die "Can't cd to spool: $!\n" unless chdir '/usr/spool/news';
   chdir '/usr/spool/news' or die "Can't cd to spool: $!\n"

##</code><code>##

use Cwd;   #at the start of your script

...

print "We are here: ",cwd(),"\n"; #test where you are in the directory structure

#alternatively this works too, but is not as portable:
print "We are here:"; system('pwd');