In a world where just about anyone and anything can be found on the Internet, students may want to be wary of what they post about themselves on Web sites such as Facebook and MySpace.

In response to online behavior incidents from the last school year, Marquette Student Government teamed up with the Office of Student Affairs over the summer and created the Online Student Behavior Committee.

The committee's spectrum of consideration includes student behavior on Facebook, MySpace, blogs, instant messages and away messages.

Though the committee recognizes these are all "good technologies," students have to take responsibility for their online behavior, according to College of Health Sciences senior and MUSG Executive Vice President Kristen Kamm.

"There are real-world implications to online behavior, and we don't want students ignorant to the big picture," Kamm said.

Questions were raised about online behavior after the lacrosse team's spring 2006 season was canceled when photos surfaced on webshots.com that featured some team members wearing women's thongs and drinking from beer bongs.

Another incident raising concern about Internet conduct occurred when a dental student posted offensive comments about a Dental School professor on his blog. The student was suspended as a result.

The goal of the committee is not to monitor or discipline but to promote "open discussion" among the administration and the students, Kamm said.

According to Kamm, the committee was formed because there was a large amount of student concern about monitoring online behavior, especially after the dental student's suspension.

"There was a lot of students worried and confused because they didn't understand that the university is not out to bust people, and what happened with the Dental School student was a special case because it is a graduate program," Kamm said.

Director of University Communication Brigid O'Brien Miller said the Online Student Behavior Committee is not a "formal standing committee" and only if an issue gets raised about online behavior will online material be evaluated.

However, some students, like College of Arts & Sciences senior Kelli Brooks, feel that online monitoring of any kind is not needed.

"I don't think there needs to be any online monitoring of Marquette students," Brooks said. "I believe that every person has the right to put whatever they want up."

The Online Student Behavior Committee said the academic freedom of students at Marquette is being maintained but it is also working toward informing students of the risks of online behavior through publications and seminars.

One such publication is an article entitled "Facebook and You and Marquette." The article was written by Associate Dean of Student Development and Online Student Behavior Committee member Stephanie Quade and highlights the rules and conditions of Facebook.

According to Quade's article, Facebook's user agreement, which all users agreed to when they opened an account, says anything posted on Facebook can be used by Facebook forever.

"I don't think students fully realize that people will look you up. Whether it is for a job interview, graduate school application or just about anything else your online behavior can be found," Kamm said.

The Online Student Behavior Committee met twice over the summer but does not currently have a schedule of future meetings.

The university appoints student representation for the committee.

"We may use information about you that we collect from other sources, including but not limited to newspapers and Internet sources such as blogs, instant messaging services and other users of Facebook, to supplement your profile. By using Facebook, you are consenting to have your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States. You agree not to use the Service or the Web site to: upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any content that we deem to be harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, vulgar, obscene, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable."

"From time to time, MySpace.com or a partner, may sponsor a promotion, sweepstake or contest on myspace.com. Users may be asked to provide personal information including name, email address or home address or to answer questions in order to participate. We may transfer personal information to certain ad partners that you have explicitly requested to receive information from. It will be clear at the point of collection who is collecting the personal information and whose privacy statement will apply. Please be aware that whenever you voluntarily post public information to Journals, WebLogs, Message Boards, Classifieds or any other Public Forums that that information can be accessed by the public and can in turn be used by those people to send you unsolicited communications."

Sources: Facebook.com and Myspace.com
Graphic by Cara Suglich/[email protected]

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