Don McCubbrey's Blog

CBMS and Other Colorado Systems - Status Report as of May 22, 2008

Well, folks, the news is not good, at least for CBMS, but maybe it could be.  Someday.  Maybe.

Ann Imse's story in today's Rocky Mountain News, "Data systems get some glue", discusses the additional responsibilities that Mike Locatis assumes today givng him, by law, oversight of the State of Colorado's 1200 IS personnel and $265 million IS budget.  It includes, of course, fixing the Colorado Benefits Management Systems (CBMS), among several others.  CBMS, as I'm sure you know by now, has been limping along since it's premature conversion on September 1, 2004. 

In response to a query from Ann, Jon Conley, Mike's Deputy, said that "CBMS is fully operational and all major bugs have been worked out".  Ed Kahn, the attorney who has done yeoman work on behalf of the aid recipients supposed to be helped by CBMS, "said it would be "outrageous" to consider CBMS fixed." 

Ann quoted me in the story too.  "Don McCubbrey ......... uses the CBMS mess as a case study of how not to replace a computer system. He said he is "surprised and disappointed" that it still has not been fixed, 16 months into the new governor's term.

"What would the president of Coors have done if EDS (the computer manufacturer) had installed a manufacturing control system and the beer production line shut down?" McCubbrey said. "He would have called the president of EDS and said, 'Hop in your jet and be in my office. You're going to fix this, fast.'

"That should have been done long ago, the professor said. "Ritter has to reset Mike's priorities. Let's get this behind us."

When we discuss the CBMS case in the classroom, my students are astonished that a system so important to the welfare of so many citizens could be dysfunctional for so long.  I don't understand it either.  Read the story.  While you're at it, read Ann's accompanying story: "Glitches take toll on real people".

 

 

 

Textbook Cost Controls Are Now the Law in Colorado

Governor Bill Ritter signed Senate Bill 73 into law on Tuesday, April 8.  Sponsored by Senator Ron Tupa, D-Boulder, and Representative John Kefalas, D-Fort Collins, it is patterned after similar laws either enacted or under consideration in several other states.  According to an item on the Denver Business Journal website, "Senate Bill 73 requires textbook publishers doing business with Colorado public colleges to provide faculty members with book-price information.

"It also forces them to reveal the extent of any revisions in updated text editions so professors can decide whether it's worth ordering the update. Keeping an older edition in use can make it easier for students to buy cheaper, used copies"  As you may already know, publishers often do not do this.  This can result in a student paying $145 for a textbook in September and selling it back to the bookstore for $5 in November. (See my post of November 29, 2006).  New editions are often not really necessary, but are published to undercut the used book market, a market in which publishers do not participate.  They make their money by selling new books, and new book sales drop when students can buy used books at much lower costs.  Also, according to the article, "The measure also makes it harder for publishers to require students to buy textbooks bundled with other items, such as multimedia discs or supplementary workbooks".  What the article failed to note is that in many cases, the profs don't use the extra materials.

Brilliant Personalization Sites

You've gotta try these two personalization sites.  They are amazing, particularly Pandora.com, which personalizes music to your tastes once you give it a couple of hints.  I'm a big fan of soft Brazilian Jazz and Pandora is really hitting my sweet spot.  The wonderful thing about it is that it plays artists I'm not familiar with too.  Love it!!

Pandora was suggested by one of my students, Nate Levy, in response to a post I made on our class discussion board about Jester.com, a personalized joke site.  It works fine too, but right now, I wish I had Pandora in my car.  Maybe somebody will do it, someday.

Update on Textbook Costs

The February 19th issue of Inside Higher Education has an article that will give you more insight into what's going on. It lists a number of techniques that faculty can take to help reduce the porices students pay for textbooks and makes reference to pending legislation at the Federal and State levels. You can access the article at http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/02/19/textbooks.

One of the more interesting bits in the article is the experiments that universities like the University of Virginia and Notre Dame are taking in making textbook rental programs available to their students.  One proposal at the Federal level would create a a competitive grant pool of $50 million for up to ten colleges to set up textbook rental programs.  More conversation about issues we've discussed before:  greater transparency in pricing, making faculty aware of when new editions are scheduled to be released, unbundling texts from electronic media, etc. 

This issue is not going away.  To the contrary, it's gathering momentum.

Hmmmmmm. Maybe CBMS is not doing so well.

Got an email today from a group that is planning to march on the State Capitol on Sunday, April 6th.  Here's what they say on their flyer:

 

 

JOIN US AS WE MARCH ON THE STATE CAPITOL

                                (from the Denver Human Services Offices)

 IN

                        DENVER SUNDAY, APRIL 6^TH, 2008

                                        AT 10:00 AM

 LET YOUR VOICES BE HEARD
 

The Colorado Benefits Management System (CBMS) is the computer system used by the state and county human services agencies to determine an applicant’s eligibility for public assistance in the following programs:

• Food Stamps,
• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families,
• Aid for the Needy and Disabled,     
• Old Age Pension,
• SCHIP,
• Medicaid.

The database is malfunctioning and there are many negative outcomes including poor customer service, long delays in processing, inaccurate notifications to clients regarding their status, high turnover amongst county staff and denial of access to basic goods such as food and health care. 

The primary focus of the CBMS Coalition is to remove barriers of access as we promote the timely processing of applications for households in need. Our secondary focus is to address the overall culture regarding the delivery of services to these same families.

 We believe that:

• All people deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.  

• All people deserve working environments that are helpful, encouraging and non-blaming.

We support good customer service—for the internal customers who work within human services and the external customers who find themselves in need of support.

The flyer was signed "Organizer-CBMS Coalition and asked readers to email fixitorditchit@live.com for more information.  Coming up on four years since CBMS converted on September 1, 2004.  Hard to believe.

