Iowa State’s latest e-mail server, WebMail, hasn’t caught on with everyone on the ISU campus, but Computation Center officials are confident students will adapt to the new system.

Some students said they’ve avoided using WebMail, opting instead for Iowa State’s other e-mail services or alternative methods.

Josh Miller, senior in management information systems, has all of his ISU e-mail forwarded to his US West account.

“I have an ISP account through USWest, and I prefer to use that because it’s easier,” Miller said.

Rebecca Meyer, junior in elementary education, has heard about WebMail but hasn’t tried it.

“I use whatever is easy, either Eudora or Telnet,” she said.

But Computation Center systems analyst Frank Poduska said for the students who’ve tried WebMail, they’ve been pleased with the results.

“Most people are happy with WebMail, but some students would like more features, such as the ability to delete an entire folder, spell check or filter,” Poduska said, adding that for now, the Computation Center will continue to offer Eudora as a high-end, full-feature package.

Also, the Computation Center has a staff member prioritizing students’ demands to see what can be added to WebMail in the future.

WebMail did not mark the ease of Easy Vincent on the ISU campus, but Poduska said in time, students will warm to the new program.

“People will continue to need it for writing programs, so there’s no need to take [Easy Vincent] away,” Poduska said. “Over time, people will migrate to WebMail.”

WebMail’s debut last spring didn’t go off without a hitch. Poduska said there were some minor problems with the server during the first two days it was launched for the public.

“A network problem influenced access to WebMail and made it look slower than it really was,” he said.

Now though, there are few technical problems with WebMail despite its slower look, Poduska said.

“The only other problem with the system deals with its multiple links to other systems. This link in the index file makes it look like the user has duplicate messages,” Poduska said.

Alan Vetter, systems analyst for the Computation Center, troubleshoots questions from ISU students about WebMail.

“The main question that students ask about WebMail is how do they access it?” Vetter said. “It’s at webmail.iastate.edu; there isn’t a ‘www’ in front of it.”

Vetter said one main problem with accessing WebMail actually has to do with some students’ computers, not Webmail itself.

“The only other problem is if they are having trouble with their Internet connection in general, usually that ends up being the modem isn’t configured correctly or their Internet access is not configured correctly,” Vetter said.

Vetter is a WebMail user, and he said he approves of the service it provides.

“It’s easy for me to access from home; I can access it from work. I can keep track of all my mail in one place,” he said.

For students who’d prefer to keep using Easy Vincent or other e-mail servers, there aren’t any technicalities that would deter them from being able to use their favorite programs, Poduska said.

“Logging in via Telnet, Eudora or WebMail are all independent, and none of them interfere with each other,” he said.

People with suggestions or problems regarding WebMail can send their comments to [email protected].