HCS provides Web service to about 50 individual students and 200 student groups, according to Assistant Administrator Michael J. Epstein '00.

"Our server was fine--it could handle the load--but rather than overload it, we decided to move the page," Feigenbaum added.

Lotze said he enjoyed his moment in the spotlight, but will not be too sad if the hamsters have danced their last.

"In a way it is fair, because she is the creator," Lotze said. "I'm just kind of worried about all of the people who won't get their hamster fix."

That may sound silly, but Lotze's e-mail inbox backs it up. He gets numerous e-mail messages from Web surfers about the glory of the dancing hamsters.

"Thanks for giving me a tool that constantly reminds me how productive humanity can be in its quest for balance and harmony with self and rodentia," said Ross Brown, vice president of a Seattle-based consulting firm, in an e-mail message to Lotze.

But the hamsters have brought Lotze more than fan mail--they may win him a job as well. He's heard from a banker at Goldman Sachs, where he will apply for a summer job, and a senior economic analyst from the United Nations, who offered Lotze a summer job in Austria over e-mail.

"One of the hardest things about being a job-seeking college student is getting in contact with companies," Lotze said. "If I did that through the dancing hamsters, then I'm happy."