Ubuntu 8.10 (server) static IP issues

[chef]

I recently installed Ubuntu 8.10 server and loaded the desktop to it. I'm trying to configure it with a static IP (for use at my university). When using it at home, it works fine with DHCP so I know the card is fine.

Following the many online tutorials I removed the network manager, changed the file /etc/network/interfaces to contain the IP, netmask, and gateway. I changed the resolv.conf file so it has my schools DNS servers.

When I try "sudo ifup eth0" I get the following error:
SIOCADDRT: No such process
Failed to bring up eth0.

If I comment out the gateway address the "sudo ifup eth0" appears to work. I'm going to test the connectivity on Monday. The weird thing is that even if I can't get the ifup eth0 command to work, I can ping other IP's in the building but can't see any websites.

Any ideas on this one? Are gateway addresses not needed in certain cases in Linux?

[Google]

[chef]

For whatever reason, if anyone else out there is having this same issue, changing the subnet mask to 255.255.255.0 gets everything work. I even still had an error message when issuing "sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart:" but it works. Totally weird since all the other pc's in the building use a different subnet.