Bulletin boards riddled with staples and shreds of short-lived fliers are certainly not the most efficient means of communicating with the student population. The Student Association began its liberation from corkboard reliance last year with the premiere of Visions magazine. This year, SA is seeking administrative approval to move some of its postings from cluttered corkboards to the individual desktops of the entire undergraduate student body.
SA's ability to directly notify the student body of activities and scheduled events by e-mail, if employed carefully and sparingly, could be of real benefit to the student body.
Bulletin boards and slide-style announcements on the campus television channels are insufficient means of disseminating some types of information to the student body. The television channels are available only to students who live on campus, thus neglecting the substantial commuter population, and because of the station's lack of entertainment, few watch it.
There were several occasions this semester, most notably in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, when e-mail notification would have been highly beneficial to the students. At the time, grieving students immediately required the counseling and communication center that opened in 205 Student Union. E-mail, in conjunction with existing means of communication, could have publicized these necessary services faster and to significantly more students. Nearly every student sitting at a computer with Internet access, on or off campus, would have become instantly aware of these opportunities.
An e-mailed announcement of the Sept. 14 SA-sponsored free transportation to New York City would have also been beneficial to the student body. It could have instantaneously notified grieving students who were hardly interested in bulletin boards, or anything on television except the disaster coverage, before many purchased plane and train tickets.
However, one risk of allowing SA the authority to e-mail the undergraduate population is that they could unnecessarily fill thirteen thousand inboxes with unwanted self-promotion. While the current SA administration promises to limit e-mail bulletins to four or five times a semester and only in urgent situations, future student governments might not be inclined to follow in their disciplined footsteps.
If permitted to send mass e-mails, SA must employ proper discretion as to the length, content and frequency of the messages. A typical student's inbox is already flooded with e-mails from commercial agencies, individual departments, clubs, professors and a multitude of personal and often unwanted propaganda. Adding an SA-sponsored listserv to the litany of mailings currently inundating students' e-mail accounts could prove to be an aggravation, rather than a service. It is therefore essential that SA provide a mechanism by which students can easily remove themselves from the mailing list.
Aside from emergency situations, properly employing the listserv would increase student awareness of SA clubs and activities. At the beginning of each semester, a welcoming message could greet new and returning students as well as outline the year's major events and SA's goals. This greeting could also assist new students in acclimating themselves to the large university environment by supplying a list of clubs with meeting times, contact information and links to their Web sites.
Assuming responsible use is employed, this tool would empower SA to better serve the student body. It would enable SA to more efficiently communicate to the UB community, in ordinary times as well as crisis situations. The listserv could contribute to increased participation in SA events, clubs and activities, thereby enabling students to make better use of the organization which they fund.
Under the watch of UB administration and with the condition of proper and restrained use, SA should be afforded the privilege to contact the entire undergraduate student body via a listserv.
