Almost all of these spam-meisters have boxes to check that supposedly remove us from their lists.  Unfortunately, they hardly ever remove us from the frikkin' list!  This is maddening!  Anything you can do will be greatly appreciated.  (Might even right in your name for governor...)

RESPONSE: The Chronicle of Higher Education (9/27/02)recommends NOT responding at all. If the advertiser is disreputable, it could have the opposite effect because you have now let them know they have reached a valid address. This only holds true if it's obviously real garbage! Many companies are legit and will delete it upon request.

Altho' I posted on Nell the closing of two parking lots for an event, the response I received was that staff was angry. Not just that their parking was cut off, but that they don't check Nell, in fact, they avoid it. Therefore, they didn't get the notices. I was asked to email those notices to the departments affected. Is this possible? Is it a problem?

RESPONSE: We can start targeting via e-mail people by building for power outages or parking lot closures. Also, notices on Nell are posted on Today@Sam so if people are not logging in on Nell, they can still stay informed.

Can University mail from departments and organizations advertising events be required to have a special word in the subject so that it could be individually filtered into separate folders to separate it from regular business?

RESPONSE: Yes. Good idea.

Could we add a "blocker" so that we could just block the address the spam came from?

RESPONSE: We can "black-list" certain servers. However, they get around this by disguising the name the next time it's used.

For the last 2 questions, yes, but some departments and organizations send graphics intense messages that freeze my home computer (I have my home Outlook configured to check my Sam email) and take forever to download.  If depts and organizations could be convinced to send messages just using text, that would be helpful.I like the idea of the University blocking mail classified as spam, but an afraid of messages getting misclassified.

RESPONSE: We will work with departments to make them more aware of the difficulties encountered with people using dial-in connections.

how can we prevent uninvited pornography that looks innocent to open?

RESPONSE: The {Spam} subject line and the blocked spam SHOULD help eliminate much of the questions about the e-mail's innocence.

I also receive a large number of emails that are marked {SHSU Postmaster warning...} that come from people who I know did not send or attempt to send me anything.  Is there anyway to cut that junk out?Thanks.

RESPONSE: Done.

I am on several listservs for professonal purposes   If software were implemented to stop spam, and it blocked these, could I  get you to allow them through, if I gave you their addresses?Recently, I have received less junk mail, but more items identified as carrying viruses, which I suspect are junk mail.  I merely delete them without opening.

RESPONSE: We cannot keep a list of each person's exclusions. This would be impossible to maintain and keep current, and server information changes so it would be inaccurate immediately. We will try to keep the Spam block number high enough to eliminate it affecting professional mail.

I do not mind deleting the junk e-mail, but really do not like receiving offensive e-mails from who knows where, especially ones which appear to be pornographic (I delete immediately, maybe they are not as offensive as they look, I do not want to find out)  Is there some way to completely eliminate those kind of messages? Thank you.  

RESPONSE: The Spam level of 20 should block the truly offensive e-mails.

I do not wish the university to filter, block or in any way stop my email from getting to my box.  Mostly because I rely on certian emails for my primary responsibilities.

RESPONSE: We do not think this will impact your primary responsibilities with the filter level of 20. We will be reviewing this level.

I don't view legitimate university mail as spam. I'd really rather stop getting ads for "nude girls" in my inbox, however, and am shocked that we don't screen for things. Yahoo's spamguard lets us review the spam when we want to; why don't we implement something like that?

RESPONSE: As you can see from the other responses, screening is a controversial issue. This new system should give the users the ability to screen themselves easier.

I find that university e-mail advertising is useful as long as it isn't overused.  My concern with SpamAssassin is that it will filter out too much mail that I need.  Most of my off-campus connections are through e-mail, and I am forwarded a great deal of information.  Will we have any control over what is filtered, or will someone else decide at what level the entire university is filtered?

RESPONSE: We chose the current filter level by evaluating the truly ghastly mail! It is still a subjective guess though.

I have recieved some X-rated spam photos, not a very pleasant experince!I am on a couple of list serve that I need to be on for my job, will I still recieve these?I would rather not recieve broadcasted items for faculty when I am not faculty, political type, tenue, etc.

RESPONSE: You should still receive listserv mail.

I think sending emails on campus for University events as well as promotions are great - it will help defray the costs fordepartment to have fliers printed and distributed - knowing full well that most informational fliers wind up being thrownaway. There should be a way that whatever design the flier is created in will be sent to all departments in that format.Also regarding the spam folders - does that mean that each individual would have a spam folder that they could checkat their convenience.

RESPONSE: Although the original design can look great, it sometimes causes heartaches for people with slow connections. Additionally, we need to avoid sending items that are saved in a specific software that the recipient would have to have to open the e-mail.

I want to know why I still get so many virus filtered messages.  It seems that between 10-20 get through daily and they appear to be fromon-campus addresses, yet I know that the sender did not send them.  They appear to be left overs from that virus that attacked the address booksand keeps sending messages in a vicious circle.  Is there a fix for that?

RESPONSE: Done

I would like to know how to go about blocking emails from porn sites, advertisements, etc. that have found clever ways to not allow you to getoff their list. How in the heck I ever got there is another matter. Is there a software I can use that will allow me to block the spams and trashy emails as I review all the mail in my box. What it is, I have to check so many emails, I don't want to run the risk of missing any of them that may be important, rather, I would like to be able to actually single out the bad ones and put a stop to them personally. Is there something out therelike that?

