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By Darin Stone
Arizona Daily Wildcat
November 22, 1996
UA students who currently have e-mail accounts on the phased-out General Access System now have an extra semester to change their accounts to the "U" cluster.Originally, the Center for Computing and Information Technology had decided to convert the GAS accounts to the "U" system at the end of this semester, but CCIT Systems Programmer Viji Muralidharan said the accounts will not be changed until the spring semester's end.
"We decided to keep the GAS system through the spring because we wanted the graduating students to have access through the semester," Muralidharan said.
CCIT's termination of GAS accounts is scheduled for late May or June 1997, she said.
Muralidharan said the GAS accounts are being dropped because there is no reason to have two UNIX accounts operating parallel to one another. The "U" cluster has been operating since 1994.
"There is no point in maintaining GAS along with the 'U' accounts," Muralidharan said. "It's a duplication of efforts."
Approximately 7,500 GAS users will be effected by the switch, but Muralidharan said most already have "U" accounts.
GAS users are being informed of the termination of their accounts through messages on the system.
"When users log on to the GAS account, there is a message that tells them how to get on to the 'U' system," Muralidharan said.
Psychology senior Jodi Link, who switched from the GAS to the "U" system this semester, said she has found the "U" system easier and better.
"It is quicker to get on," Link said. "It has more options and is more user-friendly."
Undeclared sophomore Andre Ferguson-Grey disagrees. He said the "U" system is sluggish.
"The 'U' account takes a long time to get going," Ferguson-Grey said. "The process is generally slow."
GAS users switching to the "U" cluster can continue to use their GAS user names and passwords as long as they do not already exist on the "U" system.
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