Do you like telemarketing people calling you? I know that I don’t like the interruptions that they cause. In my case, it is even worse because I am a commuter student, using a cell phone, and I pay for “air time.” Because of this, cell phone numbers are not published. At least mine wasn’t until I started attending Iowa State.

Do you know that ISU considers your personal phone number public information?

It not only publishes it in the student phone directory but also puts it on the World Wide Web so every telemarketer in the world can get your phone number.

ISU could have at least put student phone numbers in AccessPlus so only other ISU students with AccessPlus accounts could get my phone number, but it didn’t do that.

I had to go to the Registrar’s Office to fill out a paper to become unlisted again. Next year, I have to do that again. Once my number was pulled off the Internet, the telemarketing calls dropped by about 90 percent. The problem was that I was still getting telemarketing calls and having to pay “air time” for them. I started asking the ISU officials if I could have their personal home phone numbers so I could put them on the World WideWeb.

Not one of them will let me do that!

This weekend, after the second telemarketing phone call, I called my service provider and switched phone numbers so now ISU doesn’t have it.

That was much easier than doing the thing with the Registrar’s Office. If enough students complained, maybe ISU would change its policy.

Why does ISU consider my date of birth and place of birth public information?

They didn’t send me a birthday card three weeks ago on my birthday. I know ISU needs that information about me to apply for funds and to know who its students are.

I don’t think it should be freely giving that information out. In my MIS classes, we are learning that information is valuable, and yet ISU “gives” your information out for free.

Any company that requests my date of birth from ISU is in violation of the Federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), which is an amendment to Title VII. of the Civil Rights Act (42 U.S.C. 2000), which is enforced by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC).

I think that ISU should reevaluate its information policies, because it could be adversely affecting its students.

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Dennis Crowe

Junior

Business