Dear Monks...

I've come across a script (in a Perl textbook) that fails to run properly, and I'm requesting some help troubleshooting it. The actual script:

#!/usr/bin/perl
# check command-line for validity
die "syntax: $0 user passwd [-r | -a task priority]\n\t"
   if ! defined $ARGV[1];

# validate username/password pair
$uname = shift;
$passwd = shift;

   # open user data file
open UDATA, "<todo.users" || die "couldn't open user data file.";
   # read user data into a hash
while ($line = <UDATA>) {
   chomp $line;
   ($u, $p) = split /:/, $line;
   $ubase{$u} = $p;

}
close UDATA;
   # find command-line args in hash or exit
die "cannot find user $uname\n\t"
   if ! defined $ubase{$uname};
die "cannot validate user password\n\t"
   if $passwd ne $ubase{$uname};


# check for runtime options (-r or -a)
if (! defined $ARGV[0]) {
   $mode = "report";
}
elsif ($ARGV[0] =~ /^-r/) {
   $mode = "report";
}
elsif ($ARGV[0] =~ /-a/) {
   $mode = "add";
   $dummy = shift;
   $newtask = shift;
   $priority = shift;
}
else {
   $mode = "report";
}

# get existing task data
open TDATA, "<todo.tasks" || die "couldn't open task data file\n\t";
while ($line = <TDATA>) {
   chomp $line;
   push @tlist, $line;
}
# here's a cheaper way
# @tlist = <TDATA>;
close TDATA;

# write report if we're in that mode
if ($mode eq "report") {
   foreach $t (@tlist) {
      print "$t\n" if $t =~ $uname;
   }
}

# print out new data file if we're in that mode
if ($mode eq "add") {
   $newitem = join ":", ($uname, $newtask, $priority);
   push @tlist, $newitem;
   foreach $line (@tlist) {
      print "$line\n";
   }
}
[download]

The supporting todo.users file:

larry:lingo
tom:tonic
ellie:plasma
[download]

The supporting todo.tasks file:

larry:finish autostory program:3
larry:read about file i/o:2
tom:order 12 gallons of Vitalis:1
ellie:find planet-related websites:2
tom:get more paper for clipboard:3
randal:write roster management program:2
[download]

I'm curious why this fails with:

cannot validate user password
         at todo001.pl line 23.
[download]

Would someone please explain?

Thanks!

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