor desk in TH127. For security purposes and your protection, all three of the CTC computer labs are equipped with video surveillance cameras.

Hours for the Tomanek Hall computer labs (TH121, 123, and 127) are:

Sept 3 through Dec 17:

Mon-Thurs 8am to 10pm
Friday 8am to 5pm
Saturday 1pm to 5pm
Sunday 3pm to 10pm

Oktoberfest/Homecoming Lab Hours:

Friday, Oct 11 CLOSED
Saturday, Oct 12 CLOSED
Sunday, Oct 13 3pm to 10pm

Fall semester open hours for the CTC computer labs are subject to change for holidays and may be altered the last few weeks of the semester to accommodate students completing semesterly projects. Any change in hours is posted outside the CTC labs and may also be viewed from our web site. For more information about our CTC computer labs, visit our web site at http://www.fhsu.edu/ctc/labs/. You may also contact the lab monitor on duty at the front desk in TH127 or send comments to vzimmerm@fhsu.edu.

Recycle Laser Paper

If you have any extra scrap paper that is printed on one side only, we would be interested in re-using it in our labs. Many of the printouts in our labs are rough drafts and recycled paper helps us keep expenses down.

The paper must be laser quality, free of staples or rips, and have one clean side. It can be white or any color. Please ensure that there is no sensitive data such as names, SSNs, etc on any of the recycle paper that you give us. If you have a sizable amount of paper that we can recycle, call Viv at 4031 or Jane at 5819 and we would be happy to make arrangements for pick up.

Reserving CTC Labs

The CTC TH123 Mac Computer Lab and CTC TH121 Pentium Computer Lab are available for reservation by current faculty and staff. If any FHSU club or organization wishes to reserve the lab, the club or organization sponsor must submit the request. Faculty or staff must submit a CTC Request for Services and click on the Information Center button to reserve a lab. List the following information for each reservation: department, course number, section and course name, dates and times needed, instructor name, and how many students are in the class. We are unable to schedule the labs without this request and you may not bring a group over to use any CTC lab without a reservation. You may have your secretary submit the request for you.

Prior to submitting the request, please view the Lotus Notes TH123 Lab (Mac) Calendar or TH121 Lab (Pentium) Calendar to see if the desired lab is available by doing the following:

• Access your Lotus Notes calendar, click on the Tools button, and select Open calendar.
• From the FHSU Address Book, search for calendar in the Open Calendar dialog box and then scroll through the list of calendars to find either lab.
• Click on the desired calendar and then click the OK button.
• View the dates you want for your lab reservation and check if the lab is available.
• If the desired lab is available, submit a Request for Services to reserve the lab. If the desired lab is unavailable, check the FHSU Computer Labs Information Page at http://www.fhsu.edu/ctc/labs to see if another campus lab is available.

If the Tomanek Hall Computer Lab reservation for workshops, classes, or seminars needs to be canceled, please submit a CTC Request for Services so that we can cancel your lab reservation. Please keep in mind that each lab has a limited seating capacity and one workstation at the front desk for the instructor.

For the most current information to aide you in reserving either TH121 or TH123, visit http://www.fhsu.edu/ctc/labs/reservinglabs.shtml
If you need assistance reserving a lab, contact Viv at 4031.

Lotus Notes Training

All new faculty and staff can have a Lotus Notes ID which will enable them to send and receive E-mail and work with calendars. The LN training is not mandatory; however, we strongly recommend that you attend to learn the basics of using Lotus Notes.

We will offer Beginning Lotus Notes 5.0 training throughout the fall semester. The training schedules will be sent to new faculty first and then sent to all LN users through E- mail. Instructions for signing up for the training sessions are included in the note. Each time new sessions are offered, the training schedules are sent to faculty and staff through LN mail.

When signing up for any training sessions offered by the CTC, please sign up by session number to ensure that you get in the right one.

View Class Rosters On-Line

If your CICS security is already set up for the Course System, you may view your rosters by doing the following:

* Sign onto CICS with your CICS ID and password.
* Enter 04 at the Enter Function prompt.
* Enter 81, DEPT, COURSE NUMBER, SECTION, YEAR, SEMESTER.

HINT: Semester codes:
U = Summer, F = Fall, S = Spring

* Press TAB to move from field to field.
* The default will display ALL students (regardless of status). Follow instructions on screen to make another choice.
* View your roster and follow the prompts at the bottom of screen.

If you have a printer attached to your work station, you may choose File and select Print or click on the printer icon to have a rough copy of your roster(s). If you need assistance using this system or if you would like to have security for it, call Viv at 4031 or Jane at 5819.

On-Line Grade Entry

If you are new faculty or have never entered grades before or if you haven't signed onto CICS recently, sign onto CICS and see if you can access the Course System (for example, try function 81 Roster Inquiry or 71 Roster Grade Update). Please note that you must be the instructor of record to work with your rosters or enter grades. Check function 63 to see if you are listed as the instructor of record.

This security must be set up before you will be able to enter grades. If you do not have a CICS ID or if you have questions, please contact Jane at 5819 or Viv at 4031.

On-Line Registration

Luci Williams, Judy Channel and LuAnn Pfeifer will hold training for on-line Registration (OLR) from October 29rd through November 4th. This will be just prior to the actual Spring 2003 registration.

These sessions are for faculty ONLY. The training is mandatory for any advisor who wishes to register advisees. We will not be able to offer this training again until March, 2003.

Session
7
8
9
10
11

Each training session meets for one hour. The training will be held in Tomanek Hall 107. Call Viv at 4031 to sign up. This training schedule will also be sent out later through Lotus Notes E-mail.

If you are interested in registering your advisees, contact Jane at 5819 to start the security form process.

Staff Changes

Please notify Viv at 4031 or send a note to vzimmerm@.fhsu.edu any time faculty, staff or student employees terminate their employment with your office so that we can remove their IDs and update our group mailing lists and security tables. Thanks to all of you who have already sent us this information.

