Sarah and I have gotten close over the past year.

I know everything about her through my e-mail account — what her old sorority is up to, the status of her student loans, which of her friends has had children, whether or not she’s paid her credit card on time this month.

The thing is, she and I have never met.

Sarah, you see, is an NIU alumna — one who, until her recent graduation, had an NIU e-mail account. I transferred here last fall, and inherited her old e-mail address. I also inherited all the spam that goes with it.

In a world with Gmail, Hotmail and inexpensive Web domains, I’m not sure why anyone uses his or her NIU address as a primary e-mail. I’m also willing to bet Sarah didn’t expect to lose access to her account quite so quickly. I’ve done what I can to get in touch with her, and from this point on, any e-mail intended for her will simply go in the trash.

Something similar happened when I moved into my apartment. My mailbox was crammed daily with letters for the three previous tenants of my unit. When they moved out, they apparently left no way for people to find them. Considering most of those letters came from collections agencies and had “Final Notice” stamped on them in none-too-friendly letters, I’m not entirely sure those folks want to be found.

These things are a minor irritation. A quick note to the post office and the malignant missives went back to where they came from, and misguided e-mails are never more than a few clicks away from the trash.

But what about Sarah? I can only assume that missing out on some of these messages must be inconvenient at best, and damaging to her credit rating and future plans at worst. I only hope she’s getting paper letters at home, but who knows?

But what if I were a jerk?

I’ve had within my mailboxes the potential to make life difficult for a few people. In addition to

collections notices, I also got letters pre-approving previous tenants for credit cards — the same tenants who owed the money. I have the ability to steal people’s identities — if I were deviously inclined.

Even though I’m not clever enough to pull off identity theft, even though I’m a nice guy and even though a traumatic experience with shoplifting candy when I was 3 left me incapable of stealing, other people’s dirty laundry can be viewed by me, a total stranger.

I have a message for all outgoing seniors. Before you go, make sure your bank statements, credit cards, student loans, chain letters, e-vites and dirty Web site subscription renewals are going to an address that you’re going to keep after graduation.

Likewise, if you’re moving out of an apartment soon, make sure you leave a change of address with the post office.

I’m a nice guy, and have not availed myself of the opportunities Sarah has left on my doorstep.

Someone else may not be as nice.