public exposure

A recent email from my school announced that they would be posting exam grades on the web, on or around January 6. Good of them, I thought, but something seemed amiss -- the email provided a username and password to access the site, but was sent to the entire first-year class.

I logged in, wondering how they'd manage to keep our grades private if we all had the same username and password. And then, to my horror, I realized that they had no intention of keeping anything private.

"Dude," I howled, rushing into the study where my husband was busy attacking France. "You won't believe what they're doing with our grades."

"What are they doing?" he asked.

"They're publishing them on a website in one big list!"

"Not with your name, though, right?"

"No, just with your exam number...but they're all going to be posted there, on this huge list, and you can see what everyone got!"

My husband burst out laughing at my consternation. "Haven't you ever watched a movie? Ever? This is totally how it's done in law school."

"That's fiction!" I squealed. "They can put anything in a movie! This shouldn't be happening at a real school."

"Dude," he said, "this is law school. It's the most archaic educational model still in existence."

He's right, as usual, which doesn't make it any easier. The thought of learning my grades by seeking out one four-digit number on a list of several hundred makes me feel, at worst, naked in public, and at best, like one more stamped-out prefab gear on the conveyor belt.

But I guess that's part of the point...

thus spake /jca @ December 13, 2002 11:24 PM