 

CBMS Lawsuit is Settled

This morning's Rocky had a story by John C. Ensslin entitled "Settlement reached over state's benefits management program." You may recall that shortly after the Colorado Benefits Management Systems (CBMS) took a nose dive after a premature conversion back in September 2004, the Colorado Center on Law and Policy (CCLP) filed a lawsuit on behalf of clients in an attempt to hold the State accountable for its performance.  The action was led by Denver attorneys Ed Kahn and Mike Cook, working on a pro bono basis. Others working on the case locally included Elisabeth Arenales of CCLP. and nationally, a group from the National Center for Law and Economic Justice based in NY City, led by Marc Cohan.

The article states that according to the terms of agreement:

"* The Department of Human Services will be required to deliver ongoing food stamps to eligible clients within 30 days after their applications are filed. Families eligible for expedited food stamps must receive them within seven days.

* The Department of Health Care Policy and Financing will be required to process applications for Children's Basic Health Plan benefits within 45 days.

* Three times during the 36- month review period, HCPF also will be required to provide a random sample of cases so an independent auditor can review whether or not benefits were correctly approved or denied."

Here is Ed Kahn's comment taken from the article: ""Some problems have been solved," he said. "But the system remains, in many ways, very bad."

I have to wonder why it took three years and a lawsuit to get State managers to set performance benchmarks for service to CBMS clients.  Thanks go to Ed, Mike, and the others for getting at least get this much accomplished on behalf of aid recipients.  Obviously, there is much remaining to be done.  Here's hoping.

Whoops! CBMS just won't go away

In my July 23 post I showed some optimism about the State of Colorado finally making the problems with our infamous Colorado Benefits Management System (CBMS) go away like a bad dream.  Sorry, it looks like I was wrong.  The Rocky had an article in the December 15 issue, with Myung Oak Kim's byline entitled "Food stamp applications mired in bureaucracy".  A glance at the article will tell you that "more than 1,000 local residents (have) been waiting for months because of bureaucratic snags".  The principle bureaucratic snagger?  You guessed it:   the Colorado Benefits Management System (CBMS), which was converted on September 1, 2004 (yup, 2004) and still does not work properly. 

Here's more from the story: 

"County welfare agencies continue to violate federal protocols - a problem that dates back almost two years - because of funding shortages and staffing problems, including high caseloads, high turnover and workers' resistance to changing procedures.

"The state's notorious computer system - the Colorado Benefits Management System - compounds the problems because of errors and a complex network of screens that take a long time to navigate.

"CBMS also is sending out erroneous rejection letters to food stamp applicants, causing unnecessary panic.

"It's sending out scores of letters saying applicants are denied food stamps because their cases weren't processed within 60 days. In fact, the cases are still being worked.

"It's a huge problem involving thousands of people," said Ed Kahn, a lawyer with the Colorado Center on Law & Policy who sued the state in 2004 because CBMS was restricting public benefits for low-income residents."

The Rocky even wrote an editorial about it in today's paper, entitled "Food stamp food fight."  Please read it.  It starts out by saying:  "We imagine one of the last things Gov. Bill Ritter wants to hear about is more trouble with the Colorado Benefits Management System - the much-maligned $223 million computer system that was supposed to streamline public benefit programs when it was introduced by the Owens administration in 2004.

"Unfortunately, the bad news keeps coming. CBMS remains a headache for county welfare officials who say that its complicated data-entry requirements needlessly delay benefits to qualified recipients" and finishes with:  "As for CBMS, well, poker players warn against "throwing good money after bad". CBMS may be beyond redemption, and further attempts to rehabilitate it could simply divert resources and energy from the low-income Coloradans that public welfare programs are designed to serve. 

"As for CBMS, well, poker players warn against "throwing good money after bad." CBMS may be beyond redemption, and further attempts to rehabilitate it could simply divert resources and energy from the low-income Coloradans that public welfare programs are designed to serve".

How long do you think a large company in the private sector, Molson-Coors, for example, would put up with a $200 million mission-critical system that was installed 3 years ago and still  does not work properly?   It would have been fixed in days, weeks at the most.  Not years.  What's going on here?

 

Pay What You Want

Just wondering if this business model will spread.  The rock band, "Radiohead" is selling its latest album from its website asking buyers to pay whatever they want for an MP3 download.  Really.  Heres a couple of quotes from the New York Times article of December 9, 2007:

“‘Why don’t you pay us what you think it’s worth?’”

"Those are the exact terms on which the band is selling the down-loadable version of “In Rainbows”: Buyers can pay zero or whatever they please up to £99.99 (about $212) for the album in MP3 form. Sixteen years and seven albums into the career that has made Radiohead the most widely pondered band in rock, it is taking chances with its commerce as well as its art. For the beleaguered recording business Radiohead has put in motion the most audacious experiment in years".  Apparently they got the idea from London's street musicians, or "Buskers" who perform with a hat on the walk in front of them and accept whatever contributions passersby are willing to toss into the hat... nothing. a lot, or something in between.  Just what the digital download business needed.  Another business model to worry them.

Here's a link to the article, courtesy of the New York Times:  "Pay What You Want For This Article".

Cafe for Cat Lovers

A while ago I posted an item about some folks who established a rent a dog business.  It's designed to let dog lovers walk a dog of their choice every now and then....whenever they need a dog fix.  I thought it was a creative idea, even thought it was a bit expensive.

Now here's a business idea I really like.  A Cat Cafe.  Briefly, an entrepreneur in Tokyo opened a cafe for cat lovers.  Go in, have a cup of coffee, leave your laptop in the trunk of your car, and pet cats instead.  I have been a cat lover all of my life, but have not owned a cat in over 35 years.  For the first fifteen years or so I was unmarried and traveling a lot.  In 1986, when I re-married, I married a woman who is allergic to cats.  I love my wife, but I sure miss having a cat or two around.  Here's the story: Cat cafe soothes Tokyo's busy feline lovers.  I would appreciate it if someone who reads this blog would open a Cat Cafe in Denver.  I'll be a regular customer. 

