Alpha forum upsets students

Students express anger at loss of e-mail functions in forum with Computing staff

Patrons, fans and dependents of the ALPHA system gathered on Wednesday to defend the computer functions that will be phased out this summer as a result of campus-wide e-mail migration.

Computing Center staff members held a forum Wednesday in an attempt to diffuse student concerns and complaints that the e-mail migration will eliminate many computer functions popular among students. The forum's purpose was to explain and answer questions regarding the new campus mail server, Mulberry.

Director of Computing John Bucher squelched some students' hopes right at the forum's beginning by saying, "Not to do this is not an option."

Bucher proceeded to explain the current computing situation and acknowledged the concerns that have been raised by students since the announcement of the new system in a few weeks ago.

There are currently two different e-mail environments on campus: QuickMail for the faculty and staff, and PINE on the ALPHA system for students. The new Mulberry program is a movement towards unifying the system communication and computing resources across the Oberlin Campus.

"These decisions have been made with bigger issues in mind," Bucher said.

As many faculty and staff can attest, QuickMail has been malfunctioning, causing much administrative confusion.

"We've known for months that we needed to replace QuickMail," Bucher said.

According to Bucher, the migration to the new Mulberry system is an attempt to move away from a "host-based" e-mail environment in which everyone gathers around the central host, ALPHA.

Mulberry is a "client/server-based" environment in which users connect to the server with a specialized protocol, rather than an interactive log-on.

Students were willing to listen to Bucher's explanation and defense of the new system, which arrived earlier this month. Many were annoyed, however, that the move to a new system, which will eliminate the Talk, Phone and Finger functions, was made without student input.

"There was no student input before this forum," said junior Mathias Wegner. "You've already planned the change without consulting the student body."

The debate became heated as Computing Center staff members adamantly defended their decision.

"Talk and Phone have never been officially supported products by the Computing Center," said Bucher. He also explained how "chat" facilities, as used on Yahoo, can be used in lieu of talk and phone.

Students said these functions, along with the electronic bulletin board, KIOSK, are not only useful, but necessary resources for the current student body.

Sophomore Douglas Gerlach pulled the trump "sense of community" card in an attempt to persuade Computing Center staff.

"There are not many things that unite this campus. By eliminating these functions, you are isolating people," Gerlach said. "These electronic forums are the equivalent to Wilder."

Bucher remained firm in the decision of his colleagues and explained the logistical and managerial decision that was necessary.

According to the posting on the AltaVista forum on Oberlin On-line, the two options were to either upgrade the ALPHA, buy a new computer to handle the 4000+ users, or buy a new computer to function as a server.

The upgrade to the three year-old system would have cost the college $50,000, only $20,000 less than the bigger, faster Mulberry computer.

According to Web Master Everett Doner, the purchase of the Mulberry system was the most efficient decision.

"Mulberry is roughly 40 percent faster than ALPHA," said Doner.

The capacity for each individual's e-mail directory will be improved from 1.8 megs under ALPHA, to 3.5 megs under the new Mulberry system.

While hearing concerns, Computing Center staff recommended an option to dissatisfied students. The new server will support all IMAP and POP mail clients, and students should feel free to choose something other than Mulberry if they wish.

This recommendation met with strong student opposition, because this solution is not available to lower income students who cannot afford to use anything other than the campus system.

"I think a lot of changes are unfair to low income students who cannot afford an upgrade," said sophomore Alex Kwanten.

Addressing concerns for students who live off-campus, Bucher suggested the possibility of subscribing to an internet server, which also caused financial concern.

Junior Stephanie Kostyal said not all students use the web, but should have free access to e-mail.

"There is no point to spend $20 per month to check your e-mail if you're not going to use the web," she said.

The forum ended on a good note as Bucher thanked students for their input and expressed his sympathy for the cuts that have to be made.

ALPHA will remain available on a subscription basis until mid-fall and possibly longer if a substantial number of people have reason to be on the system.

"We need to still consider some ideas for ALPHA, but we cannot keep everything," Bucher said. "At some point we have to make the decision to shut down ALPHA. We can't wait for every last person to make the jump to new technology on their own."