Xref: utzoo news.admin:1701 news.sysadmin:587
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!vsi!sullivan
From: sullivan@vsi.UUCP (Michael T Sullivan)
Newsgroups: news.admin,news.sysadmin
Subject: Re: use the news
Message-ID: <341@vsi.UUCP>
Date: 5 Mar 88 01:42:42 GMT
References: <1063@hubcap.UUCP>
Organization: V-Systems -- Santa Ana, CA
Lines: 28
Keywords: non computer types
Summary: Possibly not enough time

In article <1063@hubcap.UUCP>, hubcap@hubcap.UUCP (Mike Marshall) writes:
> Here I am, the unix admin at a medium sized university, (~14,000) and
> only about 160 people are using the net (these folks are mostly the 
> grad students, staff and faculty that were using unix anyway). The people
> that DO use the net use it fairly heavily. I advertised the existence of
> usenet in our computer center newsletter, but that was kind of like
> preaching the gospel to a bunch of clergymen... they are already interested.
> 
> What kind of novel ideas does anyone have about getting people who aren't 
> already interested in unix/usenet/computers to realize what a powerful

I know when I was in school it was all I could do to get the the computer
center to do my assignments, much less do things like read netnews (which
we didn't have, but you get the point).

Since students don't have much time, what kind of .newsrc are you giving
them?  Say a student comes in, is kinda frazzled after having finished his
program, and wants to read the news.  He (she, whatever) starts up the
programs and is overwhelmed by the millions of newsgroups there are.
Seeing that there are just too many to read he gives up and leaves.  How
about giving students a default .newsrc with a subset of the newsgroups
there are.  After they get the hang of things they can add more as they
go along.

-- 
Michael Sullivan		{uunet|attmail}!vsi!sullivan
				{ucbvax|ihnp4|sun}!amdcad!uport!vsi!sullivan
HE V MTL			sullivan%vsi.uucp@uunet.uu.net