1984-08-29; Central Michigan Life

              ntral Michigan UFE
Vol.67 No.2
198-1 CM LIFE
18 pages
Mount Pleasant. Mich  48859
Wednesday. August 29.1984
GTE pulls
CMU's plug
by PAUL MASON
UFE Managing Editor
Monday's shut-off of Central's
new telephone system came as
a surprise to many, including
CMU telephone officials.
General Telephone in Alma
"shut off" Central's new telephone system shortly after 5
p.m. Monday leaving persons
on campus without access to
off-campus telephone calls.
Telecommunications Director
Kenneth Johnson said.
"We were not aware of it.
General Telephone dropped it
on us like a bomb," Johnson
said. "They gave us no advance
warning, we were shut off
from the world."
University officials were
notified by GTE officials
around 4:30 p.m. Monday about
thecut off, Johnsonsaid
"There was no opportunity to
come to an equitable solution to
what their problem was." Johnson said
The problem was the switch
on Central's new computer
telephone system, the SL-100,
was keepim: Mount Pleasant
residents irom getting dial
tones, said Tom Stark, service
office manager for Alma GTE.
Central's switch was requesting dial tones on all of its
102 trunks at the same time and
Mount Pleasant residents were
without use of telephones for
u
We were not
aware of it. General Telephone dropped it on us like a
bomb.
— Kenneth
Johnson,
Telecommunications Director
99
about 15 minutes Monday,
Stark said.
Stark said Central's trunks
were reduced from 102 to 23
Monday to correct the problem. A trunk is needed to make
an off-campus phone call.
The decrease in trunks
helped remedy the problem for
Mount Pleasant callers, but the
23 were not enough for Central's purposes. Stark said.
Stark would not comment on
why Central was warned a half
hour before the shut off. But he
said the decison was not a rash
one.
"It's been going on over two
weeks."Stark said.
All of the 102 trunks were put
♦See "Telecom" — page 16
Drop/Add
Delay blamed on human error
by ROBIN KELLY
LIFE Copy Editor
A human error was the cause of the computer foul-up that
closed Drop and Add for a full day Saturday, a computer service
official said
"The proper procedure was not correctly followed by the
operator who processed the material." Tim Snellenberger.
associate director of Computer Operations, said.
The error caused the files from Thursday's delayed registration to be processed twice, instead of inputting Friday's delayed
registration material. To correct the error it was necessary to
manually reassemble and reprocess the 1,805 student registration packets that were received Friday.
"It took close to five hours to physically sort through all the
packets. It was a very tedious job." Associate Registrar Hon
Finch said.
Once the packets were sorted, they had to be processed in the
correct manner by computer services Snellenberger said that
job took about 2 ' .hours.
The computer process used is designed to eliminate some ut
the human error involved in handling large volumes of cards, as
with delayed registration.
"It is a really good procedure, but you have to know what
you're doing. This was a human mistake that involved not making sure things were properly filed." Snellenberger said.
Snellenberger said the delayed registration process probably
will be changing for the upcoming Winter delayed registration
"We will be eliminating our card handling equipment, so a
different procedure will have to be used If we do keep this
procedure, we will have to tighten up the guidelines on how it is
tobe used." Snellenberger said.
The cancellation Saturday caused lines to be longer on Mon
day and Tuesday. Finch said the lines should even out by today
"We still probably will not have to add another day. The lines
are moving as fast as possible. Our computer response time is
better than it ever has been." Finch said
On the possibility of a new Drop and Add system. Finch said
there are ways to improve the current system, but cost is a big
factor.
"There have been some improvements made already, but it is
basically the same system still. Some day it will probably
chance, but I don't know exactly how," Finch said.
♦See related story page 3
Cooling off
People in the area found unique ways of beating the heat Tuesday when the
mercury and humidity rose. Amy Carlson, 7.(leftI.and Danny Rice, S.bothof Mount
Pleasant, used a sprinkler at Amy's yard at 425 S. Washington to both cool off and
have fun.
Murder verdict returned
byDEBBAKER
LIFE Staff Writer
For the tust t line in Isabella
County history, two area men
were found guilty in separate-
cases ot felonies during the
.same day
An Isabella County man was
convicted Tuesday ol Involuntary manslaughter and arson
oi a dwelling in connection
with the Oct 2. death ot a Chippewa Township man
Donald Wayne Kent, also of
Chippewa Township, was
found guilty of setting lire to
the trailer I.arrv Harvey was
sleeping in because he believed his wile «■ .is having an
affair with Harvey and would
move in with him soon. Thomas
Plachta. Isabella County senior
assistant prosecuting attorney,
said
"The case was based entirely
on  circumstantial  evidence
with 39 witnesses testifving
♦See".Murder"— page 17
Man found guilty of felony
byDEBBAKER
LIFE Staff Writer
An area man wa-, convicted
Iuesday of felony charges in
the 21st Circuit Court for
attempted murder Jan 8. after
jealousy of his ex-wife's
dating
Russell Fee Nelson, of River-
dale, was convicted of assault
with intent to commit murder,
as well as possession of a
firearm at the time of commit-
ing a felony against Terry Lee
Cassidy. of Mount Pleasant, after a week-long trial.
"The issue at trial here was
mental. 'They (the jury, had to
determine whether Nelson was
capable of intending to kill the
victim.'" Thomas Plachta,
Isabella County chief assistant
prosecuting attorney, said.
Taped testimony by Nelson
indicated he followed Cassidv
from the Wayside liar. 40f>6 S
Mission toward Shepherd and
shot at him through his car window. Cassidy had been dating
Nelson'sex-wife, Plachta said
Cassidy continued driving
despite his slight injury and
escaped Nelson then drove
home and hid the 38-caliber
gun underneath the LP gas
tank at his home, according to
taped testimony.
"I wanted to scare the h--out
of him." Nelson said on tape of
his intentions during the
shooting.
Plachta said Nelson first denied involvement in the shool-
ing but changed his mind when
police found the weapon at his
home.
The prosecution brought in
Dr. Harley Stock of the Ypsilanti Forensic Center, who had
tested Nelson and was able to
convince the jury Nelson was
capable of intending to kill (.'as
sidy, Plachta said
The defense tried to prove
Nelson was normally stable,
but his ex-wife lirenda's dating
other men made him lose con
trol of making a conscious
choice. Plachta said
Nelson blamed Cassidy for
his divorce yet his wife had
filed for divorce because of
child abuse, I'lachta said
The, 5-woman. 7 man liny
deliberated five hours before
returning a guilty verdict, he
said.
I'lachta said Stock rational
l^ed to the jury that a person
"who drives 70 miles an hour
on a dark, snowy night, rolls
down a window and shoots . "
characterises a person who
knows he is making a goal
oriented choice rather than
acting from temporary mental
instability.
In Brief
Verification of enrollment cards for all students can be obtained at the Bovee University
Center Ballroom from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
this week.
Sports
A battle is on between
two CMU volleyball
players for the starting
setter spot.
page 12
Inside
Alice's Wonderland,
Alma's new water
park, makes a splash.
page 6
Index
Very warm and humid
today with widely scattered thunderstorms.
Highs from the lower 80s
to lower 90s. Partly-
cloudy tonight, slight
chance of evening thunderstorms southeast half.