No 'security' for some students

Over half of all new international students at IU have been denied social security numbers as a result of cumbersome new regulations imposed in the wake of Sept. 11. \nUsing an Immigration and Naturalization Services database, the Social Security office must now verify that every foreign-born applicant for a social security number legally entered the country. \nAccording to Vicki Fahy, director of the Bloomington branch of social security, students have been denied social security numbers because the INS database has not been kept up to date.\n"We aren't able to give out numbers immediately because we cannot verify the status for many of the students," Fahy said. "Immigration is attempting to get all visitors entered into the database as quickly as possible, but with literally millions of students entering the country between August and September, it has been a monumental task."\nNearly 60 percent of the international students at IU have not appeared in the database. \nLynn Schoch, associate director of the Office for International Students, said students may have to wait for up to two months before they receive their social security numbers. \nUntil then, those students cannot apply for a driver's license, open a bank account, get a cell phone or in some cases, apply for a job. \n"It has been a giant, giant pain," said Brooke Hensley-Marschand, a counselor at the Leo R. Dowling International Center.\nFreshman Annie Chang, who came from Taiwan, was told she will have to wait over a month for a social security number. She said she won't be able to purchase a cell phone until then, making her phone calls more expensive.\nSophomore Jackeline Acosta, of Mexico, will also have to wait over a month for a social security number.\n"I really need it to be able to open an account at the bank," she said.\nAssociate Instructors were especially affected by the delays. They cannot get paid by the University until they have a number, Hensley-Marschand said. \n"No one is being singled out," Fahy said. "If their particular information is not entered into the database, they worry it's because of who they are. That's not the case. It just means someone hasn't gotten around to typing their name in."\nFahy said her office is checking the database every few days. It has also sent photocopies of all documents to the INS in the mail. \n"We are mailing (the documents) to immigration for a manual verification, and which ever comes back fastest we will use." Fahy said. \nAccording to an e-mail from the Bloomington social security office, new policies on aliens have been adopted by many government agencies since the events of Sept.11. \n"It's a directive to tighten up, to make sure everyone in the country has a lawful reason to be here," Fahy said. \nSchoch said the social security process used to take two weeks. \n"This is an effort to be a little more careful in giving out numbers," he said. \nHensley-Marschand said the increasing scrutiny may suggest that social security numbers are quietly becoming de facto national identification numbers. \nThe numbers, originally used for employment purposes, are now being used as national identification numbers, an idea some people are opposed to, she said. \nFahy said social security numbers can be used to "accurately identify people further"