Nathan Clegg
Scottsdale, Ariz.
I was very excited when I first heard that BYU was offering email to all of its students. We got it much later than most other schools, but I was glad to see us catching up. The on-campus residents have a very nice setup that wasn’t around when I lived there. I’m jealous. I appreciate the fact that students can check their email from almost any building on campus. I confess that I’ve never done it. It was several weeks before I ever touched my Route-Y account, and the first thing I did was have it forwarded to my other account.
I understand that some people have trouble with the fact that the kiosks are being used for email when they want to use AIM or other kiosk applications. This has never bothered me, as I am lucky enough to have my own computer at home to register for classes from. So today, for the first time, I was embittered against Route-Y.
I’ve always been annoyed that catalog machines are scarce in the library. Seems to me there should be one around every corner, but I don’t mind walking from the fifth floor to the third to look up a book. I did so today and found all of the computers being used. After waiting a while, wondering how long it took someone to identify a book before they marched off to the shelves, I finally looked a little closer and saw that many of these library patrons were reading and writing email! This did not occur in the section of the library dedicated to email use. That area is always plenty busy, which I think is wonderful. But I don’t see why I should have to wait for Mary to write her boyfriend love notes before I can find a textbook. Besides, if Mary has never had email before, her boyfriend is probably sitting next to her, writing back and forth, giggling all the way. I just wanted a book.