It is imperative that all security is removed for those who no longer work in your office. It is also important that you not share passwords with others. If you have student employees who need access to Lotus Notes, CICS, or other systems to perform duties in your office, please contact us to set up an account. Many offices have set up generic Lotus Notes or CICS accounts for student employees in their offices and merely change the password each time a student employee terminates.

Also, send us a listing of any new employees that includes SSN, office phone and room number information. We need this info for security purposes and also to keep the directory and LN groups updated. In addition, some of the information contained in the LN FHSU Address Book on NotesHub automatically displays on any electronic requests or workflow forms submitted.

If you need assistance, contact Viv at 4031 or Jane at 5819.

CTC HelpDesk News
by Nancy Cunningham, HelpDesk Supervisor

HelpDesk Services Available

The CTC HelpDesk is the focal point for assistance, referral information and access to FHSU computing and telecommunication systems. Two major functions of the office are handling applications and support for Internet Dial-Up Accounts and providing computing-related services and information to students through Student Office Systems (SOS). In addition, the faculty Media Equipment Checkout service is located in the HelpDesk office.

CTC HelpDesk hours may be viewed along with detailed information about the services provided by the CTC HelpDesk at http://www.fhsu.edu/ctc/helpdesk/. Specific instructions for accessing Lotus Notes from off campus, a Lotus Notes FAQ page, and other E-mail information are also available from the Faculty/Staff E-Mail Information section of our web site.

We are located in Tomanek Hall 113. For all services other than Media Equipment Checkout, please contact the HelpDesk at (785) 628-5276 or by sending E-mail to helpdesk@fhsu.edu. The Media Equipment Checkout service can be contacted at (785) 628-5521. Equipment checkout is available during regular University office hours (8:00 - 4:30 M - F). If necessary, arrangements for pick up and drop off during evening hours can be made; however, all arrangements must be made between 8:00 and 4:30 M - F.

Attention New Faculty and Staff...
Here's how to apply for Internet service through FHSU

FHSU provides Internet service to faculty, staff, and students through "Internet Dial-Up" accounts. Dial-Up uses your computer's modem and your telephone line to connect to the Internet through FHSU's Cisco remote access system. The system houses 56K V.90 modems. Using this remote access, you can check your E-mail, download shareware, run statistical software, access the web, and do a variety of other tasks.

There are some minimum system requirements a computer must meet in order to do dial-up.

Internet Dial-Up Accounts are only available to FHSU students, faculty, and staff.

If you are interested in applying for an account, just stop by the CTC HelpDesk to complete an application. A photo ID is required. There is no service fee for faculty or staff accounts.

For more information about Internet Dial-Up accounts or other services provided by the CTC HelpDesk, view our web site. Welcome to Fort Hays - we hope you have a great year!

Accessing Lotus Notes from Off Campus

You must have Internet service (such as an Internet Dial-Up account) if you want to access your Lotus Notes files from off campus. Two methods are explained here:

1. Browser Access: This is the recommended method of access. It is simple to use and provides access to some other features besides E-mail, such as calendars and the FHSU Address Book. Using an Internet browser, go to http://tiger.fhsu.edu. To open your mail, click on Faculty/Staff E-Mail Access, and then enter your Lotus Notes User Name and Password.

2. The Lotus Notes Client: Lotus Notes users are also able to check out a CD and install the Lotus Notes Client software on their home computers. Please be aware that the Client runs much slower when used through a dial-up connection than it does on the campus network (even if you have "the newest and the fastest"). If you are interested in having quick response time, this option is probably not for you. However, if you are working with workflow applications or have other special needs that require use of the Client from off campus, read the following information about system requirements carefully.

Lotus Notes Client system requirements: In order to use the Lotus Notes Client from off campus, you must connect using an FHSU Internet Dial-Up connection. Due to security requirements, the Lotus Notes Client cannot be used via a non-FHSU connection.

A PC must have at least 70 MB of disk space, 32 MB RAM, a Pentium II 233 mHz processor, and a Windows 95 or higher operating system. These are the minimum system requirements. Macintosh users should contact the HelpDesk for system requirement information. Systems that meet only the minimum specifications will run extremely slow.
A $10.00 deposit is required for checking out a CD for a one-week period. (The deposit will be refunded when the CD is returned.) If you are interested in checking out a CD, please call the CTC HelpDesk ahead of time to see if one is available. If one is not available, your name will be placed on a waiting list.

Scatcat E-Mail Accounts Issued to FHSU Students

All FHSU students are automatically issued a Scatcat E-mail account upon enrollment. The accounts require an activation process that allows students to set their own passwords. An account must be activated before it can receive E-mail. Students who have already activated their accounts may continue to use them as before. Students who have not previously used their Scatcat E-mail can activate and begin using their accounts by doing the following:

To find a Scatcat E-mail address, go to: http://scatcat.fhsu.edu/email/

To activate a Scatcat account and set the password, students should go to: http://scatcat.fhsu.edu/activate/

To log in & use Scatcat E-mail, students can go to: http://scatcat.fhsu.edu/webmail/

If students prefer to use another E-mail service, we encourage them to activate their Scatcat accounts, and then forward mail to their account of choice, using the forwarding instructions available from our home page at http://www.fhsu.edu/ctc/helpdesk/.

For assistance or for more information, view the CTC HelpDesk web site.

Introducing... WebMail !
--- a better way for students to get their Scatcat mail!

The CTC is now introducing a new online E-mail program for accessing student Scatcat E-mail. WebMail offers many improvements and new features that Visual Mail does not have. After students have activated their Scatcat accounts, they can log into WebMail at http://scatcat.fhsu.edu/webmail/.

Please encourage your students to use WebMail and please update your materials to refer students to WebMail, rather than Visual Mail. Visual Mail is still available for use; however, we would like to promote WebMail because it is a better, more user-friendly system and it has many enhancements that Visual Mail does not have.

Student Office Systems Offers Services

Please let your students know that Student Office Systems (SOS) is a resource for students for color printing, scanning and faxing. SOS provides a computer that can be reserved by students for image processing and desktop publishing.

