First week failure
By Editorial
The first week of school was not even finished before Information Technology had crippled some students' computers.
The problem -- listed on IT's Web site as "severe" -- pertained to a SmartPrint software driver, which allows residents to print from their residence hall service desks. The software was downloaded last week by some students, who were then unable to effectively use their PCs.
Coming after a catastrophic error by an outside vendor this summer which erased thousands of users' mailbox data, this marks yet another embarrassing mistake by IT. Fortunately, backups could restore many students' data.
It is unacceptable to have students lugging in laptops for repairs from a download that should have been more thoroughly checked for errors.
IT Director Carl Fussell explained that the problem was significant enough to have some students' laptops called in for repair, but he could not provide numbers. The author of the explanation for the driver issue on IT's Web site, LINC Services Supervisor Ross Dykes, declined to comment when reached by phone.
The problem, according to Fussell, stemmed from a software upgrade that was incompatible with certain students' systems. According to IT's Web site, there were reports of compatibility problems with SmartPrint and Windows XP. Fussell said that after the driver had been installed, students were unable to boot-up their computers normally.
Although IT was able to correct the error and find another method of downloading the drivers, their responsibility for harming students' computers could be evidence of a system which lacks precaution.
Students need computers as well as an environment to reliably support the technology. Failures that compromise computers are more than aggravating; they jeopardize projects and hinder learning. Due-the-next-day essays cannot be relegated to a crashed laptop, sitting in IT's repair queue.
No technology is perfect. But IT should prevent problems by testing the downloads it offers more extensively before deploying them.