Election spam raises questions
about mass email policy

Amass email sent to students by ASBSU President-elect David

Morriss has raised the eyebrows of administrators, who must now

determine whether to revise the Boise State email policy.

Morriss’ campaign compiled a list of student email

addresses through Broncomail’s address book tool, then sent a

letter to students in batches less than 50 — thus skirting

BSU’s mass email policy.

Morriss was unapologetic about the email, saying that the email

addresses are available to anyone with a Broncomail account, and

that his campaign was careful not to violate BSU’s mass email

guidelines.

“We know the rules,” Morriss said. “We kept it

under 50 because that’s the code.”

However, administrators took a dimmer view of the tactic.

“It’s obviously within the letter of the law, but not

within the spirit,” said David O’Neill, executive

director of BSU’s Office of Information Technology. But,

O’Neill added, he considered the incident a student issue,

one best left to Student Affairs Vice President Peg Blake.

Blake said the email flew under the radar of the current policy,

and that the policy might be reexamined as a result.

“It brings up the interesting question whether we should

modify our policy,” Blake said. “This seems to violate

the spirit of the policy, and that’s something we should look

into and determine whether or not we want to address it.

The policy defines mass email as email sent out to more than 50

students, except in instances when a class has more than 50

students enrolled. Mass emails require Blake’s approval and,

according to the code, must be “compelling, brief and to the

point.”

Andy Benson
Editor-in-Cheif

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