Sound dev disables when switching users in core1

[Steve Berry]

When I initally setup fedora, I had one user, myself +root, then I added
my wife so she could have her own little desktop universe of her own .. 

Now when I logoff, run off to work and she logs in. sound works fine. 

but when I log back in .. sound is disabled. 

I can simulate this and get the same result. 

is this a bug, or am I doing something incorrectly by switching desktops
between kde and gnome or something. 

(I use gnome, she uses kde)