Columbia has dropped the ball or the information, I should say. Last night, an alum stumbled upon a file with the names and social security numbers of about 5,000 Columbia students – all found on Google.

The blunder is said to have been committed last summer by an employee at the Housing and Dining Department. Scott Wright, the vice president of student and auxiliary services, assured the students, in an email, that the publishing of this information was purely unintentional. Mistakes happen all the time, the real question is how did this mistake go unnoticed for so long?

An online petition has already been started to combat this breach of confidentiality. The petition, started up by a Columbia student who wishes to remain anonymous, has currently raked in 71 signatures and the list is continuing to grow. When signing the petition, students have the option of adding a comment to their name. Some of the more outrageous comments include…

*  “I should have gone to YALE.”

* “If Columbia does not follow through as this petition outlines, Hawkmadinejad will have to take action into his own talons...”

* "Man, this sucks. I hope I can use this as leverage. "Can I move in early?" "No." "Well, you exposed my SSN, so..."

The situation is so grave that students have begun to grow talons out of sheer anger. Wow, Columbia – what are you doing to your students?!