"Jesus Loves You. Refinance Now!"

For God so loved the world that he hooked us up with an awesome 1.5 percent introductory interest rate. I don't recall that anywhere in the Bible, but that was the actual subject line of an e-mail I received a few weeks ago. Kudos to "Christian Mortgage USA" for creativity-I actually did open that piece of spam mail. Curiosity really does kill this cat.

But the heavenly interest rates are simply one piece of the barrage of spam mail that my OU account is hit with on a daily basis. I used to diligently go through my e-mail and delete the spam, but I finally gave up and let my e-mail account fall to enemy fire.

That was about one month ago. Recently, I became inspired and decided to go through the festering quagmire of spam to reclaim my e-mail. You want to know how many junk e-mails can accumulate in one month? It was an astounding 1,565.

The spam offered everything from free gift certificates and iPods to prescription drugs and quickie diplomas. Not to mention all the offers to enlarge various organs. My important e-mail was all but swallowed up in all the trash.

I wonder what I have done to deserve all this spam. I mean, I have signed up for various newsletters, and I have given my e-mail address to various companies like eBay and Amazon, but are they to blame? Are they selling our e-mail addresses to any old company? What even gives them the right to distribute my personal e-mail address in the first place?

Maybe this is my fault. In the past I have clicked on that blasted link at the bottom of these e-mails that says "take my name off this stupid friggin' list and don't ever contact me again." Well actually, it said something like "unsubscribe." Well, I was informed by several of my nerd friends that clicking on that link is the worst thing that you could do. It lets the company know that it's an active e-mail account that someone cares about.

At that point you might as well wave a red flag that says, "Oh please, send me more information on Cialis and The University of Phoenix night program." I was thinking of opening another e-mail account, but since OU is my primary school communication vehicle, I will just continue to fight the good fight with the spam. Besides, I expect that the spam people will find me wherever I try to hide.

A glimmer of hope appeared from all the spam. An e-mail from OU that was obscured by the trash mail said the magic words "anti-spam." I followed the directions in the e-mail, and it was as simple as logging on to account.ou.edu and activating the anti-spam setting. I don't know if it's going to be all that effective, but it's nice to know that I have a fighting chance. So for all of you out there giving your delete button a workout, don't give up, I feel your pain.

-Deirdre Steiner is a public relations senior. Her column appears every other Thursday. She can be reached at opinion@oudaily.com.
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