RESPONSE: You can also choose to filter out specific mail yourself. Instructions for filtering are available from the Survey page.

If you put notices/messages on Nell, also please send on e-mail or post on Today at Sam.  We have several in our office who have no reason to useNell and some who don't use it on a daily basis.    

RESPONSE: Notices are normally placed on Nell and on Today@Sam.

I'm concerned about the fact that I continue (on a daily basis) to receive those klez offspring emails that have been circulating through university email since back in the summer. And what's with those viagra ads, those porn movie specials? I don't know how many got the latest Nigerian scam, but these are the types of messages that no one should object to having screened and deleted. 

RESPONSE: The klez e-mails will no longer be sent. The Viagra and Nigerian e-mails should be prohibited by the Spam blocker.

I'm new to this,  I do not understand what "spam" is. If I have been recieving "it" then it has not been a problem so far.

RESPONSE: Spam is a term used to refer to junk mail that is sent by the millions through e-mail.

Instead of blocking possible SPAM mail, maybe you could have it marked as SPAM when it comes thru the server.  That way you can decide if you want to open it or just delete it.

RESPONSE: We are now marking the subject as {Spam} if the score is 9 or greater with the Spam Assassin. We are only blocking e-mail that's 20 or higher.

More aggravating than spam are those virus messages that fill my inbox.

RESPONSE: Done.

Most of the unwanted e-mail I get are virus alerts. I talked to Computer Services about this many months ago; they told me there was a virus on the university's e-mail server, and that they were working on it. Six months later, I still get 5-6 e-mails a day telling me a message I sent had a virus, when in fact I sent no such e-mail in the first place. It's getting very old.

RESPONSE: Done.

My mail concern is the number of emails I get the says that there is a virus on my computer. There seems to be a big problem with this, as my entire department has the same problem continually. What can be done about that?

RESPONSE: Done.

My only concern is if Spam deletes something I might need.

RESPONSE: This is the biggest concern, obviously. It CAN happen because the system can score things that are actually innocent incorrectly.

My Spam is comming from private vendors.  I receive solications for new cars, insurance, cell phones and other various non-related items.  How do they get my University email address?

RESPONSE: Companies use harvesting programs that collect e-mail addresses from Web pages. They also use "dictionary attacks." These simply send mail based on randomly generated addresses. Also, if you sign up on a site, that company may sell your address.

I'm not sure why this is, but it seems to me that SHSU does not sufficiently advertise worthy events. Twice a Nobel prize winning biologist spoke here, and both times I learned about it after the event. Therefore, I think the pressure to email everybody, on even minor matters, would decrease if major events were publicized better. By major events I mean nationally known speakers, plus SHSU drama dance and music performances. Specifically, I think we need something on the Sam home page that calls attention to events happening within 24 hours, so that nothing stays in prime position over about 24 or 36 hours. The current layout does not call attention to today's day's events very well in my opinion. For physical locations not on the web, I think the best advertising places not used at all are in front of major eating areas and the post office. Currently, I trip over the poorly constructed billboard for the food court daily. When a notice is put up it's the size of a page of paper, often tiny print or illegible color schemes, and never protected from rain. But it wouldn't take very much to install a better way of advertising worthy events. I suggest 4  areas for starters, including the post office, library, student center, and Belvin. Better and more widespread use of these physical media would lessen some of the desire to email everybody about everything.And I agree that emailing everyone because your department has a speaker on a topic not of widespread interest, is worse than our current situation, which is not bad, but needs some problem-solving.

RESPONSE: We can do better at this. Please notify the Helpdesk if you have a special event that you'd like highlighted on the main University site. We'll gladly post related photographs on the main site as the rotating pictures.

Often I receive virus warnings for messages I've never sent.  I don't know how those are ascribed to my email.

RESPONSE: This was a result of a virus that forged the sender's name. We have stopped notifying you of these.

Still getting a lot of viruse (trojan?) inspired emails from on campus perhaps those sending out such messages need help to prevent viruses from being spread to whole outlook address book. Also perhaps a capability of sending a generic message to mailing lists informing them that a user would like to be removed would be helpful...

RESPONSE: We've eliminated the virus notification.

THANK YOU FOR TRYING TO HELP WITH JUNK MAIL.  I NEVER HAD A PROBLEM WITH IT UNTIL  A APPROX. 3 MONTHS AGO.  WOULD LIKE TO RECEIVE THE COMPUTER SERVICES INFORMATION BUT NOT FROM OTHER DEPARTMENTS. IS IT POSSIBLE TO INDICATE TO COMPUTER SERVICES WHAT SENDERS I WOULD LIKE TO GET RID OFF IN ADDITION TO THE OBVIOUS JUNK MAIL?

RESPONSE: You can filter these yourself. Check for the links from the Spam survey page.

The main problem I seem to be having is not with junk e-mails but with viruses.  I get 2-3 messages a day saying that a virus has been detected, etc.  Thank you for detecting these, but do you need to send me an e-mail alerting me to this problem?

RESPONSE: We've stopped.

The only reason I consider the junk mail to be a significant problem is because much of it is "adult" spam.  I don't like getting that stuff in my email.  One thing to consider about sending notices on Nell - if a notice is posted after I'm logged into Nell, I don't know there's a notice posted unless I happen to log off Nell then get back into it.  I used to get a message across the bottom of my Nell screen, telling me that I received a notice but I don't get those anymore.

RESPONSE: We can do a send on Nell whenever we post a new Notice.