A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT. The Northern Star suggests there are right ways and wrong ways to send electronic mail to a professor.

"Many students have no idea how their e-mails read," said Marvin Hill, professor of business administration. "Do they ever use spell check? Do they use nouns and verbs in a consistent manner? Alas, God did not create everyone equal. One week of reading student e-mails will demonstrate this to all concerned."

While e-mail does allow students to contact teachers outside of class, some fail to use proper English, punctuation or tone. The failure to do so may lower the professor's opinion of the student and can even be found offensive by professors.

"My biggest gripe about student e-mails is the lack of attention paid to basic grammar and spelling," said Kay Forest, associate professor and chair of the sociology department. "Sloppy e-mails read like sloppy papers or poor exams. This is especially defeating when the student is requesting leniency in grading or some other reconsideration of his or her course performance or a job recommendation."

Indeed. Read and understand the main text and the sidebars.