'U' pines for Web e-mail

By Elizabeth Kassab

Daily Staff Reporter

Students who are tired of Telnet and confused by Wolverine Access may feel like they're in heaven when they are greeted by the dreamy cloud background of my.umich.edu.

Students are the target audience for the user-friendly Web portal and are slated to gain access to the site as soon as January.

"It's a portal site that anyone with a uniqname will be able to use," LSA senior Tom Charron, one of a group of students who have been asked to test the site, said in a written statement.

The University's Information Technology Division has been working on the program since last fall and began testing working prototypes in April.

"I think by far the most useful part of my.umich is the e-mail - you can access your account from anywhere and it is a much easier way to read and compose e-mail than Pine," Charron said.

"I'm a senior in LSA and have been a slave to Pine for four years now, and I'm very happy that they're creating my.umich.edu," he said.

The switch to Web-based e-mail would mean users would not need to rely on telnet or programs like Mulberry, although those services would continue to work, said Linda Place, director of University Website coordination. "Attachments are much easier now. It's the same as using a Hotmail or Yahoo! Mail account," Charron said.

That's the idea, Place said, adding that she hopes the site will eventually be as good as or better than" other similar programs.

Web-based e-mail is an integral part of the program, but the portal offers a wealth of other services. The current roster of services includes classified ads, personal calendars and to-do lists, University announcements and headlines from The Michigan Daily.

There are links to Wolverine Access, the University's Web gateway, course tools and the online campus directory.

The site currently consists of two pages - a home page and a page of services. The site's planners hope to add more pages to the site to allow users to catalog other favorite sites.

Place said users should eventually be able to customize the site to correspond with their own personal preferences and the site should include options to organize the order in which services appear on-screen.

Users also may be able to turn services off altogether.

Place said she eventually hopes to incorporate weather updates into the site.

Skins, similar to those available for Winamp, may be an option in the future, Place said.

Place said she doesn't expect the site to grow very fast at first. She said she hopes the rest of the University "will see it as a critical resource" but not an immediate replacement for www.umich.edu. The improvement is "long past due," Place said.

Michigan Student Assembly Vice President Jim Secreto said the University's e-mail system has been identified for several years as an area that needs improvement.

"E-mail is an integral part of a modern college student's life," Secreto said.

The program will join a handful of others on college campuses nationwide.

The University of California at Los Angeles implemented a similar program, www.my.ucla.edu, two years ago.

That site has expanded and now features such perks as online textbook orders and weather and traffic updates.

Emory University made the change to a software-based system called LearnLink in 1998, Emory junior Jeff VanDam said. The system includes e-mail, campus announcements, calendars and classified ads as well as conferences, chats and a program that resembles America Online's Instant Messenger.

Professors have the option of posting class notes and assignments on the system.

VanDam, who arrived at Emory the first year LearnLink was used, said students did not initially like LearnLink because it was different, but the program has since become an indispensable part of Emory life.

"It's accepted that everyone is addicted to it, and if you're not then it's like 'what are you doing with yourself,'" VanDam said.

The Telnet system that LearnLink replaced still functions at Emory, but "no one really uses it," VanDam said.

Although my.umich.edu is set to be released to the general University population in January, there are some issues regarding the program that need to be addressed.

"Overall, my.umich still has some definite bugs to be worked out, but the sooner students and faculty can use it, the better," Charron said. "It's a great page to have as the homepage on your computer and will be a convenient way for everyone at the 'U' to stay connected."

Place said although bugs will be present at first she expects the program will grow into a great tool for students.

"It takes time to build a wonderful site that's going to make everyone happy all the time," Place said. "It is only a start. This is not the end."