TIN (Threaded Internet Newsreader) provides access to more than 2500 
usenet groups.  Groups local to W&L (and not read by the world at large) 
are in use by a number of courses as a means to facilitate discussion and 
distribution of [non-copyrighted] course material.  Anyone at W&L may 
post messages and followups to the wlu.xxx newsgroups, but use in a 
course becomes general only if the professor soecifically requires 
participation.  Nonetheless, the potential for INTERACTIVE exchange is 
noteworthy, and it is possible to link to a newsgroup through a HTML 
document.  There is an example in the electronic textbook for 
<a href=news:wlu.psych395>Psychology 395</a>.