Forget e-mails - now clubs may send you texts

E-mails that clutter your inbox from the dozens of listservs you're on may be a thing of the past.

Clubs may soon be able to send you their announcements straight to your cell phone.

The Undergraduate Assembly unveiled a plan earlier this month to introduce a service called Mobile Campus to Penn by the end of next semester.

An Internet-based text messaging service, Mobile Campus allows organizations on campus to send their members text messages with announcements and information.

Students can also elect to receive texted coupons from various local vendors who choose to work with the service.

Mobile Campus will charge vendors to send text messages and will give the University a 5-percent cut of its profits.

"We can expect $100,000-500,000 in revenue over five years" from vendors in the Philadelphia area, said Andrew Rose, the Pennsylvania representative for Mobile Campus. "Philadelphia is a great market with a lot of vendors."

Presently, Penn officials are examining the service in order to gauge how useful it would be on campus.

"We've looked at other universities who have the service, like [the University of Texas at Austin] and the University of Florida," said Rob Nelson, a director in the Provost's Office. "And we've agreed to take a look at research on it . but it's way too early to make definite plans."

Mobile Campus - which is based in Texas - has already run into some controversy at UT-Austin.

Last spring, a Mobile Campus employee and a UT-Austin student illegally collected the phone numbers of 250 to 300 UT-Austin students, who he then enrolled in the program.

"He used Facebook.com to compile the numbers," said UT-Austin student Keshav Rajagopalan, the internal finance director for their undergraduate student government.

Mobile Campus has now revised the opt-in process to try to prevent any future abuse of the system. Students must now verify multiple times that they want to be enrolled in the program before they start receiving text messages.

"It's a completely free and opt-in service," said UA member and College sophomore Dan Tavana, who is leading the UA's effort.

Tavana went on to say that the service would let student organizations - such as clubs and fraternities - send an unlimited number of mass text messages via the Mobile Campus Web site.

To receive these text messages, students would first have to opt-in to the program by logging onto a personalized Penn Mobile Campus site. Students then can sign up to receive text messages from particular groups.

Students can also choose how many text messages each week they wish to receive. They will get messages from whichever organizations send them first until their quota is filled.

Even though the program is free to use, those receiving text messages may have to pay based on their own cell phone plans.

"The company itself doesn't charge," Tavana said. "But if you have a plan where it costs you to receive messages, you will have to pay."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.