Binghamton University is allegedly all about the students, about their best interests, about their privacy, etc, but I can't help but notice that from the students point of view, it all seems like a huge front.  It's a struggle just to get passed the red tape of the Binghamton bureaucrats. 

According to Binghamton policy, student privacy and confidentially is a major priority.  After all, we are essentially viewed as adults.  We are trying to establish ourselves in "the real world" and, therefore, should be given the same rights as any other adult.  We are supposed to be able to distinguish from right and wrong, make our own decisions without the overbearing influence of authority or even our parents.  We can make our own mistakes, and when we do, we are supposed to be able to deal with the consequences on our own, without the overbearing disapproval of our parents, allegedly.  That's what being away from home for the first time is all about, isn't it?  

Well if that's the case, then answer me this.  If you got a letter sent home, addressed to you, with the headline of "Judicial Affairs," wouldn't your parents ask questions, regardless of the word "Confidential" stamped so nonchalantly off to the side?  It's all very ironic, even a bit humorous.  Anything from the Judicial Affairs office suggests legal matters, maybe it was a little drinking blunder you got yourself into, or you got caught smoking a joint in the woods, needless to say, they might as well just stamp "STUDENT IN BIG TROUBLE" across the top.  

The picture above is actually a letter sent home to a friend of mine.  Lucky for him, he took in the mail that day.  But if he hadn't gotten to it first, that would clearly be something his parents would inquire about.  How does this protect the student's rights at all?  It's an affront to the personal privacy that Binghamton promises its students.