The following products and services are available to currently enrolled FHSU students:

A student ID is required. SOS is a service of the CTC HelpDesk, which is the focal point for assistance, referral information and access to FHSU computing and telecommunication services. The CTC HelpDesk has information about accessing student E-mail accounts, posting student web pages, obtaining Internet dial-up access, activating voice mail accounts, locating campus computer labs, and provides other services such as a telecommunications device for the deaf.

For more information about SOS, contact the CTC HelpDesk.

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Off-Campus Internet Access in Western Kansas

Fort Hays State University is proud of its efforts to provide students with access to information technology. These efforts include the creation of partnerships with western Kansas Internet service providers. Together, these companies provide local Internet dial-up access in over 100 communities.

Fort Hays State University students who are currently enrolled in three or more credit hours and live in service areas covered by these companies are eligible for substantial price discounts on Internet service. Please share this news with any students who might benefit from these programs. This includes those who are enrolled in at least three hours, live outside of Hays, and are in a service area covered by one of our Internet service provider partners.

An alphabetical listing of cities currently covered in the distance programs, the companies providing service in those cities, and contact information are available on our web site. Students should contact the companies directly for more specific application information.

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CTC HelpDesk Hours

Fall 2002 Office Hours (Effective August 26, 2002)

Hours are subject to change and may be adjusted due to semester breaks or changes in demand.

Mondays - Thursdays 8am - 10pm
Fridays 8am - 5pm
Saturdays CLOSED
Sundays, beginning 9/8/02 7pm - 10pm

For more information... contact us at the CTC HelpDesk or view our web site. Adjustments to these hours will be advertised via campus E-mail and will be posted on our web site.

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Password and ID Information

Please be aware that sharing your ID and password for any computer system with another person or allowing another person to use your system access is a crime.

Acceptable Use of Your Internet Dial-Up Account

The Fort Hays State University Internet dial-up service is a heavily used system. Computing and Telecommunication Center staff closely monitor dial-up activity as one of our efforts to improve efficiency of its use. The Fort Hays State University Acceptable Use of Computing Resources Policy, which prohibits excessive inefficient use of limited shared resources, governs use of the dial-up system. In addition to enhancing system efficiency, it is also intended to ensure security for users of FHSU systems. A copy of the policy may be viewed online at: http://www.fhsu.edu/ctc/.

The Internet dial-up system is a shared resource; the number of modems available limits the number of users who can connect simultaneously. Remaining connected to a modem when the connection is not actively being used may prohibit others from being able to gain access. The dial-up system is provided to the University community for the primary purpose of supporting FHSU's educational mission. Internet access has become an essential element of the education process; therefore inefficient use can lead to unnecessary expansion costs.

The following actions are requested of you in compliance with the Acceptable Use of Computing Resources Policy to promote secure and efficient dial-up system performance:

* Always disconnect from the dial-up system when your connection is not being actively used. This provides an opportunity for others to connect. Note that simply closing your E-mail or browser software usually does not automatically disconnect the dial-up connection. For most computer systems, the setup instructions included in your packet give complete details on how to disconnect. If your setup instructions do not include a section on how to disconnect or if further assistance is needed, please contact us.

* If you believe someone else knows your password, bring a photo ID to the CTC HelpDesk, and we will issue a new password for you. You can be held legally responsible for any Internet activity that occurs while your account name and password are in use. If more than one person uses your computer for Internet dial-up access, each person should apply for his or her own dial-up account.

* If a program that causes automatic redialing is in use, we strongly recommend disabling it. We strongly discourage automatic checks for E-mail because each time a request is sent to check mail, valuable server resources are used and response time is reduced. If it is absolutely necessary to use this option, please set it to check for mail only once every 30 or 60 minutes and to disconnect when it is finished.

* Install and maintain current virus protection software on your computer. This will reduce the probability of "catching" a virus on your computer and spreading it to others.

For assistance with implementing any of the actions listed above or for more information, contact the CTC HelpDesk.

Thank you . . . for doing your part to assist us in providing efficient and affordable Internet service!

Scatcat Account, Blackboard, & Computer Lab Logins

Student Scatcat E-mail accounts require an activation process that allows students to set their own passwords; the passwords are not preset. Students can then access their E-mail using the ID portion of the address as the user name and the password that was used when activating the account. Once an account has been activated, the student can change the password by using the Scatcat Password Change Form web page located at http://scatcat.fhsu.edu/. Complete information about activating and using Scatcat accounts can be accessed from the CTC HelpDesk home page.

Logins for the Blackboard online course system are initially set to use the Scatcat ID as the user name and the last four digits of the social security number as the password. The student is able to change this password after logging in to Blackboard. For Blackboard assistance, contact Virtual College support at 1-800-628-FHSU or send E-mail to support@fhsu.edu.

As on-campus computer labs are updated, the CTC is implementing a new login process that uses the Scatcat account login.

Many labs still currently use a generic login, which is normally posted in the lab or next to the computer. Check with the lab monitor on duty for assistance using these logins.

The McCartney Hall computer labs, located in MC205, MC215, and MC217 use the student's Scatcat ID as the user name and the last four digits of the social security number as the password. Questions about access in these labs should be directed to Bob Swindler at extension 4185.

A web page has been created that provides additional information, including a list of labs that currently use the Scatcat login. A link to this page is located on the home page and in the Student E-Mail FAQ section of the CTC HelpDesk Web site.

After a Scatcat account has been activated, the Scatcat Password Change Form web page at http://scatcat.fhsu.edu/ can be used to correct any login problems in these labs. If a student has changed the Scatcat account password, the new password should be used when logging in to these labs.

Current information about how to log in to computers in campus computer labs is posted at http://www.fhsu.edu/ctc/labs/. As always, if you are not sure who to contact about a specific situation, give us a call at the CTC HelpDesk, and we will assist you with obtaining the information that you need.

