The weekend's weather
Tomorrow: Continued warm temperatures with mostly cloudy skies.
HIGH LOW
64 46
Sunday: Still warm with cloudy skies.
HIGH LOW
52 25
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
Kansan Weekend Edition
Friday
December 4, 1998
Section:
A
Vol. 109 • No. 74
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
WWW.KANSAN.COM
(USPS 650-640)
Automated message system loses its voice
By Keith Burner
Kansas staff writer
Kansan staff writer
Each morning, many University of Kansas faculty and staff wade through voice messages from their students explaining why a paper will not be turned in on time or why they will miss class.
But not yesterday.
That was because Audix, the system that provides access to voice mail, bulletin boards and automated attendants to KU faculty and staff at the Edwards and Lawrence campuses, was not working for several hours yesterday.
A bulletin board is an information line, and an automated attendant is a system that requires the caller to navigate numbered choices to locate a desired person. Anna Hines, assistant director of administrative services for Networking and Telecommunications Services said.
"We rerouted the automated attendants so callers get real people." she said.
The system, acquired by the University from Lucent Technologies of Kansas City, Kan., stopped working at 7:08 a.m. yesterday, Hines said.
It was working again at 2:40 p.m. The loss of the system caused problems for students and faculty, who rely on voice mail as a part of their daily communication.
Thomas Stidham, associate professor of music and dance, said that the system failure annoyed him several times yesterday.
"Whenever I tried to check my messages, I got a 'beep-beep' and that's it," he said.
He also said that the lack of voice mail kept him from contacting his secretary during his lunch break
The lack of a means to contact faculty and staff impeded the progress of one news-broadcast student.
Other faculty members said that they did not know of any problems caused by the system failure.
Kristen Naylor, Livingston, N.J., senior, said she found it difficult to contact a source at the Career and Employment Center for a story.
They did not even know that their voice mail was not working and assumed that they had no messages.
it was frustrating to me because I had to make all my contacts and interview sources and have a script in by 3:30," she said. "I finally did, but it took longer than normal."
Hines said the only messages lost were the ones left during the system failure.
"I don't know, maybe one of the calls I missed was Publishers Clearinghouse calling to tell me I've won a million dollars," Stidham said. "But I doubt it."
Index
Feature ...6A
Nation ...2A
Entertainment ...6B
Coupons ...3B
Game times ...2B
Horoscopes ...2B
Classifieds ...5B
Movie Listings ...5A
The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the University of Kansas. The first copy is paid through the student activity fee. Additional copies of the Kansan are 25 cents.
Endeavour launch expected today
After the liftoff was canceled yesterday, the space shuttle was rescheduled to takeoff this morning on a mission to put a U.S. piece of the space station into orbit
The space shuttle Endeavour was rescheduled to launch at 3:36 a.m. today in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on a mission to put the first U.S. piece of the international space station into orbit.
Plans for its liftoff yesterday morning were canceled after an alarm sounded inside the shuttle.
The alarm sounded about the time the shutte hydraulic power units were activated, just four and a half minutes before the scheduled launch time.
By the time launch controllers were able to determine the cause for the alarm and had decided the shuttle would still be able
to launch safely, the launch window had closed.
The U.S. piece will be fastened by two astronauts to a Russian unit launched two weeks ago.
Stephen Shawl, professor of physics and astronomy, said that he was not surprised that yesterday's launch was postponed.
"The shuttle is a highly complex machine," Shawl said. "There are many things that could go wrong before takeoff, but
Downing also said he thought the recent launch attempt brought back the idea that space exploration was possible.
eventually, it will go."
Shawl said he had mixed feelings about the launch. He said that he thought that the process of exploration was fascinating for humanity, but that he did not think the mission would benefit science or the study of astronomy.
"Each journey starts with a single step." Downing said. "It will be a matter of time before the mission is completed, but this mission is much more of a reality than we ever thought possible before."
The decision not to launch the shuttle was costly. The one-day delay cost NASA about $600,000 for fuel and overtime pay.
"I think that one problem may be that most of the space program is paid with tax money, which means that the public is financing it," he said.
Jan Roskam, Ackers distinguished professor of aerospace engineering, said he thought many people would be concerned with the delay.
David Downing, chairman and professor of aerospace engineering, said he thought John Glenn's recent return to space had sparked public interest.
Beth Brodie, Kansas City, Kan., junior, said she thought people were becoming more interested in the space missions because of the lack of other important news.
"Glenn's return is an event that really brought space news back into the forefront," he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
the Space Shuttle Endeavour awaits liftoff at the Kennedy Space Center. The launch was aborted seconds before liftoff due to a technical glitch yesterday, and NASA officials say they will try again today, KRT Photo
Hoop it up
The women's basketball team faces Maryland-Eastern Shore tonight at Allen Field House, while the men's team will meet Pepperdine tomorrow in California.
See page 1B
Unearthing history
Tourists exploring the past are taking tours of local cemeteries using brochures produced by Lawrence's visitors bureau.
Seepage 6B
OHoly Night
A KC television station will broadcast the University of Kansas' Annual Holiday Vespers performance this year. The show is sold out, but standing-room-only tickets will be made available See page 3A
Atlast, some respect
K-State still may not play in the championship game but coach Bill Snyder has been named the AP Big 12 coach of the year.
See page 4B