Congraulations to HASCS

We are hopeful that HASCS is correct in thinking that the e-mail system has now been successfully upgraded. We are rather impressed by HASCS's hard work on the third and final stage of the e-mail upgrade. The system is now complete with a "redundancy" feature so that any one glitch will not down the entire Harvard network, as confirmed by Rick Osterberg '96, director of residential computing support. And while "you can never foresee problems, "Osterberg said, "we can [now] recover from them much more quickly." The upgrade has additionally upped the system's speed, reducing waiting time. We hope that the promised improvements herald a new era in HASCS stability.

HASCS has indeed handled the upgrade in a professional manner. The work was done over spring break while most students were away, so except for a few poor souls, most people did not need to be on the network and, therefore, were not inconvenienced. We wish all things at Harvard were timed so well.

This upgrade is a positive sign, for it signals not only the administration's commitment to keep Harvard abreast of the latest computer technology, but also an acknowledgement of the indispensability of e-mail on the Harvard campus. A defunct e-mail system means a non-functioning student body. Without e-mail, no one would be able to communicate effectively with professors, teaching fellows, and friends and family back home.