Colorado Student Concerns Over the Cost of Textbooks

As those of you who have been following this blog for awhile know, the two overriding themes have been the Global Text Project and IT systems foul-ups by the State of Colorado.  The Global Text Project is focused on the cost of textbooks in developing economies where the problem is much more acute than it is in the US.  We recently had some great publicity in the Chronicle of Higher Education.  (If you go to the In the News page on the site, you'll find a link to the article.  There's also a link on the November 18 post here, right below this post).

Still, the cost of textbooks in the US is of increasing concern to many students and some faculty.  For examples of comments here in the past, please see posts dated October 18, 2007, September 27, 2007, September 24, 2007, and July 5, 2007 as examples.  There are more.  There's another article in the Denver Post this morning, entitled "Collegians' book, tuition concerns on same page" with Allison Sherry's byline.  While there has been a lot of activity around this issue for quite awhile (e.g. maketextbooksaffordable), it looks like the issue is gathering some momentum.

So, with the new administration in the State of Colorado looking like they're getting serious about cleaning up the messes that arose during the previous administration and avoiding more messes in the future, I think I'll focus more on the Global text Project and related issues as well as "who knows what else" topics.

Global Text article in the Chronicle of Higher Education

The Chronicle of Higher Education had an article on the Global Text Project, written by Andrea Foster, in its November 16th edition.  If you're a subscriber to the Chronicle. you can access the article at the following link: Software Group Gets Online Textbooks to the Developing World.  If you're not a subscriber, try this link for some excerpts from Open Access News.  As a subscriber, I can email copies of the entire article to individuals, so if you'd like to see it, send me an email at dmccubbr@du.edu.  It's a good article and we've received expressions of interest from a number of people who would like to get involved.

Students Protest Textbook Prices in Colorado

According to an article by Erika Gonzalez in this morning's Rocky Mountain news, the concern about textbook inflation has finally reached Colorado.  Maybe it's been here for awhile, but under my radar screen.  Anyway, more than a thousand students on the Auraria campus (Metro State College, CU-Denver, and Community College of Denver) rallied  to protest textbook cost inflation.  As you've been reading on this blog for awhile, there is concern about the issue and students want something done.  Andrew Bateman, the student government leader at Metro State was quoted in the article as saying "It would be nice to know how long they're keeping a book in circulation, because if the next book is coming out in five months, it's essentially worthless because a student can't sell it back".   Here's the link to the article:  "Hundreds protest textbook prices".

Civil War at Harvard over Textbook Costs

Eye-opening article in yesterday's Boston Globe re: student concerns over the textbook cost issue at Harvard,with a headline that reads: " In Harvard Square, a war over words".  The first paragraph says that "A battle over book prices is raging in Harvard Square between student leaders and the Harvard Coop, the book store created by students 125 years ago to cut down on costs." Take a look.

For me, one of the most interesting parts of the article was the number of states that are introducing legislation in attempts to give students some relief: "Prices of college texts have spiked so severely across the country that since January, 86 bills to make them more affordable have been filed in 27 states, including Massachusetts, according to a national college bookstore group. College students on average spend $700 to $1,000 a year on textbooks, according to a May 2007 report by a congressional advisory committee, which also recommended various solutions to reduce prices, including creating online book databases easily accessible to students".

Is this a sea change or what?

Two Proposed Bills to Help with Textbook Costs in California

The September 24 edition of Inside Higher Education had the following story on two bills wending their way to Governor Arnold Schwartzenegger's desk:

"Competing bills to deal with student complaints about textbook prices have arrived on the governor’s desk in California, the Los Angeles Times reported. Both bills would require more disclosure about changes made from one edition to another, but one bill (backed by student groups) would require more than the other (backed by publishers)".  If you click on the LA Times link you'll get the entire story.  The Guv is to make his decision on whether or not to sign either bill by October 12.

One Person's Reaction to Colorado's Computer Messes

This letter to the editor was in today's Rocky Mountain News......one person's reaction to Ann Imse's story of July 23 (see my July 23 post below):

Computer woes reflect on Owens

Tuesday, August  7 at 12:01 AM

The article about Gov. Bill Ritter’s plans to end the state’s track record of buying computer systems that don’t work was welcome reading (“Governor seeks to bring order to computer chaos,” July 23). My compliments for the in-depth reporting.

This article shows that Ritter is systematically dealing with chronic issues that have plagued the state for years, and that is encouraging. But, it also speaks volumes to the poor management and lack of accountability of the Owens administration.  If it had been just one failed system, that would merely tarnish his legacy; instead, it reveals the Holy Grail was made of tin.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the Owens administration was a dog that couldn’t hunt. As a lifelong Republican, I am disgusted with the tendency of officials to get elected and then act like a confederacy of dunces.I am convinced the Republican Party is not long for this world. It will go the way of the Whigs and the Know-Nothings. I am declaring myself an independent.

Francis M. Miller, Parker

New Business Idea - Rent-a Dog

This should really be in the "what's next" category.  It's creative and I like it.  It was posted on Yahoo Finance this morning.

"Americans spend $41 billion on their pets each year -- more than the GDP of most countries -- and that amount is expected to rise by $11 billion in the next two years. (BusinessWeek.com) And now animal lovers don't have to own a pet to join in the spending. A dog-ownership time-share service, FlexPetz, is expanding from Southern California to San Francisco, New York, and London. For $99.95 a year, plus $49.95 a month and about $40 for each day's visit, FlexPetz clients get to take care of one of the company's animals. "It's funny," says member Jenny Goddard. "He is so friendly and immediately playful with us, people are surprised he is a rental dog."

My wife, Jan, and I took a walk in Denver's Washington Park yesterday.  Part of the fun of Wash Park is seeing all the dog-owners exercising their pets, and seeing the wide variety of breeds.  FlexPetz sounds a bit expensive, though, ($99.95/year membership, $49.95/month dues, and $39.95 for a weekend day or $24.95 for a weekday).  Maybe we'll just dog-watch other people's dogs for awhile.

