Page 3 • Thursday, September 30, 1999
Aggielife
I’m in here
Students discuss lack of privacy atA&M
BY AMANDA PALM
The Battalion
W hether a student wants it
to happen or not, attend
ing a school with over
40,000 students creates a loss of
identity and personal space.
From being assigned a faceless
ID number to sharing close living
quarters with a roommate, finding
any degree of privacy at Texas A&M
can be a difficult task.
Emily Stroope, a senior speech
communication major, said she has
lived with the same roommate for
nearly two and a half years. They
once shared a two-bedroom, two-
bath apartment, but moved into a
one-bedroom, one-bath apartment
at the beginning of the semester.
“We had to get a one bedroom
because my roommate is graduat
ing in December and I won’t grad
uate until May.” Stroope said, “
This way, I won’t be stuck trying to
sub-lease in once she’s gone.”
Stroope said making the switch
to a smaller apartment was not
very difficult, but losing space, as
well as her own bedroom and
bathroom, did put a strain on
everyday life.
“I had to remember what it was
like to live in the dorm my first cou
ple of years [at A&M],” she said.
“We had to go back to sharing a
bedroom and making sure one of
us didn’t need to be in the bath
room while the other one was in
the shower. Stuff like that.”
Stroope said finding privacy
and time to be alone in the apart
ment was easy because her room
mate’s schedule is very different
from hers.
“When I’m at work, she’s at
home,” she said, “and when I’m at
home, she’s in class. Usually the
only time we’re there together is at
night when we’re sleeping or some
rare times on the weekends.”
Stroope said that if she finds
herself in need of time away from
her apartment and her roommate,
she goes to visit her boyfriend, who
lives alone.
“I seek refuge at my boyfriends
apartment sometimes,” Stroope
said. “He doesn’t have any room
mates, so I can go there when I
know he’s not home to get some
privacy if I need to.”
There are privacy issues on cam
pus other than trying to find time
to be alone when living with a
roommate.
Currently, a person’s Social Se
curity number is used to identify
them as a student. That number is
printed on the front of ID cards and
parts of the number are used to
post test results. The use of the So
cial Security number as a form of
student identification began 15
years ago with the introduction of
the Student Information Manage
ment System (SIMS).
Bob Piwonka, director of stu
dent financial services, said the
university is in the process of
changing the use of Social Security
numbers as the major form of iden
tification for students.
“Our goal is to get away from us
ing the Social Security number as
quick as we can,” he said. “We
have a group of committees work
ing on it right now to find out who
is using the ID number and how
they’re using it.”
Piwonka said there were some
students who voiced concerns
about the use of the Social Securi
ty number as an ID number.
“This is a University initiative
through the department of fi
nance,” he said. “When SIMS
came on line, it made sense to use
the Social Security number. Now,
with the University trying to get
into e-commerce, we realize there
might be dangers with using the
Social as a form of ID.”
Yet another privacy issue for stu
dents is the new policy of notifying
parents of under-age students who
have violated University drug and
alcohol rules.
Until early this year, the Fami
ly Education of Rights and Priva
cies Act protected the privacy of
students’ records. A&M is the first
university in Texas to notify par
ents of crimes involving drugs
and alcohol.
Eric Cummings, a freshman mi
crobiology major, said he dis
agrees with the new policy of no
tifying parents about drug or
alcohol violations.
“It’s just like it was when I was
in high school, and if you got a
[minor in possession of alcohol],
you were kicked out of any ex
tracurricular activities for six
weeks,” he said.
“It shouldn’t be like that. It’s
none of the school’s business what
I do on my own time. I’m over 18,
and what I do is my decision. If you
don’t want your parents to know
about the things you do, then they
shouldn’t find out.”
Cummings said the policy is a
huge invasion of his privacy. He be
lieves the policy is not going to cut
down on under-age drinking or
drug use.
“All this is going to do is make
people try harder to avoid getting
caught,” he said.
“But as far as cutting down on
under-age drinking and stuff like
that, it’s not going to have any ef
fect at all.”