Q: Why a newsletter?
A: To inform, amuse and offer you a platform for input.

Q: Does Toby have nothing better to do?
A: No.

Q: Can I have a personal ad included in future editions?
A: Yes, if done tastefully and passes mustard with the editor.

"All conservatism is based upon the idea that if you leave things alone you leave them as they are. But you do not. If you leave a thing alone you leave it to a torrent of change." G. K. Chesterton*

This newsletter stands as one example of the new openness and opportunity being made available in the Applications group. Ever the visionary, our new, fearless leader hopes this newsletter becomes yours. More on that later. The greater hope is that mis-, cross- and non-communication stays were it belongs, in the past. This is one avenue to accomplish that end. Tom's open-door policy is another. One could argue that policy is driven more by construction (his cube, after all, is like yours, mine and Les Nessman's) but that would be overlooking the character of our new boss. Open door. Open to ideas. Open to suggestions.

Okay, Bob may be a dull boy, but let's keep this newsletter from the same fate. This is yours, so use it! There's lots of information here, some useful, some playful, hopefully all of it enjoyable. This is the first go-around, so I expect changes to following newsletters. I'll be asking for your input on that. Or maybe most will decide the first issue should be the only issue. That's okay, too. Sure, I may cry like a banshee for several days, but I bounce back.

Roy uses SQL and Perl to develop and automate the dozens of reports needed to keep such a large system running smoothly. The libraries hold almost four million combined volumes, excluding subscriptions and microforms. Roy also provides support for KVCC's patron updates, and in his free time developed WinBatch scripts to automate reporting, from data retrieval, to formatting, to shipping to the various printers within the labyrinth of Waldo.

Did I say "free time?" He's also working on the library patron update process, extracts, imports, and continuing software development involving Oracle and ColdFusion. In addition, he has taken software developed at another Voyager site that provides backup functionality and implemented it here, giving the library a backup machine that can be called on those rare occasions when Voyager is not available.

Darrel's dentist declared his uvula in the top 10% he's ever seen. Go, Uvu-man!

Dale plays in the Otsego Jazz Ensemble. Word is they will be playing in a "Battle of the Bands" at the Kalamazoo Radisson Hotel on March 9, 2002.

Apps vacancies consist of Director, MAP team lead, database administrator.

The two quickest goals scored in the NHL were three seconds apart.

The Great Wall of China, which is over 2,500 miles and took more than 1,700 years to build, contains enough stone for an eight-foot wall encircling the globe at the equator.

Our interim boss has accomplished a restructuring of the Applications area, with the movement of LAN Support to Systems & Operations, and Desktop Support shifting to the Customer Success Director.

Tim LaLonde is set to become a "proud papa" again. The LaLonde's are expecting child number two in April. Word is it's a girl. She'll be joining older sister, Lauren. He is taking suggestions on names. Forget Moche. For some reason he turned that down (knowing French would help explain why).

Alexander Graham Bell never telephoned his wife or mother. Both were deaf.

Joe's web sites garner hundreds of hits a day, and have won awards. Recent Supreme Court rulings prevent my divulging the addresses, but ask Joe!

50,000 of the cells in your body will die and be replaced with new cells all while you have been reading this sentence.

What you've been dying to know - 67.5% of men wear briefs instead of boxers.

He may not be responsible for "super" in superstition (knock on wood), but Bruce puts the "man" in manage. Not only does he administer several web servers, caching/proxy servers, and the search engine server, he manages digital certificates for the OIT servers. He has built new versions of the Apache web server to go on homepages.wmich.edu and the new www.wmich.edu server.

Daoli Zheng earned a Bachelors of Mechanical Engineering degree from Tianjin University in Tianjin, China, a Computer Science degree from Concordia University in Montreal, and a Masters in Computer Science from WMU. Prior to coming to the United States, she worked as an Engineer in a clock business and a meteorology instrument factory. She worked at SPX Corporation four years as a software engineer, and comes to OIT after 18 months as a programmer for WMU's Human Resources Department. She lives in Portage with her husband, a professor of Mathematics at WMU, and their eleven year old son. She enjoys swimming, Ping-Pong, badminton and "watching my boy's forever shining, smiling face!" Welcome, Daoli.

Yeqing Wang also comes to us from the Human Resources unit. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Education from East China Normal University, a Master's in Education from the University of Washington, and a Bachelor's in Computer Sciences from WMU. She worked as a consultant in Seattle, Washington (developing a tutoring program for the Chinese version of Windows 95), and worked as a systems analyst in St. Joseph, Michigan. Three years ago she accepted a position as an applications programmer for WMU's Human Resources Information Systems. She enjoys playing table tennis and planting vegetables. Welcome, Yeqing.

Daoli and Yeqing are much needed additions to the PeopleSoft team, joining Chris, Sandra, Craig, Joe and Tom, as the crew moves to "upgrade" mode.

Sandra pilots the Human Resources portion, and the big item on their radar is the 8.3 upgrade. This version is significantly different from previous releases, and will take some fine flying, but with Sandra at the controls, this flight promises to be smooth. Current version, PeopleSoft 7.5, is a windows based application, but for the upgrade PeopleSoft rewrote the entire application to be web based. PeopleSoft programmers are currently heading to technical training, compliments of the Administrative Department. Good luck and happy landing!

For PeopleSoft Financials (FS) implementation of a February 18 "Go Live" of new Accounts Receivable and Billings modules, in addition to new Grants functionality, was another success for the team. A/R actually went live three weeks ahead of schedule! Deloitte consultants will remain on campus for one month of post conversion cleanup. Afterward, look for our own "Basement" Joe to be returning to the 3rd floor of the Computing Center. Joe spent the last two and a half years in the bowels of the ad building. The light may be too strong for his eyes and pale skin, so we're looking for a donation of sunglasses and sunscreen. Oh, and Tim, you'll have to put the cubicle wall back up and give up your super-sized space.

Bill
He's looking for a long weekend in Mid-March

Chris, Tom & Yeqing
April 1-5, I assume they are going separate ways. This would be too much togetherness.

Joan
March 4-7, Pinnacle Conference, Niagra Falls, Canada

Tim
April 22-26, if the newest addition cooperates. Will he do laundry?

Roy
April 22-26, VUGM (Voyager User Group Meeting) where he'll receive training and give a technical presentation

Did you know ISIS is distributed to a hundred WMU departments and is used by over 1,100 employees? As you can imagine, this team of Teri, Bob, Darrel and Tim keeps that ol' zamboni moving.

DBA's?
Look all you want, there's nothing here on the DBA doings. Research revealed what we long suspected - they don't do much! Actually, they do SO much it couldn't fit. Look for it all in the coming April issue.