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Scatcat E-Mail Lifetime Use Policy

Because electronic messaging has become a mainstay in our society, Fort Hays State University now offers its students lifetime E-mail accounts. All students who enroll at FHSU are automatically issued a student Scatcat E-mail account. An account that has been activated will continue to be available after a student is no longer enrolled. More details can be found by viewing this policy on the CTC HelpDesk web site, located under Students in the E-Mail & Web Pages section.
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Computer Crime Is. . .
by Detective Ed Howell, University Police

Please be aware of the following issues relating to computer crime.

K.S.A. 21-3755 Computer Crime Defined:

(b) (1) Computer crime is:

(A) Intentionally and without authorization accessing and damaging, modifying, altering, destroying, copying, disclosing or taking possession of a computer, computer system, computer network or any other property;

(B) using a computer, computer system, computer network or any other property for the purpose of devising or executing a scheme or artifice with the intent to defraud or for the purpose of obtaining money, property, services or any other thing of value by means of false or fraudulent pretense or representation; or

(C) intentionally exceeding the limits of authorization and damaging, modifying, altering, destroying, copying, disclosing or taking possession of a computer, computer system, computer network or any other property.

(2) Computer crime is a severity level 8, nonperson felony.

(3) In any prosecution for computer crime, it is a defense that the property or services were appropriated openly and avowedly under a claim of title made in good faith.

(c) (1) Computer password disclosure is the unauthorized and intentional disclosure of a number, code, password or other means of access to a computer or computer network.

(2) Computer password disclosure is a class A nonperson misdemeanor.

(d) Computer trespass is intentionally, and without authorization accessing or attempting to access any computer, computer system, computer network or computer software, program, documentation, data or property contained in any computer, computer system or computer network. Computer trespass is a class A nonperson misdemeanor.

(e) This section shall be part of and supplemental to the Kansas criminal code.

History: L. 1985, ch. 108, § 1; L. 1992, ch. 298, § 51; L. 1993, ch. 291, § 93; L. 1994, ch. 291, § 34; L. 1997, ch. 66, § 2; July 1.

Please contact Detective Howell at 5304 for further information.

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User Services News
by Viv Zimmerman, User Services

LN Hints & Tips. . .
Important LN Calendar Option

It has been brought to our attention that some users are having problems with meeting invitations being accidentally deleted from their Lotus Notes calendar when they erase the original meeting invitation from their Inbox.

We recommend that users please check their calendar preferences and make sure that they have the following option selected Remove Meeting invitations from my Inbox after I respond to them. There should be an X in the box next to this option.

As a word of caution, if you do not have the above option selected, whenever you accept a meeting invitation from your Inbox, the entry will be posted on your LN calendar but the invitation will also remain in your Inbox. Then, if you delete the invitation from your Inbox, LN will also remove the calendar entry from your calendar.

Please set up this option so that LN will automatically remove meeting invitations from your Inbox after you respond to them; then LN will remove the invitation from your Inbox but will not remove the corresponding meeting entry from your Calendar view or Meetings folder. To set up this option, open your LN Inbox, select Tools and select Preferences. Click on the Calendar tab and the Autoprocess tab. Click on the box to the right of Remove Meeting invitations from my Inbox after I respond to them and then click the OK button.

If you need assistance with setting up this option, contact the CTC HelpDesk at 5276.

Adding Links to LN Notes

In Lotus Notes, it is simple to include a link in a note. In the body of the note, enter the complete URL such as the following: http://www.fhsu.edu/ctc/labs/ . It is also recommended that you leave a space between the last character of your link and the period if your link is at the end of a sentence as shown in the above example. It will not look like a link in the note that you are composing but it will look and function as a link in the recipient’s note.

Another method for putting a link into a note is to cut the link from the URL address box from Netscape or Internet Explorer and paste it into your note. Either method works well.

How to Load CTC Application Icons on Your LN Desktop

You can load these application icons onto your LN desktop by following the steps listed. Some applications/databases are: Buy, Sell, and Trade, Change of Grade, CTELT Request for Services, CTC Request for Services, Department Lookup, FHSU Vacant Positions, ILL (Inter-Library Loan), Physical Plant Work Request, Vendor Lookup, Telephone Service Requests, Warehouse, and Workflow.

If your computer doesn’t have enough disk space to run LN 5.0 and you must use 4.6:

1. Sign onto LN, click File, choose Database, choose Open, change the Server to LNapps/FHSU, and then scroll down in the Database window and double-click apps (the apps folder is towards the bottom of the list).
2. Then select the database you’d like to create an icon for and click Add Icon. Wait a short time while LN puts this database icon on your LN desktop. If necessary, you may add other icons/databases at this time. There are other applications listed that are department, group, or office specific; please ignore them. Click on Done when finished.

To add additional databases, repeat step one from the above procedure and in step two, select another database from the Database window to put another database icon on your LN desktop. Repeat this procedure until you have added all the database icons that you need.

If you are using LN 5.0:

Repeat step one from above, but use steps two and three from below:

2. Click on the database name and click on the Bookmark button. In the Add Bookmark dialog box, click the Bookmark folder that you’d like to place the database bookmark in (usually Favorite Bookmarks) and click OK. If necessary, continue adding more databases to your Favorite Bookmarks folder.
3. When finished adding all the desired database names, close the Open Database dialog box by clicking the X in the upper-right corner of the dialog box.

From your desktop, you may now click on any of these database icons or folders to submit requests for the desired services or view/post entries on the Bulletin Board. Please review the LN Bulletin Board Policy reminder on page 2 of this newsletter before using the Bulletin Board. To use any application, click on the appropriate buttons and fill in the necessary fields. Then click the appropriate button(s) to submit a request or post an item.

As additional applications are developed in Lotus Notes, we will notify you. New applications may be added using the same procedure listed above.
If you need assistance with adding these database icons or any other database icons to your LN desktop or using them, contact the CTC HelpDesk at 5276.