New Hope for Colorado's Computer Systems

There's hope for Colorado, folks.  It looks like our newly-elected Governor, Bill Ritter, wants to make sure no more computer system fiascoes occur on his watch.  A very encouraging story appeared in this morning's Rocky Mountain News: Governor seeks to bring order to computer chaos.  Written by Ann Imse and Alan Gathright, it discusses the hiring of Mike Locatis as CIO for the State, and the powers given him under an executive order signed by the governor to exercise the proper management control over all IT development and operations in State government.  I am encouraged by this long overdue move, and think that you will be too.  Read the story.  I may have to quit whining about this topic and focus on the Global Text Project. 

Speaking of Global Text, please take a look at our new website, www.globaltext.org , developed by up2speedsolutions.com.  Joshua Ross, a former student of mine, is the company's president.  He and his team did a great job for us.

Blogs and Pseudonyms - Not a Good Idea

Just in case you missed it, I thought the recent news story about the CEO of Whole Foods writing a blog using a pseudonym was interesting.  Not only not a good idea, but probably a wee bit unethical as well.  As reported in this July 12 article from the International Herald Tribune:

"John Mackey, a co-founder of Whole Foods Market, has never lacked for personality.

"He is a self-described vegan and libertarian who pays himself $1 a year as chairman and chief executive and maintains a blog on the company Web site where the posts are occasionally barbed.

"As it turns out, that was only the half of it. For seven years, Mackey had an online alter ego.

"Using the pseudonym Rahodeb, a variation of Deborah, his wife's name, Mackey typed out more than 1,100 entries on Yahoo Finance's bulletin board over a seven-year period, championing his company's stock and occasionally blasting a rival, Wild Oats Markets. The story was first disclosed on The Wall Street Journal Web site Wednesday night".

Unfortunately, the story came out while Whole Foods' attempted buyout of rival  organic grocer Wild Oats was undergoing scrutiny by the Federal Trade Commission.  Bad timing.  Bad idea.

Textbook Costs: This one is hard to fathom

I live in the foothills west of Denver, Colorado.  Not far from where we live is another foothills community, Evergreen.  The gross per capita income in Evergreen is $36,654 (remember the gross per capita income in Uganda is $280).  This morning's local paper had an item describing how a local foundation raised money to buy textbooks and technology for Evergreen High School (EHS) that could not be met by the school's budget.  Here's a couple of quotes:

"For the first time since 1993, EHS will have new chemistry textbooks.  In addition the foundation has purchased advanced Spanish textbooks and books for 11th grade literature".

"Foundation board member Mark Carter was especially enthusiastic about the new chemistry books".  "In a world where students need to have math and science skills, I couldn't believe we were going to use chemistry books in 2007 that were as old as our incoming freshman class." 

If it's like that in Evergreen, what do you suppose it's like in poor school districts in the richest country in the world (not to mention in Uganda)?

I don't have a link to the full story yet.  I'll post it when the newspaper's webmaster catches up.

The Empire Strikes Back

Many students try to deal with the high cost of textbooks by buying international editions from offshore Internet sites, or from entities that buy offshore editions in bulk for resale in the US.  In general, international editions are paperback editions of the US edition and cost about half as much.

Now the publishers have struck back. Saw this in today's edition of Higher Education News:

"Two suits by publishers against entities that were importing to the United States versions of textbooks not planned for sale in the United States have been settled, the publishers announced Wednesday. One suit was brought by Pearson Education, John Wiley & Sons and Thomson Learning. The other was brought by those three plus McGraw-Hill. The settlements include damage payments to the publishers and pledges to stop the sales".

Sort of reminds you of the  problems senior citizens have in trying to import prescription drugs from Canada, doesn't it?

And Even More on the Cost of Traditional Textbooks

 
"Make Textbooks Affordable"  is one of several initiatives of  The Student Public Interest Research Groups (PIRG). The Make Textbooks Affordable site contains a rich source of news, resources, and even possible solutions to the high cost of textbooks. Dave Rosenfeld is the campaign coordinator. Dave's analysis of a May 2007 report by the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, sponsored by US Department of Education, is worth a read. (The report's title is "Turn the Page - Making Textbooks More Affordable" and contains a total of 95 pages).

Quoting from the section of Dave's analysis most related to the Global text Project: 

"There are many 21st Century Technologies that are dramatically less expensive and more flexible than traditionally licensed books. The report correctly identifies many of the alternatives to high-priced textbooks. It is our view that many of these options represent the single greatest path to real competition in the textbooks market, a view recently endorsed by the New    York Times and examined in more depth in our recent report, Textbooks    for the 21^st Century.

"We believe that in the Internet age, there’s little reason for the cost of a textbook to be so high. There are hundreds of thousands of professors able and willing to create learning content and the argument that royalties are needed is a myth; very few professors who publish ever see royalties; the incentive to publish is predominantly for reputation building, not financial enhancement.

"There are a few models for    providing this content, we believe that the most viable have two key principles:   

• The content is peer-reviewed or otherwise      evaluated by faculty and housed on a university or faculty-sanctioned      site. This is the model for Rice      University      Press, Connexions, California          State University’s MERLOT program, and the Global          Text Project.    

• Second, that the content          is Creative      Commons licensed or equivalent. This is an alternative licensing      system that content providers may use to allow their work to be more      openly utilized by others with less restriction. This licensing program      retains many of the most powerful publishing incentives (recognition and      attribution among peers).

"This is not just about “online” vs. “paper” textbooks. The content that most of these repositories offer can be used in both digital and print only formats, depending on the proclivities of the faculty and students who use them. What is unique is that the offerings are much less expensive than traditional textbooks".

Please take a look when you have some time

Wow! I like this idea!

