Joseph Reaglehttp://reagle.org/joseph/blog/career/nyu-sallie-maeJoseph Reaglehttp://reagle.org/joseph/blog/career/nyu-sallie-maeCopyright 2003-2010 Joseph Reagle
PyBlosxom http://pyblosxom.sourceforge.net/ 1.4.3 01/10/2008
2007-04-12T14:59:42ZNYU and Sallie Maehttp://reagle.org/joseph/blog/2007/04/12/nyu-sallie-mae2007-04-12T14:59:42Z2007-04-12T14:59:42Z
<p>Longtime readers will know I've been frequently frustrated and puzzled by
NYU's infrastructural choices. When I first arrived I learned they used my
SSN as my student identification. I <a
href="http://reagle.org/joseph/blog/career/nyu-ssn-request">protested</a>,
wrote a formal letter, and was eventually issued a new SSN-like number. But,
of course, this didn't easily propagate through the institution so there were
often mismatches, duplication, and confusion when I used the computer labs,
athletic, library, health, and insurance services. Eventually, this policy <a
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/10/nyregion/10identity.html">blew up in
their face</a> when students' SSNs were accidentally released and all
students were issued a new, proper, identification. But this meant that for a
period, I had to remember three different numbers!</p>
<p>Other poor choices of NYU: an inefficient library site, an inaccessible
and proprietary classroom management system (i.e. blackboard), a <a
href="http://reagle.org/joseph/blog/career/nyu-registering-pain">broken
student registration</a> site (e.g., "don't use the back button", and "it
works in Internet Explorer"), blocking the SSH port so I can't securely use
their network, requiring a proprietary client for their wireless network (for
which there's no "support" for Linux and Palm), etc.</p>
<p>The latest head-scratcher is an announcement that we must use their new
electronic billing system. Clicking on a URL in the e-mail announcement, I
was redirected to what appeared to be a Sallie Mae site with an NYU logo. I
immediately think this feels an awful lot like a <a
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phishing">phishing attack</a>. (I
frequently receive advertisements from spammers, who know I am a student, to
my unpublished NYU e-mail address, so some how even this leaked out!) And
even if this isn't a phishing attack, Sallie Mae is the last company I want
to have any dealings with: their slimy marketing and brutal collection
practices are widely <a
href="http://www.salon.com/it/career/1998/10/12career.html">criticized</a>;
NYU's announcement came just before Sallie Mae's sweetheart <a
href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/16/eveningnews/main2579808.shtml">payoffs
to university officials</a> became headline news!</p>
<p>After I e-mailed NYU about the security and privacy practices of the
service, I learned I can <a
href="http://www.nyu.edu/bursar/ebill/faq.html#q6">"petition" to opt out</a>
after I fill out more paperwork. NYU... man...!</p>