On March 21, 2000, we conducted our first session of FP&M New Employee Orientation. These sessions are designed to help recently hired employees become more familiar with the operations and layout of Facilities Planning and Management and the ISU campus. The orientation is to help new employees get up to speed as quickly as possible to meet the day to day challenges that they might encounter. This is also an opportunity to meet Chris Ahoy, our Associate Vice President, face to face as he presents his segment explaining FP&M’s quest to become a world-class operation.

New employees participating in the orientation will get an overview of the FP&M structure, the workplace culture that we are striving to build, and some of the services we provide both internally and externally. Tours will include the General Services Building and shops, Utilities and the Heating Plant, the Memorial Union, and the ISU Campus.

The orientation sessions are open to all FP&M employees (existing or new) for all or just parts of the day. Newly hired employees will receive an invitation through their supervisor. All other employees will receive an e-mail invitation with instructions on how to sign up.

With the addition of Julie Randall to our staff, we were able to realign the duties of Project Support. We have designated Mark Tomlinson and Julie Randall as our project buyers. Please contact Mark or Julie if you need to purchase materials or parts.

Steve Rentschler, Terry Brezina, and Bart Dobson are designated as project estimators and will provide estimates for projects as requested. Steve and Bart will also provide backup to Mark and Julie in their absence.

This alignment of duties should help attain our goal to provide better service to you!

On February 23, we pulled the plug on the HP3000, marking the end of almost two decades of use by this faithful old machine. The HP3000 had lingered since midnight on January 1, 2000 after coming down with the Y2K bug. Even though several of the HP3000 functions became paralyzed at midnight on that fate-full night, it did continue to provide some limited RSL information until its life support was disconnect late last in February.

The HP3000 was first installed at FP&M in 1983. It was the lifeblood of several applications at FP&M including our job order system, work order system, request status log, project administration system, daily time, accounting, rental equipment, roof history and the custodial information system. Over the course of its life, it also supported HP Word, HP Mail, HP Schedule, HP ListKeeper, and HP Slate.

The HP3000 was preceded in obsolescence by the departure of IBM 8088, the Apple II series, Commodore, various Dec (VAX) systems, IBM 360, the Brave Little Toaster, and a host of other relatives and interfaces.

Watch for posters with additional information about upcoming receptions.

On February 11, my wife Lisa and I embarked on a new family adventure. We flew to Moscow, Russia to pick up and adopt two children to add to our family. We spent a total of ten days in Russia. Half of our time was spent in Moscow and the other half in the village of Pereslavl where the orphanage is located. Pereslavl is about 80 miles northeast of Moscow; a two-hour drive through a beautiful wooded countryside.

We began the adoption process last August, choosing an adoption agency based in Minneapolis. The process of a foreign adoption is a lengthy and costly one. We spent about as much money to adopt these two as a person would pay for a new car, but we figure that children are a good investment.

Our trip included a stay at the Hotel Rossija, an enormous hotel in downtown Moscow, and we had some time for sightseeing. We were able to stroll through Red Square, tour the Kremlin, ride the Metro, shop for souvenirs, go to a Russian folk music concert, see the Moscow Circus, and meet and visit with several very nice people.

We first met our new children on February 14, and they took to us immediately. The next day we drove up to Yaroslavl, the regional capital, to go through the legal adoption process. Two days later, we took our children from the orphanage and gave them their first McDonald’s Happy Meal. The next day we were at the U.S. Embassy getting their immigration visas.

Now that we are all home together, we are in the process of really getting to know each other, building a cohesive family unit out of birth children and adopted children, and teaching English to our new family members. They learn quickly and should be fluent in two or three months. Sadly, they will forget their Russian in a year or so. We are so grateful for an extended family and network of friends who are helping us.

The Department of Public Safety (DPS) is working with the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau on traffic enforcement/education for the campus community. One of the statewide priorities is passenger restraint--seatbelts and child seats. As a part of this program, DPS recently had one of their officers observe seatbelt use in state vehicles. During this check, several FP&M vehicle operators were observed without seatbelts. DPS would appreciate it if we would voluntarily observe seat belt usage. We are requesting that all staff be vigilant of seat belt usage so that we can observe safety while driving. And remember, it is the law. Thank you for your cooperation.

The opportunity for employees to showcase their special interest through our display case continues to attract attention to the varied interests of our staff. Be sure to stop and look as you travel through the General Services Building. The display, located in the main hallway, changes each month.

Chris Ahoy has kept busy lately in providing the displays in January, February, and March. In January, Chris filled the display case with his collection of wind-up toys. He displayed a delightful variety and indicated that this was only a portion of his collection. In February, Chris displayed some of his sketches of various scenes in Alaska. Chris did these sketches while living in Anchorage and working at the University of Alaska. His last display, in March, included more sketches and a collection of Alaskan carved jewelry.

The current display is a collection of toy trucks by Craig Davenport from Central Stores. The display is invoking many fond memories as people reflect on the simpler times of their childhood.

In May, Lloyd Lee will be displaying some of his carvings and in June, Betty Eckroad will share a portion of her hat collection. We are looking for volunteers to do a display in July, August, and beyond. Please contact Gloria Erickson if you are interested in signing up to do a display. With your help, we can keep the tradition going!