Have Your People Blitz My People

When the College replaces its out-dated phone system early next year, will anyone care? The question is more than rhetorical. Some 75,000 times each weekday students, faculty, and administrators bypass the phone system for Blitz Mail, a Dartmouth-developed electronic-mail program. Why is e-mail so successful at Dartmouth?

Universality: Everyone on campus (with the exception of a few neo-Luddites among the administration and faculty) is connected to Blitz Mail. On the other hand, not every student has a telephone.

No monthly payments: With taxpayers and tuition picking up the tab, students and faculty can email anyone at any college or lab connected to the Internet for free.

Accessibility: There are more than 9,000 computer ports spread among Dartmouth's 128 buildings. For people with laptop computers, Blitz Mail is as easy as plugging in. The recently renovated Collis student center has laptop ports in the lounges. Computer kiosks have been set up in the busiest areas of campus for those bereft of laptops. Students on the run can pop into the Hop or Alumni Gym, check their messages, send a few of their own, and be off in minutes.

News you can use: Blitz Mail incorporates the best features of a comprehensive local newspaper. Weather forecasts, film and concert schedules, dinner menus, gossip, campus news, and job listings all are available via Blitz. The program also gives organizations and academic departments as diverse as the Young Republications and the English department an easy way to communicate with their members and majors. Students even vote for class officers via Blitz.

At the same time, Blitz Mail has caused a few communication problems of its own, such as junk mail, chain letters, and obscene messages. Of greater concern to College officials was the unknown hoaxer who used Blitz Mail to convince half of a Latin American Studies class that an exam was canceled.

E-mail call: Studentsline up at the CollisStudent Center tocheck their blitzes.