AOL blocks Harvard acceptance email as spam

Nomen Nescio nobody at dizum.com
Tue Jan 1 12:40:08 PST 2002


AOL Glitch Blocks Harvard 
   Admissions Office's E-Mails to Dozens 
           of Prospective Students
                       The Associated Press
                      Published: Jan 1, 2002
      BOSTON (AP) - Dozens of e-mail messages telling Harvard University 
 applicants whether they had been admitted never arrived last month after America 
 Online interpreted the messages as junk e-mail.

 "This wasn't exactly the instant response we intended," William Fitzsimmons, 
 Harvard's dean of admissions and financial aid, told The Boston Globe.

 After anthrax spores were mailed through the U.S. postal system, Harvard began 
 using e-mail to inform applicants quickly of whether they had been rejected or 
 accepted. E-mail was used to notify almost all of the 6,000 students who applied 
 in the school's early admission process.

 But for reasons that even AOL could not explain, the service blocked between 75 
 and 100 of the e-mails in December because the servers flagged the messages 
 as "spam," the unwanted e-mails that clog users' mailboxes. The messages were 
 bounced back to the university.

 "Spam is our number one problem. But it's hard to say what would have caused 
 the system to filter e-mail from Harvard," AOL spokesman Nicholas Graham said.

 The problem proved to be more trouble for Harvard than it was for the students. 
 Most just telephoned the admissions office to find out if they had been accepted.

 Admissions officers plan to begin posting a notice on the college Web site telling 
 students to make sure their Internet service doesn't block Harvard e-mail.

 And, as ever, the college will continue to use the postal system to notify 
 applicants.

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAS1B1VXVC.html

---
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