Timer Function

I am having a problem calling the Timer function. I get a compile error
when I include a call to this function.
Invalid character
/sirenServer/INCLUDE/test.asp, line 32, column 19
starttime = Timer()

Here is my system setup:
ASP.dll Version: 5.0.2195.6672
VBscript.dll Version: 5.6.0.8515
On Windows 2000 with IIS5.0 and front page server extensions 2002.
IE 6, VS.NET 2003. and Visual Studio 6.

VBScript Engine: 5.6 Return from :
response.write "VBScript Engine: "
response.write ScriptEngineMajorVersion
response.write "." response.write ScriptEngineMinorVersion

And according to the Version Information of VBScript, the Timer function
language element was implemented in Version 5.0.