Vice President of Student Affairs Patricia Green-Powell lives at 2013 Ambrose Court and can be reached at 877-8264. Dean of Students Henry Kirby lives at 201 Kirby Circle. Vice President of Development Love Collins lives at 3909 Reserve Drive Apt. 1021.
How did I become privy to such information? None other than the FAMU Telephone Directory.
Published annually, this book violates the privacy of students and faculty. The home addresses and phone numbers of students, their parents and staff are printed and distributed campuswide for anyone to peruse.
Not only does this violates peoples privacy, it also creates a potentially dangerous situation.
Praise God I do not have a stalker or someone I am trying to avoid. If I was not as blessed, I know I would be very distraught. Not only is my life in jeopardy but also the lives of my mother, father and siblings at home.
For the faculty and staff of this University, the situation becomes even more dangerous. Also, I don’t believe students should have access to the location of their professor’s residences.
With this information, the possibility of vandalism or other forms of harassment is greatly heightened.
Granted this is public data that, technically, can be gained by any person if they tried.
Yes, people do give their name and address to stores such as Blockbuster, so the information is out there.
However, Blockbuster does not go around printing its customer database for whomever to acquire. FAMU does.
Should the administration deem it absolutely necessary to create a telephone directory, there is certain information that can be included to still be effective.
Professors and other faculty can be listed with their office location and office telephone number.
Perhaps the e-mail could be included to enable better lines of communication. If anything, students should be listed by just their local telephone numbers.
The FAMU administration must take action to amend these privacy concerns before something drastic happens to one of the faculty, staff members or students.
Dominique Drake is a sophomore business student from Cleveland. Contact her at ddidis1@aol.com