UA: Selling lives it could be saving

Last week, thanks to Terrence Bressi, a Lunar and Planetary Lab engineer, and physics senior Andrew Tubbiolo, the solution in search of a problem was exposed as a problem in need of a solution. The problem: students' Social Security numbers were given to the Saguaro Federal Credit Union and MCI Telecommunications Corp., no questions asked. The idea that a university would deal information about its students, faculty and staff to a major corporation without a second thought is offensive. In fact, the idea is so offensive that in 1974, a law was enacted to prevent universities that receive federal funding from releasing "personally identifiable" information on its students to the public. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) gives the federal Department of Education the power to strip a school of its federal funding if it fails to live up to the law. The law says that educational records cannot be released with out a student's permission.

The university is not at risk for being punished now, said Education Department spokesman Jim Bradshaw. Bradshaw said the department doesn't investigate an institution without receiving complaints and that a funding cut is the "ultimate penalty" imposed only if an institution steadfastly refuses to comply with the law.

The UA likes to say it holds FERPA sacred. Ask UA Attorney Mike Proctor and he'll tell you that he advises the UA to always resist releasing information for fear FERPA might be violated.

These Social Security numbers were released and nobody noticed this was a bad, if not illegal, decision.

Last semester, for example, The Kansas City Star was able to obtain the educational records of basketball player Miles Simon and plaster them across the country. Did that release constitute a violation of FERPA? These apparent law violations indicate something wrong with the way the UA maintains the sanctity of student information. Either the administration, or the education department, needs to find out just how pregnable the UA record-keeping system is.

Our administration continues to resist releasing records that would help paint a clearer picture of campus safety and the consistency with which the Dean of Students' Office deals with Code of Conduct violations. The university's policies may be in conflict with the spirit of the 1992 Campus Crime Reporting Act. Last year, the Ohio Supreme Court, citing the crime reporting law, ordered Miami University to open its campus disciplinary process to the public. That case remains under appeal, but the fact remains: the University of Arizona has released "personally identifiable" educational records information to businesses that can use the information for profit, but will not release information beyond statistics on campus safety concerns like hazing and rape.