business. MentorNet, a not-for-profit organization that matches undergraduate and graduate women studying science and technology with professional mentors via e-mail, suffered a blackout on its Web and e-mail servers during the last week of 2002. The problem: A transformer blew up at the College of Engineering at San Jose State University, where MentorNet was sharing the Ethernet and network infrastructure of the college. Because the college didn’t perceive Internet access to be as integral to its business as MentorNet does, it decided to get needed parts locally rather than calling emergency services for repairs. “When most of your work is related to some kind of computing, having your Website go down or having e-mails bounce back makes [doing business] difficult,” says Carol Muller, founder and CEO of MentorNet.