The Common Authentication Advanced Technology Project report has been reviewed by members of the campus community and is now available for viewing. The report includes a background on campus authentication and the Common Authentication project, strategic requirements, and step-by-step recommendations for future authentication. In January, discussions relating to IET's implementation of the report recommendations will be initiated.

If you will be away over winter break, be sure to take a couple of minutes to set up absence notifications on your voice mail and email accounts. Doing so can prevent miscommunications and inconveniences for those who might try to contact you while you are away, and can also prevent a backlog of email or voice mail messages. In the case of email, a large enough backlog of messages could put you over your disk quota, causing subsequent messages to ?bounce.?

After voluntarily prolonging her short-term appointment as Space Planner for Information and Educational Technology (IET), Chris LaVino will be leaving the Davis campus on December 12, 2002, and returning to her long-time home of Santa Barbara. In her three years with UC Davis, LaVino worked with nearly every IET unit and several campus departments to coordinate many important projects, including the relocation of several IET groups, the renovation of the computer classrooms, and the planning and development of the future IET Building.

On Tuesday, December 10, IET Mediaworks will host a presentation by Seth Duffey, Webmaster for the City of Davis. Seth's presentation will touch on the reasoning and decision making process behind The Firefighter Protective Clothing Tour Web site (http://www.ci.davis.ca.us/fire/pct/) that he designed and implemented using Flash, as well as touching on some of the technical aspects of this nationally-recognized site.

A brand new, 30-seat open access computer lab recently opened in room 73, Hutchison Hall. Operated by Information and Educational Technology, this new lab is located on the western edge of the campus, within walking distance of the Memorial Union, the Library, and major classroom buildings. And it comes with state-of-the-art computers.

On Friday, November 8, IET Mediaworks released a Call for Proposals for Winter and Spring 2003 participation in the Educational Technology (ET) Partners Program. Each ET partner is a trained, experienced, undergraduate student who will be assigned for 10 hours/week for one quarter to a faculty member who wishes to learn how to use information technology in teaching. To date, 30 faculty members from various campus organizations and departments have been able to participate in the program. Many faculty, particularly those with a specific course-related technology project in mind, have seen in this program an opportunity for professional development and one-on-one technology training. The application deadline for Winter 2003 is Thursday, November 21, 2002. Applications are also being accepted for Spring 2003.

This column talks about the ASUCD Fall elections, which will take place exclusively online. Also discussed are the benefits of online voting, including increased turnout and quicker vote tabulation.

Advanced Technology Project (ATP) teams are defined as small groups charged with investigating within a defined timeframe a major technological issue with possible campus-wide applications. The ATP teams typically include members of Information and Educational Technology (IET) as well as representatives from the Technology Infrastructure Forum (TIF) and campus departments or organizations. An at-a-glance summary of these projects is now available at http://vpiet.ucdavis.edu/advancedprojects/ATP.At.A.Glance.0ct.02.pdf. Examples of the projects featured in this summary include the Enterprise Directory, Workflow Engine, and Video Services & Distribution projects.

The construction of the carrier hotel at 1107 9th Street in Sacramento has been completed and the facility is operational.? Final paths for last mile connections have been selected and contract negotiations are underway.? XO will provide connections directly from Charter Communications at Triangle Court in West Sacramento to the campus medical center.? Surewest will be providing a diverse path to 1107 9th street and will splice into SMUD fibers, which will connect to the UC Davis Medical Center.? XO will also be providing the ONI connections.?

This summer, for the fourth consecutive year, several Information and Educational Technology (IET) units worked together to provide incoming undergraduate students with the computing information they'll need during their time at UC Davis. Summer Advising, an annual summer orientation program for nearly all incoming students and their parents (approximately 5000 freshmen and transfers), ran from June 26th through August 16th. While at Summer Advising, these students set up their computing accounts, received a series of handouts, and listened to a brief presentation on key UC Davis student computing information. The brief presentation covered a number of student computing topics. These included getting a computer (the Computer Ownership Expectation), getting online (the campus computer rooms, ResNet, and Bovine Online), the benefits of a campus computing account (email, MyUCDavis, and MyPhone), campus computer security, and IET student job opportunities. Following Summer Advising, IET geared up for several other campus events, including the Fall Quarter graduate student and teaching assistant orientations, Fall Welcome, and Campus Preview Day.

The UCDNet2 campus network expansion project was recently completed, on time and within budget. The project managers have closed out all tasks for the UCDNet2 project, which included transmitting the various test results and as-built drawings, and updating the appropriate databases with the UCDNet2 information. The UCDNet 2 project's goal was to extend network infrastructure to a number of campus locations outside the scope of Network 21 and to connect outlying campus areas such as Research Park (southeast of I-80) and west of Highway 113. The infrastructure of the UCDNet2 project is a combination of fiber optic cable, wireless and traditional copper wire.

The 2002-2003 edition of the Student Computing Guide brochure has been distributed on campus. The brochure, called Student Computing 101, references the comprehensive companion Web site, the Student Computing Guide. In addition, a team of IET student writers has developed a series of weekly technology-related columns to be published in the California Aggie, the campus student newspaper.

The Network 21 Replacement Project, initiated in August 2002 and expected to reach completion next May, is working on network design and cutover sequencing. This project will replace the existing 3Com ATM network equipment (which has reached the end of its life cycle) with the UCDNet2 Foundry Gigabit Ethernet equipment. This project affects the Area Distribution Facilities (ADFs), Building Distribution Facilities (BDFs) and Intermediate Distribution Facilities (IDFs).

The Student Information System was successfully upgraded to Banner 5.4 and Oracle 9iR2 over the weekend of September 7-8, 2002.?The implementation was smooth and uneventful, and included some new database tuning strategies that should significantly improve system performance during peak load demand periods.

A number of activities are underway to offer broader, secure wireless technology coverage on campus. Local Area Networking: the campus wireless networking policy is undergoing final review, and approval is expected this Fall.?During this review process, IET-Communications Resources (CR) outlined implementation and information dissemination plans for the policy.?The System?Engineering & Design?unit (SED) continues to investigate wireless gateway hardware for the management of campus?public wireless LANs, and added more access points to its wireless network over the summer, including an 802.11a system for emergency services. Wide Area Networking: AT&T Wireless Services has introduced General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) wireless data services to the greater Sacramento Area. An IET team is testing the service via PCMCIA cards for use in PDAs and laptops. This service could replace the current Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) service, and move mobile computing to a new level for campus customers in remote areas.? Optics: IET's System?Engineering & Design?is investigating the use of free-space optic?laser technology for quick deployment of?full duplex computing from?1?Mbps to 1.25 Gbps over distances ranging from 1000 feet to 2.5 miles. VoIP: the System?Engineering & Design?unit is testing a wireless VoIP product that transforms a PDA (with an 802.11b card) into a telephone and/or intercom system.?Tests have been very successful and will continue in the coming months.