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Volume CXXXIII, Number 5 |
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IT help is far out of REACH
JOY LEE
STAFF WRITER
They say 70 to 85 percent of campus has called their number, and no doubt heard the message, "You have contacted the REACH student help desk. All of our technicians are 2003-10-10ly unavailable right now…" Those who make the trek and show up at the help desk at Coles have even less luck.
"The sign said they'd be back by 4:30, and they're not here. This is the second time I've been here," said senior Erin Philipson, as she stood in front of the empty REACH desk.
"[REACH] provides great service," Philipson said. "They're just not open when they need to. I think they need more people."
Philipson's trouble with contacting REACH is a prevalent problem on campus. Later that evening, freshman Salina Asante also stood in front of an empty office. The schedule indicated someone should be there, but no technicians were present. All Asante found was a sign scribbled on the message board "Dear REACH, you're supposed to be working, where are you?"
The REACH technicians were certainly not idle. They were simply overwhelmed with viruses. In the opening weeks of the year, REACH worked on four to five hundred laptops, estimates senior Kris Denby, a four-year veteran of the program.
"It's the worst I've ever seen in my four years," said Denby.
Though the initial virus that hit campus has been contained, new viruses are still attacking. Not only so, the technicians just moved to Coles Tower, which means more distractions, ruckus, and loud noise in a smaller workspace.
Another problem the REACH desk faces is shortage of staff. In the beginning of the year, with the freshman technicians still untrained, there were only six to seven veterans handling the campus wide virus infections. The number of qualified technicians are now up to a dozen, yet with virus cases taking between taking at the last an hour and at most half a day, the going is still slow.
"We just face all kinds of problems," technician Joseph Adu '07 explained. "There are software problems, virus problems, and hardware problems and there is an unusual amount of viruses this year."
Although the REACH desk was backed up for the first three weeks of the year, the work load is decreasing. "There would still be a wait," Denby said, "but not nearly as long as the first weeks." However, REACH still encourages students to utilize its services.
After all, the REACH technicians are there for the pleasure of helping people, for the interactions with other students. They willingly accept lower pay than NOC technicians, who get paid more and work less, because NOC technicians have little contact with fellow students.
Though REACH is still hard to contact, Denby advises students to email the help desk instead of calling.
"And for those PC users out there, please, please run Windows update
on a regular basis," he said. "Please."
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