How to Submit a CTC Request for Services Through LN

A CTC Request for Services must be submitted for any kind of services from the Computing and Telecommunication Center. To submit a request to the CTC, do the following:

* Click on the CTC Request for Services on LNapps icon (if you are using LN 4.6) or select the Favorite Bookmarks folder and choose CTC Request for Services (if you are using LN 5.0).
* Click on the appropriate CTC section button (Information Center, Network Services, Microcomputer Services, Applications Development, Systems Services, or Intermedia Classroom Support) and then an electronic form will appear on the screen. Requests for Telephone Service may be submitted by following the instructions in the Requesting Telephone Services article on page 12.
* Fill in the blanks on the electronic form; be as specific as possible.
* When finished entering all of the information on the electronic form, click on the Submit button to send the request to the CTC for approval. Please submit your request at least three working days or more before the desired completion date (completion date may vary depending on workload). Indicate the program number, any desired options or special instructions, the number of copies needed, and paper type. You will be notified through LN mail when the job is completed.

Call Viv at 4031 or Jane at 5819 if you need assistance submitting your request.

LN FHSU Address Book Icon

If you do not have the FHSU Address Book displayed on the left side of your LN window in your Bookmark Bar, do the following to load it:

• Click File, Database, Open and change the Server from Local to NotesHub/FHSU.
• Under Database, scroll down to FHSU Address Book and double- click to open it.
• Click the FHSU Address tab at the top with your left mouse button and while holding down the mouse button, drag the tab to the left side of the window in the row of bookmarks and place it in the gray area above your personal Address Book icon. This will place the FHSU Address Book icon in the row of icons and in the future, you may click on this icon to access it.

LN FHSU Address Book Info

All faculty and staff are responsible for entering their own Work, Home, and Company information into the LN FHSU Address Book. There are still some users who have not entered this information. The LN FHSU Address Book contains phone and office location information about each user on campus. It is used as an on-line campus directory for looking up phone numbers, office locations, and other information. The information contained in the FHSU Address Book is also used extensively by the LN on-line request and workflow systems. That’s why it is important to have your information correct at all times.

Find your entry and double-click on it to review. If necessary, click the Edit button and enter your information or make revisions. When finished, click the Save and Close button. Refer to the on-line Beginning LN 5.0 Client Handbook for assistance (see next article FHSU CTC Handbooks Database). If you need further assistance, contact the CTC HelpDesk at 5276.

FHSU CTC Handbooks Database

If you do not have the on-line FHSU CTC Handbooks database displayed on the left side of your LN window in your Favorite Bookmarks folder, follow the steps in the article on page 8 How to Load CTC Application Icons on Your LN Desktop to add this icon to your desktop or bookmark it to your Favorites Bookmark folder. This database contains much helpful information about setting up your mail, calendar, and delegation preferences, changing your LN Client and Internet passwords, working with your LN mail, calendar, address books, and a variety of other important information.

Have You Changed Offices?

Over the summer, several offices relocated to different areas or other buildings. If your office was relocated during these moves, please update your office location and phone number information in the LN FHSU Address Book by following the instructions in the article on page 9 of this newsletter, LN FHSU Address Book Info. If you need assistance changing this information, contact Viv at 4031.

Attention New Faculty & Staff. . .
Here's how to request new IDs

It would be helpful if the departmental secretaries would send a Lotus Notes Request for Computing Services as soon as possible to request user IDs for Lotus Notes, CICS, Bigcat, or any other systems that are needed for any new faculty, staff, or student employees hired.

Please include the following information: name of employee, SSN, department name and number, title, indicate whether the new employee is faculty, staff, or student employee, office location and phone number.

On this request, also include the location of the computer that needs to have LN installed and any special instructions -- such as -- is this computer shared by several users? Computers shared by more than one user affect the way LN is set up and installed.

This would help us tremendously in processing your requests more efficiently. Since our work load significantly increases with the beginning of the fall semester, please do not wait until the last minute to send your request.

Using LN Groups Hint

Have you ever sent a note to a large group only to have all of the names appear at the top of your note? More than likely, most of you have probably received an occasional note displaying all of the names at the top.

We have created the faculty, staff, and allusers groups in the Lotus Notes FHSU Address Book on NotesHub for your convenience. In order to use any of these groups, all that is necessary is to just key in the appropriate list name in the To: field of your memo. For example, if you wish to send a note to all of the faculty, just type the group name faculty in the To: field. Make sure there is a comma after each name or group listed because LN requires commas.

LN will automatically suppress the huge lists of recipients at the start of the memo when these FHSU Address Book groups are used.

IMPORTANT HINT: Please do not copy the faculty, staff, or allusers groups from the FHSU’s Address Book on NotesHub to your own LN personal Address Book. If you do copy these groups to your own LN personal Address Book, the feature that suppresses the long list of recipients will be disabled and the names of all the recipients will display at the top of your note. In addition, any groups that you copy to your own LN personal Address Book will not contain the current updates.

Also, remember to use the appropriate group(s) when sending notes.

FHSU Vacant Positions Icon

The Personnel Office maintains a Vacant Positions database on Lotus Notes. If you would like to access the FHSU Vacant Positions database on Lotus Notes, follow the steps in the article on page 8 of this newsletter, How to Load CTC Application Icons on Your LN Desktop, to add this icon to your desktop or bookmark it to your Favorites Bookmark folder.

Click on the icon to view the FHSU Classified Staff Vacant Positions, State of Kansas Civil Service Jobs, and Notice of Non- Discrimination.

The vacant positions are posted on bulletin boards throughout the Physical Plant, Gross Memorial Coliseum, Personnel Office, and Mailroom. Contact Joyce Klaus in the Personnel Office at 4462 if you have any questions about the positions posted.

Filtering New Mail

Before we had Lotus Notes, many users used other E-mail systems that allowed them to dump mail messages into different folders. The R5 version of LN has an easy-to-use rules-based feature that allows you to look for information contained in various fields of a note that can be compared and then told what action needs to be taken if the comparison is met.

For example, if you are on a certain listserv and you would like any notes received from that listserv to be filed into a folder, this could be done by setting up a rule. Or, if you get a significant amount of mail messages from any of your classes, you could have your students always include the name of the class in the subject line when sending you a note. Then you could set up a rule so that all mail with this class name in the subject field be filed into a specific folder.

