Software a 'pure' waste

Their answer?\n A check for $300,000 made out to the makers of "Pure Message," an anti-spam program, signed by IU.\n This money, as Associate Vice President of Telecom-munications Brian Voss told the IDS (Dec. 2, "IU to combat spam on servers"), will come from funds already within the University budget and "will not raise any fees." Voss also said the software will help to prevent viruses from entering the server. Though the software won't be implemented until February 2004, it won't be applied to every Inbox, and users need to apply for a subscription to have access to the filtering program.\nBut we think the problem with spam isn't so much a question of "How can we get rid of it?" as much as "How much of a problem is it?" With one click of a button, an e-mail is easily deleted, and users are often warned to never open any e-mails or attachments from unfamiliar senders. Users can also sign up for alternate e-mail accounts when applying for things online and should only disclose their school addresses for private matters. While this might not completely eliminate spam, it decreases the likelihood of receiving it.\nAnd is it really worth $300,000 to eliminate those steps easily practiced through practical common sense?\nAny frequent e-mail user has read these quality subject lines: "Viagara can work for you!" or "Get your spam software!" -- the most ironic of all. With this new software, not only will campus e-mail users be deprived of advertising they might want to see, but some e-mails sent from those with whom they actually need to correspond will be deemed spam, extracted from Inboxes and then sent to quarantine.\n"The system will send you a note at the end of the day, saying 'Here's the list of all the messages I thought were spam,'" Voss said.\nRight-o! The one thing possibly more annoying than spam itself is getting an itemized list of our spam.\nGranted, you don't need to subscribe to the program offered to you unless you want it, but you also don't have the choice in what the technology fees "already within the University budget" are used for.\nPerhaps UITS could save $300,000, apply it to something more practical and put their time and energy into something more effective. \nLike, perhaps, informing users on how to properly utilize the delete function in the very e-mail programs they provide.