Maybe for the sake of the IC contact question, we can have whiteboards or corkboards at the barracks, or some sort of BBS on the shatterdome intranet. The cadets won't (and shouldn't) have enough time to sit around and email each other, but just to drop a 'hey, weekend plans?' note, as well as a notification system for grades on coursework that requires more written assignments than physical performance, that could work.

I'm not suggesting a network. That wouldn't fit in in this game or in this genre. But a game-acknowledged system that corresponds with the requirement for and presence of an IC contact post wouldn't go amiss.