Professors are using e-mail more and more to communicate with or receive communications from their students. TA's use it to set up review sessions or notify students of changes in their schedules. Clubs and other student organizations use it to send bulletins and updates to new and current members. Students use it to communicate with other students, as well as their professors and TA's. Plus it's environmentally friendly.
Email is no longer just for the technically inclined.
Students who do not check their email regularly can end up missing out on vital information about examinations, meetings, and group activities.