But, by now you know me.  I'm fascinated by the creative ideas and new business models that seem to bubble up when  innovative spirits connect with what technology makes possible.  The latest one I came across is MediaPredict.  Check it out at www.mediapredict.com .  Basically, it's on online marketplace designed to predict the success of new media artifacts, books, music, etc.  You bet on the probability of success with "play money" but you can win real cash if the proposal you bet on is picked up by a publisher.  Neat idea, and sounds like fun.  In addition to the website, you can read about it in this article from the May 21 International Herald Tribune: Publisher puts book proposals on an online betting exchange.

CSTARS and other failed Colorado systems

Ann Imse of the Rocky Mountain News does a great job of summarizing the five failed computer systems over the past few years in several of Colorado's State Government departments.  In her story in today's Rocky, "Doesn't compute: 'It's like you were having a baby, and it turned out ugly" she focuses on CSTARS, the troubled system at the Department of Motor Vehicles.  She does a great job of putting CSTARS in context with the string of failed systems at the State, most of which have been well covered in earlier blog postings here:  CBMS, Department of Labor, Colorado Registration and Election System, and the Department of Transportation.  An ugly  family indeed.

Now for Something Completely Different

If you've ever looked at my vita, which is on my personal portfolio site, you'll notice that my PhD is from the University of Maribor in Slovenia.  It's a long story of how that came to be, but suffice it to say that I was the first American to get a PhD from the University of Maribor and, as far as I know, I'm still the only American who has done so.  I've had a long association with the country going back twenty years, and I met many of my long-time colleagues in electronic commerce (Milt Jenkins, Roger Clarke, Paul and Paula Swatman, Doug Vogel, and many others) at the wonderful EC conference my friend Joze Gricar sponsors in Bled, Slovenia, this year.  Naturally, I follow what goes in this small country with a lot of talented people because, in a way, I consider myself to be an honorary Slovene.

That's why this story caught my eye.  Martin Strel, a marathon swimmer and a Slovene, swam down the Amazon river from Atalaya (Peru) to the Atlantic Ocean at Belém (Brazil), 3,274 miles, in 66 days.  Made me proud.  Read about it on his website at www.amazonswim.com

CBMS: It Just Won't Go Away

In an earlier post, I mentioned that the State was in litigation with the Feds over alleged overpayments to clients made by the Colorado Benefits Management System (CBMS).  Well, the State lost its federal appeal and, as a result, has to repay the Feds $11.2 million.  You can read more in Lynn Bartel's story, "State on hook for $11.2 million bill from the feds".  It's from the May 12th issue of the Rocky Mountain News.

Make it Five Failed Colorado Computer Systems

This morning's Rocky Mountain News had a story under Ann Imse's byline entitled "Vehicle registration meltdown"  Here's the first two paragraphs.  You can read the rest for yourself, and it's not pretty:

"Colorado pulled the plug Monday on its new computer for licensing motor vehicles - the fifth computer system dating to the Owens administration to have major problems.

Gov. Bill Ritter's administration halted use of the CSTARS system after reports of four cases in which police officers checking license plates were informed, incorrectly, that the registration was for a different car".

Recall from a much earlier post that the State's Information Management Commission, in their 2004 annual report issued in March of 2005, called the Colorado Benefits Management System (CBMS) one of their success stories of 2004.  It's still broken.  Wonder what they'll say about this one. (And the other three failed systems).  Hard to believe.

More Colorado IT Woes

I suppose this should be under the category of "Some People Never Learn", but it is related to CBMS inasmuch as it is one more failed computer system at the State of Colorado.  This one is at CDOT, the Colorado Department of Transportation, but it's only $30 million.  Well, to be more precise, we don't know if it's really a failed system.  What was reported in the Rocky Mountain News on March 13, in a story with the headline: "CDOT pay system blasted" is that a new computer system didn't pay highway workers for overtime which they earned cleaning up the unusually high piles of snow we had in December and January.  Well, OK, systems fail, but like CBMS, apparently project managers on this one failed to heed warnings that it wasn't going to work.  According to the article, Bill Cron, a CDOT information technology specialist, "said that when he repeatedly warned supervisors about the "horrible nature of the failure" that was looming, they kicked him off the SAP implementation team in May". Well, that's one way to handle bad news. 

My thanks to fellow "old IT warrior" Bill Gillette for calling this one to my attantion.

Textbook Costs in the US

Concern over the cost of textbooks in the US is heating up and is an issue that is not going to go away.  Good evidence of this is the story that came over the AP wires this morning, entitled "Tough Problem:  High textbook Costs". Here's a couple of quotes from the article, by Brian Bakst:

"In Minnesota, legislators are considering more tightly regulating the textbook publishing industry and requiring professors to be more cost-conscious in choosing course materials. At least a dozen other statehouses, from California to Connecticut, are taking up the issue.

"This is the hidden cost to higher education," said Democratic Rep. Frank Moe, the Minnesota's bill sponsor, who also teaches at Bemidji State University. "Reasonable profit makes sense. But the margins they are making on these textbooks is just absurd."  Another quote I like is:

"The textbook industry pulls in more than $6.5 billion a year at college bookstores, and college books which have tripled in price since 1986. The industry estimates four-year college students spend $644 annually on books; a 2005 government report put the figure at about $900 per year, but that figure includes supplies, too.

At one legislative hearing in Minnesota, student leaders displayed a shrink-wrapped bundle of materials for a single Spanish course. The tab: $193".

The whole article is worth a read.  Initiatives like the Global Text Project can help solve this "tough problem".

Some People Never Learn

The check-in kiosks of US Airways failed at several airports over the weekend.  As of this writing they're still down, resulting in long lines at several airports, including Charlotte, Philadelphia, Boston and Las Vegas, as reported in this story from CNN.Com.  According to airline spokeswoman, Elise Eberwein, the system is a consolidation of the reservation systems of US Airways and America West Airlines, which combined in 2005. "In a conversion of this type, there are so many different platforms, and systems that talk to others systems that talk to other systems," Eberwein said.

It would also help to test a conversion of this type thoroughly before going live with it.  That would have avoided the long lines at the check-in counters and the inconvenience experienced by thousnads of passengers.