If you would like to filter some of your mail into folders using the Rules feature, follow the steps in the article Working with Rules in the FHSU CTC Handbooks database.

To load the FHSU CTC Handbooks database into your Databases Bookmarks folder, follow the steps in the article on page 8 of this newsletter, How to Load CTC Application Icons on Your LN Desktop.

If you need assistance, contact Viv at 4031.

Changing LN Browsers

Many users find the default Lotus Notes browser cumbersome and if you wish to change it to another browser, such as Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer, do the following:

* Go into File.
* Choose Mobile.
* Choose Edit Current Location.
* Click the drop-down menu for Internet Browser.
* Select Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer.
* Click OK.
* Click the Save and Close button.

Then, the next time you are reading your LN mail and click on an URL listed in a note, you will be able to access the site from Netscape Navigator or IE rather than the LN browser.

Applications Programming
by Daryl Carswell, Applications Programming Manager

The Applications Programming section of the CTC is comprised of a manager and five full- time programmer/analysts. Our main function is to develop and support the current administrative computer systems for the IBM mainframe computer in areas such as student records, degree progress, payroll/personnel, accounting, course inventory and schedule development, alumni and endowment records, and facilities. We also support various other administrative systems that are housed on other computing platforms.

At this time, students can view their class schedules, transcripts, personal information, and financial information on the Student Web Services site at: http://www.fhsu.edu/sws/. They can also update their telephone and address information There is also a scholarship application form on-line that can be accessed at https://secure.fhsu.edu/scholarship/.

Our section has also become heavily involved in activities preparing for the new Sungard administrative system such as data conversion and meeting with representatives to discuss this process. We are in the process of testing the system with our own data to determine functionality and accessibility issues.

Future directions for administrative applications include moving from the present mainframe applications to the new administrative system.

If we can be of assistance, please contact us at 4047 or E-mail dcarswel@fhsu.edu.

Data Communications
by Dan Pfeifer, Coordinator

Network Happenings

The work to upgrade the campus data network infrastructure continues. In the past year we completed the replacement of the Ethernet hubs in the building wiring closets with Ethernet switches. The switches increased the raw data transmittal capacity of the network over that provided by the hubs. We will enhance the data transmittal capacity for the academic buildings further by increasing the speed of the link between the building Ethernet switch and the network backbone from 100 megabits per second to 1000 megabits per second. We are awaiting the installation of higher capacity optical fiber to complete this work, hopefully, starting this fall after other moves and changes have been completed.

Late last spring KANREN and Southwestern Bell increased the bandwidth from the local POP so that we are now getting 10 megabits per second to Internet 1 (I1) with decent latency. KANREN plans to move our I1 connection from Southwestern Bell Internet Services to the Great Plains Network in the very near future. This brings us closer to potential access to Internet 2 (I2) and hopefully a more reliable connection to I1.

Last year at this time we deployed a bandwidth manager on the link to the Internet. The bandwidth manager has allowed us to effectively manage the quantity of bandwidth consumed by some non-mission uses of the Internet access without denying these uses completely. This past spring we deployed another tool on the network called an Intrusion Detection System. This helps us to monitor the network for suspicious and actual activities that threaten our network and its resources as well as any that may emanate from our network and threaten other networks. It has helped us in several instances.

This fall we will begin the deployment of wireless access to our campus network using the IEEE 802.11b technology. IEEE 802.11b is a standard that uses Ethernet via radio signals. It can provide speeds up to 11Mb per sec depending upon the distance from the access point, load demand, and other local conditions. There has been much controversy about its use because the technology as first constituted and many times implemented demonstrated severe problems from a security stance to the wired networks to which they were attached. Work has been done to overcome the deficiencies in the standard and the products of the technology but it is not complete. Proprietary solutions claiming to solve some of the security issues are available. We are trying to avoid these solutions because they tend to limit choices, decisions, and opportunities in the future.

The first wireless access to the wired network will be installed in Forsyth Library. Please be patient with us as we work on this development because there are many things to work out to make the deployment of wireless access on campus successful and as transparent to the user as possible. We will use future issues of this newsletter to keep you apprised of our progress.

Network and Microcomputer Services
by Mark Griffin, Manager of Servers and Desktop Systems

Mail Cleanup!

Some users receive a large amount of E-mail from students, colleagues, or others and they keep it in their Inbox or in folders. This is fine, but after awhile, they start receiving a message upon accessing their mail indicating that they have exceeded their size threshold capacity. Usually, we suggest deleting all unnecessary mail, but some users want to keep these notes for later reference. These notes can be archived and stored on your own PC rather than stored on the server. This will free up server space and still allow you to access these notes later.

This is a reminder for everyone to clean out their Notes mail Inbox. There are many users out there who are over their mail quota. You know who you are! You receive a warning everytime you start your Lotus Notes.

You either need to delete your E-mail or archive it. Deleting your mail is self- explanatory. If you archive your E-mail, you will still have access to that old mail on your own work PC. The mail will be saved in a database on that PC, not on the Notes server.

First, make sure you have Notes Release 5 before trying to archive. Click the Help menu and select About Notes to determine your version of Lotus Notes.

To archive selected documents, you can put a checkmark next to particular documents that you wish to archive, then click Actions - Archive - Selected Documents. Or, you can go into Actions - Archive - Settings and set it up to automatically archive all documents that are over a certain age (eg. all documents over 180 days old). After entering the settings you wish, click Actions - Archive - Archive Now.

If you have trouble archiving, please contact me at mgriffin@fhsu.edu or call me at 4026 and I will gladly help you. Cleaning out your Notes mail will help our system run more efficiently. Thank you for taking care of this important maintenance issue.

Current Events Notes Database

We have a Current Events discussion database on our Notes server. We think that this is a good place for everyone to express their concerns and/or opinions or share information about any topic that may be of interest to others.

