On Sunday a local faculty member posted a copy of Eric's recent warnings
to a local UIC list that is read by faculty, staff and administrators.  The
faculty member was very worried that BITNET was going to collapse and
take a list he manages with it.  The subject given was "Why the E-Mail
May Stop!"
 
In light of the tremendous amount of work we at UIC have put into trying
to keep BITNET running the last few months I found my blood pressure
rising.  The message from Eric had hit too close to home and was causing
local people to panic, even to believe that all internet mail might collapse
as well.  The fact that a highly technical treatise predicting BITNET
armageddon made it into the hands of local, non-technical "innocent bystanders"
enraged me.
 
With adrenaline flowing, I sent off a reply to the local list.  In the reply
I made some ill-advised comments about Eric's motives.  My remarks were
based on emotion and not on fact.  I was trying to pour water on a small
blaze before it turned into a campus wide panic and I said things I woudn't have
said in a calmer moment.
 
Somehow my comments managed to get posted to LSTOWN-L for all of you to see.
I regret the remarks; they were out of line.  I regret that someone saw fit
to post local comments to an international list.  I also apologize to Eric,
L-Soft and LSTOWN-L subscribers for any problems the remarks caused.
 
Please note that I'm not the "manager" of the UIC Computer Center, I wasn't
speaking on behalf of my management or on behalf of the University of
Illinois. Finally, I never used the word "threat" in any of my remarks.
 
Sincerely,
 
 
Jim O'Leary
University of Illinois at Chicago
Computer Center
(312) 996-4643