CBMS: One More Complication

According to an article in today's Rocky Mountain News, the State of Colorado might have to refund some $11million to the Federal Government because of errors in beneficiary payments generated by our old friend, the Colorado Benefits Management System (CBMS).  An appeals court in Alexandria Virginia is hearing arguments in the case now.  Quoting from the article, "The Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture points to design flaws in the system, and an analysis done on information extracted from the system led the agency to conclude that $11,162,598 of food stamp benefits were issued incorrectly".  Later, the article states that "A spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Human Services said the agency has acknowledged problems with CBMS but added that the federal government's analysis that led to the claim of $11.2 million of overpayments also had flaws".  Wonder if anyone, anywhere,  has ever added up the total cost of CBMS which, as far as I know, is still broken.

CMBS Follow-up on January 19

April Washington's had a follow-up article on January 19 to her January 18 piece on the CBMS hearings (see previous post) entitled "Benefits Glitches Blasted". Colorado legislators, justifiably critical of the $223 million welfare-benefits computer's problems which went live on September 1, 2004, "blasted state officials Thursday for launching the computer two years ago when they knew it had flaws".  As one example, the article stated that "Needy people are getting, in some cases, 10-page notices daily telling them that they have been overpaid by $900 and that their next month's food stamps payment will be cut by at least 10 percent, according to a letter handed to lawmakers by Linda Olson, an attorney with Colorado Legal Services."  There's more in the article.

Looking at the bright side, Ron Houston, a spokesman for the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF) was quoted as saying "Once you build a system, you never walk away from it," "It needs maintenance, just like a car."  The only problem is that CBMS was never really built, was it?  Kind of like buying a car that was never completely assembled; never test-driven and missing a few parts here and there.  An even brighter perspective was offered by Alden Schoctner, regional director of government relations for EDS, the outside contractor for CBMS, whom the article quoted as saying  "the state will need to spend millions more to get CBMS to work as it was envisioned."  Wonder who gets those millions more.  The article, which is worth reading in its entirety, didn't say.   

BTW, there are a couple of good comments from readers on CBMS on my August 27 2006 Blog post.  Just scroll on down.

CBMS as of January 18 2007

Recall that the CBMS (Colorado Benefits Management Systems) was converted before it was ready for prime time on September 1, 2004 and has been a mess ever since.  Now that there is a new legislature in Colorado, the spotlight is finally being focused on what went wrong and why, and how this thing is going to get fixed.  April Washington's article in the January 18 edition of the Rocky Mountain News, "Hearing eyes benefits woes" reports on hearings conducted by a legislative committee.  Take a look.  Here are some excerpts: 

"Officials in some of Colorado's largest counties say that former Gov. Bill Owens' administration was in "a defiant state of denial" regarding problems with the state's welfare computer system, and that it could leave counties on the hook for millions of dollars in benefits overpayments.

"The system is ineffective, and it's not working. It's as simple as that," Gilpin County Commissioner Jeanne Nicholson said. "The state has stayed in a defiant state of denial."

Counties worry that they'll have to reimburse the federal government millions of dollars in overpayments to the needy, and some lawmakers are so concerned they called a hearing on the matter today.

The $223-million system was designed to replace the 25-year-old Legacy system and streamline food stamps, Medicaid and Temporary Aid to Needy Families.

But it has denied benefits to thousands of qualified clients, and has been maddeningly slow, hard to operate and labor-intensive".

And later:

"More than two years after its rollout, the Colorado Benefits Management System still is causing major headaches, say counties. Among them:

• It's generating over 11,000 notices of overpayments to clients every month.

• Training for county human services workers has been inadequate.

• The time needed to enter a case into the system has doubled to more than an hour.

• Workers must plow through an excessive number of error-prone, complex screens and decision tables to determine a client's eligibility. To work around the faulty system, they must thumb through seven thick manuals that contain more than 6,000 guidelines and procedures.

Counties have been forced to shell out tens of thousands of dollars to hire additional workers. The state has kicked in more than $9 million.

Owens did not respond to a request for comment.

Dan Hopkins, a former Owens spokesman, said he will not get into "the business of commenting every time someone brings up Owens, positively or negatively."

"To do so only invites a continuing and unproductive dialog," he said".

Right.  Let's not talk about it.  Why talk about unpleasant topics?

 

Inquiry urged for welfare benefits system

Yup. That's the headline on an article by April Washington in today's Rocky Mountain News.  Click on the link to read it.  In summary, it says that two lawmakers called for an inquiry in the upcoming session of the Colorado State Legislature.  According to the article, "They will push for an independent audit to determine why the Colorado Benefits Management System (CBMS) is still riddled with problems, leaving some needy Coloradans without public assistance and counties potentially on the hook for millions of accidental overpayments.  About time.  Hope they do it.  Hope it works. 

In the meantime, my colleague, Cindi Fukami, and I just published a follow-on teaching case on CBMS in Communications of the Association of Information Systems.  It chronicles the efforts to right the system up through June 30, 2006.  (Still broken).  The title of the new case is "The Colorado Benefits Management System (B):  The Emperor's New System."  As of December 27, 2006, the Emperor (and his subjects) still have no system.       

Yipes! Denver Couldn't Have Read About CBMS!

Despite all the negative publicity about the failed (and still failing CBMS) system, apparently Denver's Election Commission officials don't read the papers.  According to this morning's Rocky Mountain News story by Ann Imse, the $85,000 worth of software that caused three hour lines on November 7th, and caused 18,000 voters to give it up and go home before that, was purchased without a contract.   Doing so was "foolhardy," "because there are no consequences spelled out in case of failure", said Denis Berckefeldt, spokesman for Denver Auditor Dennis Gallagher. Gallagher has been asking the commission for a copy of any such contract since spring, without getting one.  It gets worse.  Apparently the project was undertaken by low level support personnel who took it upon themselves to develop the software unbeknownst to top officals of their employer, Sequoia Voting Systems.  And here Sequoia thought the reasons these guys weren't being productive on their real jobs is that they were day-trading or playing on-line games.   