Rather than using our server’s capacity for the numerous E-mails that are being sent around, we can save some resources if everyone would use this discussion database. It will also leave a single repository for anyone to go back to if they wish to view a note at a later time.

We encourage you to post to this database instead of sending notes to Allusers to facilitate the discussion of current events. When you receive a note with information that you’d like to post in the Current Events database, open the note, choose Edit and Select All, open the Current Events database, click the New Main Topic button. Fill the Subject of your topic in the Subject section. Click the drop-down arrow in the Category field and choose the appropriate keyword and click OK OR click Cancel and enter a new category in the Category field brackets. Paste your note in the Content section. When finished, click the Save and Close button.

To leave a response to any Topic posted, open or select the item, and then click the New Response button. Follow any prompts and click the appropriate buttons.
We will continue this Current Events discussion database on Lotus Notes so users will have a place to post future entries that may be of interest to the campus community. If you need assistance with posting a topic or leaving a response, contact Viv at 4031 or Jane at 5819.

Network Resources: Brief Guide to Keeping Connected
by Cheryl Helget, System Software Support

This short troubleshooting guide is presented to you so that you may be able to better understand your networked environment and so you may be able to communicate your problems to us more accurately if you are unable to resolve the problem yourself. A few of the most common problems are addressed. This guide does not address problems with accessing off-campus resources.

I'll begin by briefly describing your networked environment on campus. You most likely have a desktop PC or Mac. Within your Mac or PC there is a network adapter that is visible from the back of your computer. The network adapter in the back of your machine is a jack that looks like a large telephone jack. There is a cable plugged into the network adapter that has connectors on both ends that look like large telephone connectors. The opposite end of the cable is plugged into a data jack on the wall.

The cable, which we refer to as a network cable, must be plugged into the data jack, not the telephone jack. In newer buildings, the jacks are clearly labeled with a telephone icon above the telephone jack, and a computer icon above the data jack. In older buildings, the jacks are vertical to one another, and either jack could have been used for the data jack when wired, but generally the data jack is on the bottom. (Remember this if you rearrange your office!) The cable you are using should have been provided to you by The Computing and Telecommunication Center (CTC). If the cable was not provided by the CTC, it may not have been made to our campus network specifications.

The data jack in the wall is connected to a cable that runs from the jack to a central device, called a switch, in your building. The switch resides in a room called a wiring closet, where the building network cables converge to become a part of the campus intranetwork. Fiber optic cable connects your building switch to the main campus network, called the campus backbone, which eventually leads to the main campus computers, servers and the internet.

Begin troubleshooting connection problems by finding out if anyone else in your office or on your floor is experiencing the same problem. If more than one person is experiencing the same problem simultaneously, then the problem most likely exists with a server or other network component within the campus network.

If the network problem appears to be unique to your machine, there are some steps you can take to troubleshoot the problem yourself:

One of the most common problems is losing access to a network resource that you previously had access to, such as a printer or a shared drive. Many times this is caused by incorrectly logging onto your windows session. The shared resource you are wishing to access may be using security from a Windows NT domain. (A domain is a logical group of computers in an NT-based Local Area Network that share the same security account database.) If this is the case, you will need to logoff by clicking START, then selecting LOGOFF username. If you do not have a LOGOFF option on the START menu, you can logoff by selecting SHUTDOWN, and then selecting the bottom option: Close all programs and logon as a different user. Log back onto your windows session with the correct ID and password. Now, try to regain access to the resource by performing the following:

To regain access to printers:

For Windows users: Open up the My Computer icon on your desktop, then open the Printers folder to check if the printer you were once accessing is still included in the group of printers. If not, you will need to re-add it: Click the Add Printers Icon, select Network Printer Server, click Next, find your printer under the list of shared printers (which are organized by domains or workgroups, then by server or peer names, then by shared printers), click the printer share name, click OK, choose whether or not you want this printer to be your default printer, then wait to see if the add is successful.

If the printer is included in the group of printers, but the icon is shaded and you are unable to open it when clicked, delete the printer by right-clicking its icon, then select delete. Now go about adding it back in as previously explained.

To regain access to Network drives (or shared directories):

Open Network Neighborhood on your desktop. If you do not see the share's host machine in the browse list, click Entire Network, then Microsoft Windows Network. You will need to navigate through the browse list to find the workgroup or domain that the resource's host computer is listed under. When you find the host computer, double click it to display the directories it is sharing with the network. Locate the directory to which you wish to map. Right click the shared directory, choose map, then click OK

When troubleshooting shared directory access problems, keep in mind that a shared directory is a directory on a disk that is available to other people on the network. It can be a directory on the hard disk of a peer machine, or a directory on the hard disk of a server. The loss of access may be due to the host machine of the shared directory not being turned on, or perhaps it has lost connection to the network at some point in time while you were linked to it. It is also possible that the share was removed by the host machine's operator.

• If you receive an Access Denied message when trying to regain access to network resources that you previously had access to, call us to help you resolve the problem.

• If you receive a message stating that the network path was not found when you try to reestablish connections, you should first check to see if the network cable is firmly plugged into your network adapter. Next, check to see if the other end of the cable is plugged into the data jack on the wall. Look at your network adapter in the back of your machine. If you have a network adapter that has little lights for indicators, you should see a green one. A green light indicates that you have a link to the network and, usually, indicates that network connections are good from your network card on. If you have a solid red light on your network adapter, a problem may exist with your cable, your wall jack, or with the network card itself. If you do have a solid red light, you should call us to resolve the problem. Yellow lights are OK.

If you can access shared printers and directories but cannot access VM/CMS, LN, CICS, bigcat, scatcat, alleycat, or successfully launch Netscape, then your problem may exist in the configuration of your network protocols. A protocol is a set of rules that one computer uses to communicate with another computer. If two computers are to communicate, they have to be using the same protocol, or, in other words, speak the same language. If a protocol problem does exist, none of the aforementioned applications will launch. Please call us if you are experiencing this type of a problem.

