Recently students excited to discover they had new e-mail messages were disappointed to learn they had been sent multiple "return to sender" notifications rather than mail from friends.
Beginning shortly after Fall break and continuing until Tuesday, Nov. 12, the majority of long e-mails sent via Alpha or Eudora were queued and unable to be sent. Since the problems were solved, all long e-mail has successfully been sent.
Director of Client Services Kevin Weidenbaum said, "The problem was very difficult because it involved so many different pieces. We didn't even know anything was wrong for a few days because Alpha keeps trying to send queued mail for days before it even notifies the sender that something is wrong. It took a while to determine where the problem was."
Computing staff ultimately pinpointed the problem to a new switch, installed over Fall Break, which connects PMDF, Alpha's mailer, to the Internet.
E-mail messages are communicated to other computers in streams of data called packets. Weidenbaum said that sometimes messages are so big it takes many packets to send the message. Because the new switch did not decompose big packets into smaller ones, long messages had problems getting to their destinations.
The A-level of Mudd Library may meet its match in the housing of stressed-out students during finals. Architects of the new science facility are planning an 1800 square foot common space for students to meet in and study.
About 12 chemistry and biology majors met Monday to talk with the architects about the proposed commons area.
Among the suggestions by the Commons Design Subcommittee were that the space should function primarily as a lounge, study space and social meeting place for students, faculty and staff.
The commons area is proposed to be on the ground floor, adjacent to the science library, facing south into North bowl.
One point of the proposal read, "[It] should be open to an adjacent patio area, probably through sliding glass doors. It must have lots of natural light, meaning lots of glass area on walls and ceilings."
The preliminary approval of a new science center was approved by the Board of Trustees last year. It is planned to be built in the early 2000's.
Sophomore Jonathan Stinson sustained minor injuries in a car accident Thursday morning.
Stinson was heading east on East Lorain Street when he fell asleep at the wheel. According to Ohio Highway Patrol Cadet Chris Baker, Stinson's car hit a ditch and flipped over. Stinson was cited for failure to control his vehicle.
Stinson was transported to Allen Memorial Hospital and released at 11 a.m. Thursday.
Copyright © 1997, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 126, Number 9, November 14, 1997
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