It's the newest rage. You could potentially can save money by taking five minutes out of your day to write a couple of sentences. Interested?

All it takes is an e-mail explaining some reasons why funding for higher education shouldn't be cut, such as how every $1.5 billion invested into colleges has a $39 billion impact on the economy. Just by typing something as simple as that, we all will be a little bit closer to saving our hard-earned dollars.

University officials are urging students, parents and alumni to voice their opinions to state legislators. MSU is being surprisingly proactive by notifying 35,000 students and 60,000 alumni about the potential harm of state cutbacks, compared to other universities in the state that simply are allowing their presidents and spokespeople to do the talking.

Sending out letters with tuition bills might look desperate, but for higher education, this is a time of desperation, and at least the word is getting out there.

Even though we might not know the impact of our responses sent to legislators, we should not feel defeat.

Fill inboxes to their maximum capacity. It is true: 10,000 e-mails are more powerful than 10.

About half of MSU's total budget comes from state appropriations, and that percent is declining rapidly.

Tuition rising even another percent next year would further hurt the community of East Lansing and the students who attend MSU.

It's time to spam legislators. Explain your own situations or issues dealing with budget cuts.

It might not make a huge difference in the end, but you never know unless you try.

There is no harm in sending a free message on the Internet. Check out michigan.gov for a list of e-mail addresses you can use to contact your legislator.

If we all could come together, our voices would be heard.

The question is, how loud will they be?