When asked what she likes to do for fun, Debbie Edwards jokes, "Not read e-mail."

Edwards has worked with Information and Educational Technology since 1984, spending the last eight years as the campus e-mail postmaster.

She is bombarded daily with between 100 and 150 messages asking her to solve a range of e-mail problems -- access issues, closed accounts, messages not being received -- the list is long. During the first few weeks of each quarter, Edwards spends up to 10 hours a day just troubleshooting.

"You can't rely completely on e-mail, because, when you do, it stops working. It's Murphy's Law," says Edwards, noting that combating that law is part of what makes her job so enjoyable. "I get a great amount of satisfaction out of helping people fix things."

Among other things at IET, Edwards also has been responsible for creating listservs. This quarter alone, she says more than 1,000 class e-mail lists have been created, and some 5,500 exist on campus overall. Edwards used to have to look at each individual list and set it up manually. But improved technology has made her job is easier -- allowing her to simply approve or deny a mailing-list request.

It's a far cry from when Edwards first started two decades ago, and there wasn't even a campus network. "Everything stood alone," she says. "You had to have individual accounts on each machine. It's amazing what has happened on this campus during the last 20 years."

One of the biggest changes is the e-mail revolution that led to the formation of her position in 1996.

Outside of work, Edwards is an avid Sacramento Monarchs basketball fan. She is a perennial season ticket-holder, and made it out to all but one of the WNBA franchise's home games last season.

She also loves gardening. Edwards' yard boasts eight fruit trees, assorted rose bushes and, during the summer, a salsa garden of tomatoes and peppers. She calls the hobby her "stress reliever."

One thing she generally does not do in her spare time? "Check my e-mail," she says, smiling.

-- By Mike Sintetos