Didn't Denver Managers Read About CBMS?

Here's the essence of a question from the final exam I gave my undergraduate IS students last weeK:

The City of Denver had problems with a new computer system in the election held on November 7^th, as discussed in class. Basically, the City consolidated many small precincts into around 50 voting centers.  The only problem is that before voters could touch the voting machines (another story) they had to have their registration verified by clerks using laptops to access a central database.  Since this could take as long as twenty minutes (the system was a wee bit slow) lines quickly grew to the point where voters were in line for hours.  The ramifications were so bad that the City received nationwide attention in the media. Here's an example from the Rocky Mountain News.  Please describe the principal problem with the new computer system. (5 points) Please describe, with hindsight, what actions should have been taken by IT professionals and Election Commission managers to assure that the new system performed properly. (5 points).  Here's an example of an answer from one of the students' exam paper:

"The principal problem with the computer system was that it couldn’t handle all the mass amount of people trying to use it at the same time. This in turn caused the system to crash and freeze since it was overwhelmed with all the processing. The system was not ready to handle such an event as Election Day and certain things should have been in place before the system was used. IT professionals and Election Commission managers should have performed a variety of tests to make sure the system was ready for the public. They should have tested each aspect of the system and made sure it did not have any problems. Just as with the CBMS case, there were certain things that should have been worked on to allow the system to run without problems. The development should have consisted of an in depth systems life cycle analysis which would have allowed for these problems to never have happened, since it would have been developed properly. Unfortunately, the   IT and other managers responsible did not look into the possible ramifications of releasing the system without all this testing and analysis, in turn allowing for a terrible election day for Denver".

OK.  Here's a question for you:  How come an 18 or 19 yearold freshman gets it and the IT folks and managers at the Election Commision didn't?  (10 points).

Other Models for Textbooks

Pearson is spearheading a project to create business textbooks with MIT and Wharton as its lead partners.  There was a story in the WSJ a couple of weeks ago on the project, but this one from NPR is free.  Named "We are Smarter than Me" it's reminiscent of the title of our panel at the August AMCIS Conference, "No one is  as Smart as Everyone".  They plan to  recruit authors globally and create texts that will sell for $25.99.   This is a good thing, $25.99 is better than $140 and will make Lenny happy (see previous post).  But, for developing countries, $25.99 is still steep and certainly not as good as free.  "Profits" will be donated to charities of the authors' choice so that is also a good thing, but wonder what the profit will be on a $25.99 book.  Also can't help but wonder how this will play with Pearson's stable of authors used to getting royalty checks.  Sounds like they will eventually be disintermediated, just like travel agents were.

More on the Cost of Textbooks

I covered Global Text with my undergraduate IS students this past quarter and passed around the Sony eReader ($349) which holds 80 books.  They liked the idea of ultimately capping a sub-set of their textbook costs at $349 when the Global Text library is built out.  I later recived an email from a student in the class who was offered $5 by the bookstore for the text we used.  He paid $140 for it twelve weeks ago.  In short, he wants Global Text NOW!  I forwarded the message to the two co-authors of the text.  Their responses:

1.  I should tell the student to sell his used books on Amazon.
2.  Hasn't this kid ever bought a car?  (Yeah, buy a car for $14000 and ten weeks later it's worth $500).  I didn't want to try to use that explanation on Lenny.  I just apologized for the way the system works to the disadvntage of students.  I could go on....

A Busy Month for Global Text

Sorry to have been away for awhile but it's been a busy month on campus and with Global Text.  I'll skip the campus stuff.  With Global Text, Rick Watson and I were on the program at the Business as an Agent of World Benefit Global Forum in mid-October co-sponsored by the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve, the Academy of Management, and the UN Global Forum.  Wonderful conference bringing together academics, business people, and representatives from governments.  Great speakers, great informal discussions with a multi-national audience of people interested in sustainable development and corporate social responsibility.  In late November we spoke at a plenary session of the AACSB Faculty Conference in Scottsdale and signed up a number of new volunteers for Global Text.  We also received funding from the Swiss-based Jacobs Foundation which gives us assurance that we have the financial support needed to deliver the two proof of concept books in four languages.  Please see the Global Text site for more details.      

CBMS - Hopeful Signs? (Finally)

Take a look at this article from the most recent issue of Government Technology magazine.  Written by Andy Opsahl and entitled "Weathering the Storm", it strikes an optimistic note that most of the troubles with CBMS are receding.  Better yet, it gives readers the impression that maybe steps have been and will be taken to: (1) Put CBMS on an even keel and (2) Strengthen Colorado's internal procurement and project management processes to avoid another "ox in the ditch" with a future IT project.

Sure hope so.  It's been a long time coming.  Cindi Fukami and I just had another teaching case accepted for publication in Communications of the Association for Information Systems chronicling the travails of CBMS from its premature conversion on September 1, 2004 to its continuing problems in mid-2006.   The one big takeaway we both had after interviewing people to write the second case was that a private company would never have put up with a mess this bad for this long.  Couldn't help but wonder if the one of the reasons CBMS took so long to fix is because its "customers" are the poor, the sick, and the elderly.  They have no voice, and most of them don't vote.

Now Let's Think About This Business Model

The Wall Street Journal printed an article entitled "Efforts Mount to Cut Costs of Textbooks" on September 28.  If you do a Google search on the headline the first link that comes up is from the WSJ.  It takes you to a page that tells you the article is restricted to subscribers.  No big deal for me, I'm a subscriber, but it might be a problem for others.  On the other hand, if you just scroll down a bit on the Google site, you come to a reprint of the article in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.  Click on that link and you get the article.  Strange.

