Fussers Information Stolen

Tony Robertson is a student with a lot of options. He's recently been asked to join the Marines. He's been offered pre-approved credit cards and pre-paid calling cards, prompting him to consider a reckless spending spree. Tony Robertson is a man in limbo.

When a rash of students approached him last year to complain of the proliferation of junk mail and telemarketer phone calls they had been receiving, Vice President of College Relations Al Moran had a hunch. Acting on the suspicion that the contents of the student directory, or "Fussers" as Oberlin lingo would have it, had been sold to corporate businesses, Moran inserted the fictitious name Tony Robertson into the student listing of this year's directory. "I get calls from all these companies and I've got to put my game face on," Moran said. "I've got to suddenly pretend I'm 21 years old."

No More Junk Mail! Student looks through Fussers, the student directory. (photo by Christine Braunohler)

"Most schools do this," said Dean of Students Peter Goldsmith. "Al put in a dummy entry to catch companies using the directory for commercial purposes." The College's lawyers are now investigating the probability that the contents of Fussers were stolen and sold to corporations such as VISA, MasterCard and the Marine Corps. Although the first page of Fussers includes a disclaimer stating that student information may not be used for commercial purposes, the American Student List, a company that sells databases of student phone numbers and addresses to interested corporations, claims they never received this page in their electronic copy of Fussers. Agitated students can take solace, as the College has contacted the American Student List through its attorneys to order them to cease selling student information. Although the Wilder information desk requires an Oberlin validine for the purchase of Fussers, Goldsmith said this defense against the corporate world can only go so far. "If someone's really intent on getting a hold of this they will."

Goldsmith's theory of inevitability toward corporate behavior has led him to consider a means of combating the organizations constantly tormenting students with unwanted calls and mail. "What's come up is what kind of information students need in Fussers," he said. While he affirmed the necessity of the inclusion of students' Oberlin phone numbers and addresses, he said that Fussers may not include students' home addresses next year. "We can't stop someone from selling the list, but we can eliminate home addresses," Moran added.

Goldsmith emphasized that students seeking the utmost privacy have the option to withhold their personal information from publication in Fussers at the beginning of every year during enrollment. He has organized a small committee which includes one student to analyze how Fussers is organized and how it could be changed. "Fussers must not make students vulnerable to intrusion on their privacy from commercial solicitors," he said. "We're really interested in hearing from students about this."

One solution Goldsmith mentioned was the possibility of making student information available only in an on-line format, which could eliminate the inconvenience of the elimination of student's home addresses from Fussers. "Many campuses have electronic directories, which are sometimes available to the world and sometimes only to the college community. I think Oberlin needs to have a conversation about it."

Junior Josephine Lukoma expressed doubt as to the effectiveness of eliminating home addresses from Fussers. "I think either way you're going to get harassed," she said, confirming that she has received multiple phone calls from telemarketers. "Sometimes the addresses are useful, too," she continued.

Sophomore Mitali Routh agreed with Lukoma on the utility of including home addresses in Fussers. "It's kind of nice to know where people are from," she said. "But it would save some of the junk mail we get at home."

Moran laughed on recalling that last year some students even suspected that he may have sold a copy of Fussers to a distributing company. "Even though I contemplated selling it after a bad day at the track, I would never do that," he said, laughing. Meanwhile, according to Moran, Tony Robertson's precarious future remains in jeopardy. "It's really up in the air right now for him - the Marines, a massive spending spree...what's a young guy to do?"