So we all know by now: The Ariel server is down. It's due to a hardware failures the technological equivalent of a wardrobe malfunction. So now that we're clear that this huge hassle really stinks, let's think about who and why and what. \nThe Indiana Daily Student reported Thursday that more than 500 students called the IU Call Center to report the Webmail outage on Tuesday alone. The story also said that UITS was in the process of replacing the 5-year-old system. Putting two and two together, this disaster could have been avoided but for one fact: The Bloomington Faculty Council dragged its feet in supplying the funding.\nThis seems to be a bit of a pattern with the BFC, doesn't it? Parking, a transportation fee and now we find out that it's the reason we may lose all our e-mails? It took the BFC seven years to update the Student Code of Rights and Responsibilities, so while we shouldn't be surprised that the process was slow, we can still be mad. \nSo our advice? It's twofold. Stop pestering UITS. They know about the problem, and calling them continually isn't going to get the server fixed any faster. If we want to be mad at someone (because that always feels better), we should be mad at the BFC. By delaying the availability of funding, students are in a serious fix. Contact information, class work, even old e-mails from friends are all lost. E-mail is one of our most important means of communication, and now it's defunct. \nOur second piece of advice: While it's hard -- we're cringing just thinking of it -- try and be patient. Outrage, while totally justified, isn't going to get us back online any faster. Use this rotten situation as a catalyst for involvement in the University. Follow the administration, keep an eye on what the suits are doing. Your e-mail may be at stake.
\nLETTER TO THE EDITOR\nThe Indiana Daily Student has had a hundred columns and stories on the importance of voting, the civic duty of making your voice heard, some would call it a moral imperative. I wouldn't. I wouldn't call it any of those things. Voting is silly idea and ultimately worthless. The first law of organization is self-perpetuation, and our democracy is as good a case study as any. Take for instance our representative democracy, the golden child of our American experiment. The president is chosen (not necessarily by a popular majority) once every four years by a voter turnout so low it's shameful. The congress has an incumbency rate of over 90 percent, and the judicial branch is hand picked by the administration in power, to be replenished only when the icy touch of death strikes down a Justice. Our government, our democracy, was set up to be strong enough to move forward without the need for voters, which then begs the question: how long before we stop needing candidates?\nThat said, I'm still voting for John Kerry, although I might as well write-in myself.
