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Hit delete

Proposal to double e-mail quota space not necessary if students clear outdated messages

It can be hard for some people to get rid of e-mails, but some messages, such as notes from your mother about what your dog had for dinner last night, should generally be deleted from an inbox.

ASMSU representatives want the quotas for e-mail accounts and file storage space be doubled. They argue it's easy for the space to fill fast if a student receives a lot of messages and documents. Once quota is reached, the mail settings automatically stop the account from receiving anymore messages.

But if students went through their e-mails more often and deleted unimportant messages, it wouldn't be necessary to double the account space.

The average student probably does not use more than their e-mail account quota of 64 megabytes very often, if at all. Even heavy users of MSU Webmail generally do not find themselves using the maximum space allowed.

Beyond diligently deleting unneeded messages, one can combat excessive mail crowding in the inbox by using another e-mail account. There are many alternative options available, such as Google's Gmail or Yahoo Mail. Utilizing these makes it easier to keep school-related e-mail separate from mom's little love notes.

ASMSU members also are proposing that graduates be able to pay a monthly fee to keep their e-mail accounts open as long as they want. Right now, students are able to use their accounts up to two years after they graduate. If people are willing to pay a fee to hold on to their MSU accounts, so be it, but it is not unreasonable to assume graduates can obtain a new account years after receiving their diplomas.

If the desire for extra space is widespread enough, the obvious next step would be to examine the extra cost. More space would likely mean more costs to the university, and with tuition high already, an optimum solution to increased e-mail storage would not have students footing the bill.

Ultimately, a few well-needed clicks of the delete button in most cases ensures that 64 megabytes serves students' needs.

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