UTD e-mail will shift to Zimbra
Early adopters can now begin using Zmail, which is scheduled to replace UTD's previous e-mail system by May 30. Zmail is distributed through the Yahoo! company Zimbra.
Cody Eilrich, electrical engineering senior, served on the selection committee that chose Zimbra. Zmail includes 1 gigabyte of storage, up from the old system's 300 megabyte cap.
The extra storage offered by Zimbra's system will reduce strain on UTD's infrastructure and Information Resources employees, Eilrich said.
Outsourcing online storage through Zimbra is also much more cost efficient than the previously local UTD-hosted storage, Eilrich said.
Zmail was created using Ajax, a programming language which provides users with faster response and shorter loading times, according to the Zimbra web page.
The new Web client offers document uploading and sharing, e-mail tags to help with organization, a calendar, instant messaging with other Zmail users and a tasks tab which functions much like a daily planner.
Students are also able to integrate Twitter, Facebook and Digg accounts. Users can view and organize their inbox via their iPhones and BlackBerrys.
Zmail can also be synced with e-mail client applications like Microsoft Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird.
DIS departure from campus delayed
Fundraising for a new Dallas International School (DIS) campus on land obtained from UTD in 2008 has been hampered by the economic downturn, said DIS Public Relations Manager Tracy Kozah. Construction may also proceed in phases instead of being completed at once.
DIS, a language immersion-based private school, moved high school students from their main campus in downtown Dallas to UTD's Classroom Building (CB) in fall 2008. UTD's lease agreement included access to dining facilities, science labs and the Activity Center for DIS students.
Work on the new facility at the intersection of Waterview Parkway and Synergy Drive was scheduled to begin in January 2010, and is now likely to begin sometime in spring 2010, Kozah said. UTD traded 13.8 acres to DIS in return for land near campus that may one day be the site of a DART rail stop.
Kozah said the DIS high school building is slated for completion before the 2011-2012 academic year. When necessary funding is obtained, rooms for an elementary school and middle school will be built to allow DIS to move their entire school to Richardson.
DIS has agreed to lease the CB through 2010, and high school students will still have access to UTD resources, such as the library and dining services, after the move.
A recent partnership with the UTD Think Lab will allow DIS students to participate in a study led by Behavioral & Brain Sciences Assistant Professor Candice Mills, analyzing the decision-making skills of students.
SEA petitions for trash transfer
Students for Environmental Awareness (SEA) joined a crowd of concerned Richardson residents in the Richardson City Hall Nov. 23 as representatives spoke out against the expansion of Richardson's local trash transfer station, called Lookout.
Residents of Owens Park created a petition to support the cause, said SEA President Alison Beatty, international political economics sophomore. SEA collected 100 signatures for the petition, Beatty said. Four members of SEA also showed their support at the meeting. Beatty said she was glad to see so many citizens of the community showing they cared.
According to the representatives' presentation, Plano sends 33 times the amount of trash Richardson sends to Plano's trash transfer station called Parkway.
Currently, Lookout is a quarter mile away from a residential area - too close, said community representatives. To remedy the issues, the representatives suggested relocating Lookout and sending more trash to Parkway.
The audience filed out of the council hall after the trash transfer station presentation, leaving a scene of councilmen facing empty chairs. The meeting adjourned less than a minute later.
Richardson Mayor Gary Slagel said the city council would discuss the trash transfer station issue during a scheduled meeting two weeks after the Nov. 23 meeting. After the discussion it will bring a report back with their decision, Slagel said.
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