Credit card solicitations have once again taken over student, staff and faculty mailboxes at their home addresses and even at work.

Chase Manhattan Bank USA has been the most recent solicitor to invade the Ohio State community.

Eric Busch, who works in Student Affairs, ran a task force last year focusing on solicitations of students on campus and overly aggressive credit card solicitations.

“We first received calls from different departments on campus that said employees and student employees were getting mailings like these mailed to their work address,” Busch said. “The question arose: did human resource people let them out?”

Students have the option to not allow their addresses to be put on the student directory. If the students do allow the listing, their home address at OSU is listed on the student directory, which is a public record.

“As soon as the directory comes out, marketing companies scan the information and other companies buy that information from them,” Busch said. “If the credit card company got the address and it wasn’t on the public record, then there is a question as to where they got it.”

Ruth Gerstner, spokeswoman for Student Affairs, said there is not much students can do. She said the mail is uncontrollable, and the university does not sell student addresses.

“Companies get them on their own somehow through directories or other ways,” she said.

Gerstner said the university has a marketing contract with First USA Bank which allows them to solicit students on campus by setting up tables.

Julie Manis, a senior in interactive communications, said she is disgusted with the idea of credit card companies contacting her at work.

“I don’t think they should have the authority to send me anything at work. It’s an invasion of privacy,” she said.

She said the sales pressure from these companies is doing nothing more than turning students off.

“The more they push their information on me, the more I don’t look at them seriously,” Manis said. “If I want to sign up for a credit card, I will go to them. They don’t need to come to me.”

Students are not the only people who are receiving these solicitations at their addresses of employment. Staff and faculty are also receiving them — sometimes two or more from the same company.

Chase Manhattan Bank USA did not return calls made by The Lantern.