Your social security number is essentially your identity. Identity-theft has climbed over the past years causing an outbreak of stringent precautions on behalf of credit card companies, banks, and individuals. Why is it then that UNM insists on using cocial secuity numbers as student ID numbers? The obvious answer is laziness. It owuld be more owrk for them to provide new numbers for us to use thorughout our academic career at UNM. Because of this laziness, the students here reveal the precious number several times day. To gain access to I-TEL either on the Internest or the phone, we must use this number. To visit career counseling, the health center, student advisors and many other on-campus necessities, our social security number is needed. The most recent offense of the cocial security turned student ID number involves petitions. When a student signs a petition they are asked to write and sign their name, provide their phone number and e-mail address, and finally, print their social security number. How many people will see that petition either when signing it or handing it up through the administration? How can I guarantee the safety of that person's identification number when I am not sure who will see it? This is a true concern to which the UNM administration must find a solution. It is not simply a matter of inconvenience. The school holds our identities in their hands, but how protective of them are they truly?
Kristen Woodruff
270-2724
