"E-mail is, on the whole, stable," Osterberg said on Monday, although he added that there were still occasional problems with the load.

Obstacles

HASCS, which is charged with maintaining the computer network, has a difficult mission.

The organization has come a long way from three years ago, when then acting director Richard S. Steen (no relation to Frank) described HASCS in a confidential memo obtained then by The Crimson as "a ship taking on water faster than it can bail it out."

In the memo to the FAS IT Committee, then chaired by Martin and Lewis, Richard Steen cited three problems: budgetary constraints, staff and space shortages and poor working conditions.

The problems plaguing HASCS then have mostly been solved.

HASCS' budget has risen to $4.8 million for 1997, compared to $2.3 million in 1994, according to Martin.

And its staff has increased from 18 full time employees in 1994 to 32 today, according to Frank Steen.

"We have an adequate level of staffing and excellent people working for us," Steen says.

But HASCS now struggles with staff turnover--six people have left its UNIX group in the past two years, although one later returned. The UNIX group is responsible for maintaining and installing the servers that have been so problematic this year.

"Salary was not the main issue for any of the people who left," Steen says. "Most people left to pursue interesting jobs elsewhere."

However, jobs in HASCS pay significantly less than those in industry. And at least two of the six people to leave took jobs in industry.

The UNIX group now has six fulltime employees, who are on-call 24 hours a day. When the network crashed on Nov. 14, members of the UNIX staff worked most of the night to fix the problems, according to Osterberg.

The Crimson was unable to speak with any current UNIX staff members because Steen does not allow employees other than himself or Osterberg to speak with the press.

Solving the Problems