E-Mail Embarrasses 119 Failing Students

I guess there is an e-mail theme today.

Mistakes are very easy to make with e-mail. You need to be careful with e-mail. Check your e-mail before you send it. Take a deep breath. Look at the "TO:" line. Look at the "CC:" line. Re-read the message. Think ... would I want this in the Times, on the BBC, or in Yahoo! news. Only then should you click send.

A poor soul at the University of Kansas made a big mistake, according to Yahoo! News. An e-mail, sent to inform students who had failed all their courses that they would be ineligible for furhter student aid was accidentally sent to all 119 students. Mistakes happen, but mistakes like this can have big consequences.

E-Mail Embarrasses 119 Failing Students - Yahoo! News:

"LAWRENCE, Kan. - Due to an e-mail mistake by the University of Kansas, 119 students who failed all their classes during the last semester found out who shared their misfortune.

The students were notified earlier this week that they were in jeopardy of having their financial aid revoked. The e-mail sent Monday by the Office of Student Financial Aid asked for additional information to determine if they were still eligible for aid.

The e-mail address list included the names of all 119 students, with the result that everyone on it could see the names of all the others.

'It was a completely inadvertent, unintentional mistake,' university spokesman Todd Cohen said Thursday. 'It was our error, our mistake and we deeply regret it.'

Nancy George of Gardner, one of the students on the list, was livid, saying the mistake was tantamount to releasing the grades of students without their permission, which the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act prohibits...."