As much as I would like to celebrate having access to an alumni e-mail account for life, in reality trying to use my alumni e-mail account has been more of a burden than a blessing.

I have experienced a near constant stream of problems from the service. My troubles have mostly been attributed to being unable to access the mail server for large periods of time. This seems to happen very frequently—at least a couple times a week.

The inability to access the mail server alone is enough to deter me from using this as an e-mail account. But wait—there’s more! I have learned of late from several people that they have at times been completely unable to e-mail me at my alumni e-mail address. This is completely unacceptable. It reflects badly on the Office of Alumni Relations, RPI in general, and if I give the e-mail address out in a professional manner, it reflects badly on me.

The problems that I have relegate RPI alumni e-mail to near worthlessness in my eyes. I cannot trust it to either receive messages or be able to access my e-mail in a timely manner. At this point, I am ashamed that I ever gave this e-mail address to anyone.

If the Office of Alumni Relations really wants to offer e-mail for life to Rensselaer alumni, then I suggest they take a good look at the current system and addresses the glaring inadequacies of its service so as not to appear technically incompetent, because that is the impression that I get.

Kenneth Page