Anyway, it's a pretty good article about what some states in the US are doing to reduce the high cost of textbooks.  For example, quoting from a sidebar in the article:

• "A new Virginia law addresses the bundling of textbooks with other materials
• Washington State requires bookstores to inform faculty of the costs and frequency of revisions
• Illinois is reviewing the feasibility of textbook-rental programs"

There's lots more.  And thinking about business models.............☺

Voting Machines

If you join Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) you get a free tee shirt with "Question Technology" on it.  If you have one, this would be a good time to wear it.  I wish more people would seriously question technology instead of just exhibiting blind faith in it.  The  latest example is the fiasco we've had in Colorado over voting machines...whether or not they are reliable and whether or not they can be hacked.   The September 23 Rocky Mountain News has an article on it written by Ann Imse.  Plaintiffs filed a lawsuit urging that voting machines not be used in the November election.  The judge ruled that the "secretary of state did an abysmal job of security testing on new computerized voting machines but it's too late to bar them from the Nov. 7 election".  This morning's paper had couple of stories.  One noted that counties are encouraging voters to vote by absentee ballot.  The other noted that some voting machines in Denver County would be mothballed for the November election.  It said "50 card activators (for voting machines) slated to be decommissioned - at least for the November election - came from Chicago, which sold them at a discount to Denver after a problem- plagued election there in March".  A problem-plagued election in Chicago?  As for Colorado, when are we gonna learn?  It's getting embaressing.  And as for me, I'm voting by absentee ballot!

More Publicity on Global Text

The University of Georgia's Office of Public Affairs sent out a news release on the Global Text project on September 1st.  It was picked up by UPI, as well as by several other media outlets around the world.  To our great pleasure, most of them are based in developing countries in Africa and Asia.  Please log on to the Global Text Website at http://globaltext.org and click on the "In the press" tab for a complete list.  My colleague, Rick Watson, has been kept busy over the weekend responding to queries and offers of assistance from experts in several domains, ranging from agriculture to classical mechanics, higher education, open economics, and plant anatomy, as well as other IT and business-related topics. 

Another Way to Cut Staff

In a previous post (2/16/06), I reported the way a large corporation told employees they were being downsized.   They were sent a letter that said "You've been invited to participate in the Workforce Management Program."   Today's Wall Street Journal tells how the geniuses at RadioShack handled their staff cutbacks.  According to the article, about 400 "employees at the Fort Worth headquarters received an email Tuesday morning telling them they were being dismissed immediately."  "The work force reduction notification process is currently in process" the notice stated.  "Unfortunately your position is one that has been eliminated." 

Derrick D'Souza, a management professor at the University of North Texas was quoted on Radio Shack's choice of method.  He called it "dehumanizing", and went on to say "If I put myself in (the employee's) shoes, I'd say "Didn't they have a few minutes to tell me (face to face)?  The article concluded with a comment that one of the first actions that the new CEO, Julian Day, took after he joined Radio Shack last month was to "cancel conference calls with analysts to review RadioShack's financial results, an unusual step for public companies." Maybe he'll send out a blast email with whatever it is he would like the analysts to get.

More on CBMS (Sigh)

Sometimes I wish CBMS would just go away.  By that, I mean that it would finally get fixed and function the way it is supposed to.  It's not only an embarrassment to the IT profession, it still does not treat its (mostly poor) clients the way it should.  Further, it is a national (if not international) embarrassment to the State of Colorado because of the publicity it continues to receive. 

The latest is an article by Ellen Perlman in the August 2006 issue of Governing Magazine.  It's called "Meltdown: How a promising technology mega-project went awry."  The article pretty much nails it, and is full of good quotes.  Here's a sample passage to give you a feel for it:

"It's been exactly two years since Colorado suffered one of the bigger government technology meltdowns in recent memory. As efforts to fix the system continue, the administration of Governor Bill Owens, state legislators and software developers are digesting lessons that their peers in other states would do well to pay attention to." 

Well, let's hope they're digesting lessons.  If you're still following the CBMS saga the article is a good read. 

Insights from Alvin Toffler

The FT had an interesting article on Alvin Toffler's "big notion of the moment".  It's in the August 19/20 edition, by Nathan Gardels, and bears the title "He has seen the future".  Of course, we all know that Alvin Toffler and his wife Heidi saw the future quite clearly some 36 years ago when they published Future Shock, followed a few years later by The Third Wave.  The thing that struck me about the FT piece was Toffler's comment that "new technologies are enabling the radical fusion of the producer and consumer into the "prosumer".  And that, of course, is what the Global Text project is all about.  The consumers of texts are the ones who are creating and maintaining them.  Toffler goes on to say that "Even in the US, institutions out of synch with each other are caught in a "clash of speeds" between the old system and the new.  Standardized education is among the slowest institutions to adapt.  If you were a cop monitoring the speed of cars going by, you would clock the car of business, which changes rapidly under competitive pressures, at 100mph.  But the car of education, which is supposedly preparing the young for the future, is only going at 10mph".   Global Text  will help get education up to speed by enabling prosumers to keep text content current.  (One can only wonder if traditional businesses serving the education community will adapt.)  By way of illustration, my colleague, Rick Watson, noted that "Wikipedia’s opening two sentences for Pluto when accessed on August 25, 2006 reads: Pluto is a dwarf planet in the solar system.  It was classified as a planet until it was determined on August 24, 2006 that it is not a true planet".  Now that's going 100mph!

 

CBMS Video

The following link puts a human face on the problems created for welfare recipients by the Colorado Benefits Management System's troubled conversion:

CBMS video from cbs4denver.com, June 7 2006.  Sorry, I should have posted it long before now.

As you know it has been the topic of earlier posts here and has received a lot of publicity.  Cindy Fukami, my colleague in the Department of Management at Daniels, and I published a classroom case in Communications of the Association of Information Systems last year and are currently working on an update.  One of the interesting contrasts that arose during our interviews with officials for the updated case was that between the troubled baggage system at Denver International Airport (DIA)and CBMS.  In the DIA instance, the airport opening was delayed until the baggage system was proven to work.  In CBMS, the system was converted despite objections that it was not ready.  Could it be that the "customers" served by the two systems had markedly different demographics?  One can only wonder.