I haven't followed the whole Mark as Last Read Issue.
Is this an optional feature?
Screen real estate is quite precious around read_msg, as you know and all those words take up a LOT of space. I'd rather have the option not to show it or change the word to 'MALR' to cut down on space.
It really whacks up the interface on any smaller resolutions than your 29000x18000 resolution you use.
Edit: Or another possible suggestion would be to put the KEEP and MALR links in the same place you do in profiles and NEXT 10/100 -- the bottom right of the message. Try setting your resolution to about 800x600 and you'll see what keep/malr do to the page. This route, you'd have specific sections for navigation and message handling.