2008 Woodie Awards
Los Angeles, Castle applicants left hanging
Online sign-up temporarily foiled by technical difficulties
Talia Ralph
Issue date: 10/9/08 Section: News
Hundreds of students were sent into a panic last week when online applications to the Kasteel Well and Los Angeles external programs stopped functioning, students and administrators said.
The application process, which began at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, was foiled by one errant line of computer code which kept e-mails containing students' information from reaching their destination, according to Jason Beals, director of Web services.
"I clicked 'accept' at 12:05 a.m.," said Laura Sreebny, a marketing communication junior who attempted to apply for the fall semester in Los Angeles. "I don't know anything about computers. I had no idea that the problem was unfixable, so I kept trying. I didn't go to bed until 3 a.m."
Student reaction ranged from outrage to shock and disappointment.
"I was at a friend's party and locked myself in a room for like three hours to do the application," said Joseph Ferreira, a junior film major who also had trouble applying. "I didn't get to eat any cake because I was trying to get the application in."
Upon pressing the 'submit' button, the server sends two e-mails-one to the department of international study and external programs, and one to the applicant.
Beals said he actually received partial applications from each of the 40,000 attempts students made to apply that night, and fixed the problem at 9:30 a.m. the next day.
"We had every confidence that it would go smoothly this time," Beals said.
"This [process] had gone off flawlessly the past couple of years," Beals said, although David Griffin, director of external programs, said difficulties arose last year for different reasons.
Last year, the applications had incorrect dates for the programs, and students had to start the process over. That mishap was minor in comparison to this year's, Griffin said.
The application process was moved to the following Monday, Oct. 6, to allow all applicants to have a fair chance, Griffin said. He expressed disappointment to have the application go wrong a second year in a row, although last year's issue was unrelated to this year's mix-up.
The application process, which began at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, was foiled by one errant line of computer code which kept e-mails containing students' information from reaching their destination, according to Jason Beals, director of Web services.
"I clicked 'accept' at 12:05 a.m.," said Laura Sreebny, a marketing communication junior who attempted to apply for the fall semester in Los Angeles. "I don't know anything about computers. I had no idea that the problem was unfixable, so I kept trying. I didn't go to bed until 3 a.m."
Student reaction ranged from outrage to shock and disappointment.
"I was at a friend's party and locked myself in a room for like three hours to do the application," said Joseph Ferreira, a junior film major who also had trouble applying. "I didn't get to eat any cake because I was trying to get the application in."
Upon pressing the 'submit' button, the server sends two e-mails-one to the department of international study and external programs, and one to the applicant.
Beals said he actually received partial applications from each of the 40,000 attempts students made to apply that night, and fixed the problem at 9:30 a.m. the next day.
"We had every confidence that it would go smoothly this time," Beals said.
"This [process] had gone off flawlessly the past couple of years," Beals said, although David Griffin, director of external programs, said difficulties arose last year for different reasons.
Last year, the applications had incorrect dates for the programs, and students had to start the process over. That mishap was minor in comparison to this year's, Griffin said.
The application process was moved to the following Monday, Oct. 6, to allow all applicants to have a fair chance, Griffin said. He expressed disappointment to have the application go wrong a second year in a row, although last year's issue was unrelated to this year's mix-up.
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