The Daily Campus

Issue date: 3/19/09 Section: Commentary

UConn students received an e-mail this week about tickets for the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament. There's no question that this tournament is a big deal to the university. That means a good number of students would want tickets to the event, and those students would most certainly appreciate an e-mail announcement.

But before that, how many UConn list-serv e-mails can students say they really appreciated? How about the ones about the surveys and paid psychology studies that fill up too soon? Or the announcements of student groups running various recruitment and fundraising activities or community service trips?

Even the most uninvolved students can receive more than a dozen e-mails from UConn list-servs. However, when it comes to events that students really care about, and more importantly, events with limited seating, students don't always get the announcement - even if they opt-in to the very list-servs that are supposed to carry those sorts of e-mails.

On March 6, The Daily Campus ran a letter to the editor from 8th-semester economics major Ben Linhard, who said that he and several friends were left out of the lotteries to get student tickets to such popular events as the men's basketball Big East Tournament and SUBOG's spring concert because they were only announced in The Daily Campus and not through other methods, such as the e-mail list-servs. He was absolutely right to complain, especially since his inbox, like those other students, often fills with e-mails about events and promotions he doesn't really care about.

Some events are advertised in print copies of The Daily Campus, which reaches more than 9,000 students, faculty, staff and local residents each day. However, many populations of people - including students - miss out on those advertisements. Commuter students don't always come to campus every day, and while many read the newspaper online, the display advertising of the print edition does not make the transition to the Internet version of the paper. When an event is important to students, students should be able to find out about it through the list-serv as well.

When an event requires a lottery for student tickets, time is of the essence. Perhaps Linhard's letter struck a chord with UConn officials, and it may be why students received an e-mail about the women's tournament. If that's the case, UConn departments and organizations shouldn't stop there. If everything that gets sent through the list-serv right now is allowed, there's no excuse for announcements about major events to be so often left behind.

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