Maybe it's only fitting that a graduate of the college that helped pioneer computing helps keep Dartmouth alumni in touch over the information superhighway.
Carey Heckman '76 publishes the newsletter, called Alumnet, and describes it as a "technical list server" distributed to more than 270 Dartmouth alumni about every two weeks.
"Alumnet is like an alumni magazine, only on a smaller scale," Heckman said in a telephone interview from Stanford, Calif. "Through it alumni can obtain sports information, express opinions, write letters to the editor and keep up to date on what is going on at the College."
Heckman said the goal of Alumnet is to bind together alumni. "It keeps the alumni tight and helps preserve the idea of the Dartmouth community which was very strong when I attended the college," he said.
Heckman spends several hours per issue compiling information from the College News Service and Sports Information and sending it out in the form of a newsletter.
"It is a labor of love and it feels fun to help alumni," Heckman said.
Any alumnus can receive Alumnet, which is free. Heckman said the service actually saves the College money because it eliminates the need to mail out press releases and other information to alumni.
Heckman said the number of subscribers is growing at a rate of one to two people a day as the news of Alumnet spreads.
Alumnet is global in nature, covering the United States, Japan and Australia and is especially useful for alumni who live far from the campus, Heckman said.
"All alumni enjoy getting information, especially those who are out of the country," Heckman said. "For these people, Alumnet is a more efficient way to keep up with the happenings at the College than through the mail."
"For example, the people on Alumnet have already been informed that [President Bill] Clinton is coming to give the Commencement address," he said.
Subscribers to Alumnet vary greatly in age from the Class of 1939 up through the Class of 1994.
There are a surprisingly large number of seniors who subscribe, according to Heckman.
Heckman has been publishing Alumnet for the past five or six years.