If you cannot identify the source of the problem or need help resolving a problem, please contact the CTC. When you call us, we will want to know:

• A description of the problem.
• What operating system you are using: Macintosh, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, or Windows XP? When you boot a PC, a screen displaying the installed operating system should appear. If you are running a Macintosh, it is important to know what system version you have. You can find the operating system version by going to Finder choosing the Apple, then About This computer.
• Have any updates, changes or additions been applied to your machine recently or since the last known time that resource access was successful? Have you ever been successful in accessing the desired resource?
• Is anyone else near you experiencing the problem?
• What exact error message is displayed, if any? Please be sure to write down the error message so you can relay it to us exactly as it was displayed.
• What were you working on when the problem occurred, or what events preceded it? Reporting the above information accurately is key to a speedy problem resolution

This article describes only a few of the problems that you can encounter while working in a networked environment. Perhaps now you may be able to perform some simple troubleshooting to maintain your connections.

Media Equipment Checkout
by Jack Jackson, Mediated Classroom Support

An inventory of audio and video equipment is maintained by CTC to supplement the mediated classrooms. The Media Equipment Checkout office is located in Tomanek Hall 113. We have added more of the most often requested equipment such as laptop computers and LCD projectors during the summer. A list and description of the equipment available may be viewed at the following web page http://www.fhsu.edu/ctc/media_checkout/ .

You may reserve equipment for your classes or professional presentations by calling 5521 or by sending a CTC Request for Services via Lotus Notes. Equipment is scheduled on a first- come/first-served basis. We do our best to supply all requests but during busiest times, we may not be able to accommodate all users. Thus, please remember that equipment should not be considered to be reserved until you have received a confirmation.

We have student help available to deliver, pick up and help set up equipment on campus during regular office hours. If scheduled in advance, equipment can also be picked up during the hours that the CTC HelpDesk is open.

If you have any problems, questions, or suggestions on how we may better serve you, please call the office at 5521 or Jack Jackson at 5841. We would also welcome feedback from faculty regarding future purchases that will aid in your instructional endeavors.

Mediated Classroom Update

Additional classrooms have been mediated over the summer. All general use classrooms on campus and numerous labs are now mediated. We have also upgraded projectors and computers in several earlier classrooms. All classrooms now have LCD projectors with a minimum of 1000 lumens brightness and XGA (1024 X 768) native resolution. All PC computers are now at least 400 MHz.

All mediated classrooms now have a basic set of equipmet consisting of a PC, a document camera, a VCR, and a ceiling-mounted LCD projector with appropriate switches. Additional equipment (Macintosh computer, laser disk player, audio casette deck, and slide projector) is available in selected rooms. If you are in a classroom that does not have the optional equipment, please call; it can be installed in any classroom upon request.

You will notice some changes in the equipment currently being installed. Technology continues to provide us with better equipment, usually at lower prices. We are trying to balance consistency of the user experience with the improvements provided by the new technology. We realize that this may cause some anxious moments when you find something changed from previous years but we believe you will like the results.

We do suggest that you “check out” your classrooms before classes begin, even if you have previously taught in a room -- it may have changed dramatically.

The new and newly remodeled classrooms incorporate a touch panel control system that should provide a more consistent interface among the various classrooms as well as provide energy saving features. While the switches continue to work as before, we ask that you use the touch panel system in those rooms so equipped. Touch panels will be added to all classrooms during the next year.

As always, we are looking for ways to improve the learning environment for you and for your students. If you have any questions, problems, or suggestions, please call Jack Jackson, manager, at 5841 or E-mail jjackson@fhsu.edu or Odus Trober, technician, at 5287 or E-mail otrober@fhsu.edu.

Telecomm Services
by Tom Webb, Manager

The mission of Telecommunications is to facilitate the smooth reliable communications of voice, data and video at a minimum cost and a maximum utility and ease of use to the university.

Using the Campus Phone System

Instructions on how to use the campus phone system can be found in the front of the FHSU Campus Directory that is published each fall by University Relations. This is where you can learn how to start and stop call forwarding, transfer a call, and other fancy tricks.

KANS-A-N Long Distance

Official University long distance calls are routed over the KANS-A-N long distance trunk lines. Please review your KANS-A-N Directory for some important information about this service.

Any long distance calls you place from your campus phone are routed by the PBX switch. Long distance calls from off campus can be made with the use of a KANS-A-N credit card issued by Darlene Schippers (5900) of the Business Office. To request a KANS-A-N calling card, please submit a Request for Telephone Services on LNapps through the Lotus Notes System.

Requesting Telephone Services

Requests may be submitted electronically through Lotus Notes on the Telecomm Request for Services on LNapps form. Select the appropriate option and then an electronic form will appear on the screen. Fill in the blanks; be as specific as possible. Click on the Submit button to submit the request to the CTC for approval. The CTC staff will schedule it.

If you are moving to a new office, please submit your request for service at least two weeks in advance. If you have a problem with your phone service, you can E-mail us directly at twebb@fhsu.edu, brajewsk@fhsu.edu, or vhiller@fhsu.edu or call (Tom at 4488, Vaudene at 5999 or Bob at 5997).

AUDIX Voicemail Service

Our voicemail is processed with the Lucent Technologies AUDIX system. Training for the AUDIX system is on video which we will loan to you upon request.

Conference Calls

We have recently received word that DISC has removed their tele-conferencing bridge from service September 30th. Instead, we will contract our conference calls with Sprint. The cost of conference calls will basically be 15 cents per minute per line (conferee) for unattended (no operator) service, and 20 cents for attended.

In order to use this service, you will need a card issued to an individual in your department. If you might have more than one conference call going at a time, you will need a card for each and they must be for different individuals.

If you would like to order a card or cards, please enter a “Request for Telephone Service” on Lotus Notes. We will need the name of the individual(s) that will be responsible for the card(s), and their phone number and E-mail address. We will get the department name and budget number from the request form. The budget number on the request will be charged any conference calls made with the card.

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© 2002
Computing and Telecommunication Center
Fort Hays State University