When Rachel Décoste created her Whitney Worship Webpage, she was not prepared for the hype that would ensue.

The 20-year-old Gloucester native taught herself Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) so she could expand Whitney Houston's Internet presence. A computer engineering student at Guelph University, Décoste feels at ease working on computers. But Internet courses are not on the curriculum, she says, which meant she had to learn HTML on her own.

Initially, Décoste wanted to build a Michael Jackson page but she conducted a search for similar pages and "found about a zillion." So she turned her attention to her other music idol, Whitney Houston, and found only a few sites. After being online for six months, her site became so popular she was kicked off her server. "I guess the overflow of traffic on my site cost the server company 20 times more than what they were charging me," Décoste laughs.

Web surfers who land on Décoste's site will be treated to latest news on Houston, a charts list, a buy and trade page, a lyrics page, a discussion page and a gallery of almost 200 pictures. The site is so impressive it is mentioned in the June issue of Us Magazine. The article describes how popular the Whitney Worship Page has become, and how Décoste hopes she will someday meet Houston. "I'm so excited and I haven't even seen the article yet," she says. "All I know is what my friends in the United States have told me because the magazine hasn't come out in Canada yet." Décoste has made friends all over the world through her website, many of whom share their photos and information. As a result, her daily log of e-mail grows daily. "Because I've been so busy with exams over the past month, I haven't had much time to do my e-mail," she says. "I still have about 400 I haven't answered yet."

Some of the messages Décoste receives are "pretty outrageous." The e-mails she finds most amusing are those from fans who think she is Houston. "You wouldn't believe what people say to me, thinking I'm Whitney," Décoste says. "Some people ask me to get them record deals, others ask for money to pay for college.'' While she was initially disturbed by this, it has taught her a lot about icons like Houston and what they face everyday. Luckily, she says, the majority of her mail is friendly and supportive. "Lots of people e-mail me to thank me for the work I've done on the page," she says.

It can also be quite time-consuming, Décoste adds, yet she believes this is time well-spent. As the summer approaches, she hopes to spend even more time in front of her computer. Having started her own home-based business, Dolphin Webpage Designs, Décoste hopes to be able to put her skills to work helping local businesses get online and use Internet to their advantage.

"I love the Internet. I think it's the best thing that ever happened to this world." The Whitney Worship Page can be located at http://www. uoguelph.ca/~rdecoste/.