Computer Science and Engineering Prism Lab

Prism accounts are available for all students enrolled in Computer Science and Engineering major courses.  This does not include COSC 1520, 1530, 1540. All students who are applying for a new account, or those who have forgotten their passwords must present photo ID/YU Card or an official course list.

New Users

New users should login to any machine in the lab as newuser (one word, all lower-case letters). This account has no password. On logging in, a program is executed which records information necessary for account generation including your name, student number, and a password.  As you type a password, it is not echoed to the screen.  Keep your password private, and record it so that you do not forget it.  After entering this information, the Prism Usage Policy will be displayed, and you will be asked if you read and agreed to abide by the policy.  Your account will not be created unless you agree to the Prism Usage Policy.  After agreeing to the policy, you will go to the monitor on duty with photo ID /YU Card so that your account can be generated.  If you do not have your ID with you, an account will not be generated.

Forgotten Passwords or Unlocked Accounts

If you forget your password, or your account is unlocked,  you will carry out the same procedure documented above for "New Users".  The only difference is that a new account will not be created.  The system will simply change the password on the existing account to the one that is entered during the "New User" process after valid identification is shown to the lab monitor.

Full and Limited Access to Prism

Due to limited resources, the department has implemented a system of different levels of access for Computer Science students.

Limited Access:

Students who have a Prism account and are not registered in a CSE course for the current semester will have Limited access to Prism.  Students with Limited accounts do not have a seat in the Prism Lab, and are not able to print to Prism printers, but they can still login to Prism remotely or from satellite labs to access their files or e-mail.

Students who are registered in a CSE course (See exclusions above) for the current semester will have Full access to Prism.
Students with Full access have a seat and printing privileges in the Prism Lab.

Three times a year, at the Academic Drop Dates for each semester, account status is automatically updated from Limited to Full, Full to Limited, Full to Deleted or Limited to Deleted according to registration status at that time. Please note that if a limited account has to be deleted, it will not be returned to Full access before deletion.  This means that if a student has plans to copy files to disk using one of the workstations in the lab, this must be done before the account is limited and access to a seat in the Prism Lab is denied.  Students who wish to copy their files after their accounts have been limited will have to login remotely, and use ftp to transfer their files to their home machine.

Account Deletions

Prism accounts will be expired if the student isn't registered in a Computer Science course within 3 consecutive terms (including the summer session), or if
the student was never registered in a COSC course. The student will be notified two weeks in advance via email that the account will be deleted.  The CSE technical support staff is not responsible for keeping data beyond that point.

Account Locking / Enforcing the Prism Policy

Non compliance with any aspect of the Prism Policy may result in the immediate locking of your account. If your account is locked, you will have to see the Manager of Computer Science and Engineering to have it re-opened. It is not necessary for the technical staff or the monitors to warn you that your account is being locked, since it is your responsibility to be aware of and follow the Prism Use Policy.

You should be aware that there are certain times when you will be asked to give up your terminal. These include:

• if it is left idle for more than 15 minutes. The monitor on duty will log out your current session, and send an email message to your account.
• if you are playing games, and other students are waiting for a workstation. Students playing games must understand that playing a game, for however short a period, constitutes an implicit declaration that the machine is free for use by others and must immediately give up the machine if it is needed by others for work. This applies even if the player intended to play for only a few minutes. (see Prism Use Policy, section 12). Ignoring this request will result in your account being locked.
• if you lock your terminal. This is a direct violation of the Prism Use Policy and will result in the immediate locking of your account.
• if you are disrupting other students, your account may be locked and you will be asked to leave the lab. "Disrupting other students" includes excessive noise, occupying more space than appropriate, and the displaying of graphics or playing of audio of questionable taste.
• if you are eating, drinking or smoking in the lab, your account will be locked and you will be asked to leave the lab. FOOD, DRINKS and SMOKING are forbidden in the Prism labs. The only exception to this rule is for on-duty monitors. Because Prism monitors must serve long hours in the lab without being able to step out for refreshment, they alone are permitted to eat and drink in the lab only at the monitor desk. Smoking however, is not permitted under any circumstances.