Kiss the Girls and Make Them Cry(5)

If it were only that easy, she thought. If they didn’t have that CRyan email address on file, she would be forced to make a much bigger request. Privacy rules being what they were—“Oh well,” she said out loud. “Only one way to find out.”





4





“Boston College Alumni Affairs, how may I help you?” The male voice on the other end of the line sounded crisp and efficient. Gina guessed she was speaking to someone in his fifties.

“Hello, my name is Gina Kane. I graduated BC ten years ago. May I ask who I’m speaking to?”

“My name is Rob Mannion.”

“It’s nice to make your acquaintance, Mr. Mannion—”

“Please call me Rob.”

“Thank you, Rob. I’m hoping you can help me with some information.”

“If you are seeking the arrangements for the reunion classes, they are posted on our website. I can give you the address.”

“No, that’s not why I’m calling. I’m trying to get in touch with someone who was at the college around the time I was.”

“I might be able to help you. What is that person’s name and what was the graduation year?”

“That’s where I’m having a problem,” Gina said. “I don’t have the person’s full name. All I have is an email address. I’m hoping you can—”

“Why don’t you send the person an email and ask for the name?”

Gina tried to keep her frustration out of her voice. “I assure you I did think of that.” She was uncertain about how much to share during this conversation. Some people were excited by the prospect of talking to a reporter; others clammed up. “My question is, if I give you an email address, can you tell me if you have information about the owner of that email address?”

“I don’t believe our policy permits me to share that type of information.”

“I understand that,” Gina said, “but that’s not what I’m asking. Even if you can’t share it with me, I only want to know if you have that information in your possession.”

“This is very unusual,” Rob said, “but I’ll check. Give me a moment to get into that database. What year did the person you’re asking about graduate?”

“I’m not sure,” Gina replied, “but I have reason to believe it was in one of the following six years.” She read him the years CRyan most likely graduated.

“I’ll have to look up each year individually,” Rob sighed, his level of irritation apparent.

“I really appreciate your help,” Gina said warmly.

“Okay, it’s coming on my screen now. No to the first year, no to the second, no to the third, no to the fourth, fifth, and sixth. I’m sorry. It appears I won’t be able to assist you.”

“Generally speaking, do you have current emails for alumni?”

“We try our best to maintain updated contact information. But for the most part we are reliant on the individual alumnus or alumna to keep us informed. If they begin using a new email address and discontinue the one we have, then the answer is no. The same applies for addresses and phone numbers.”

“Do you still have the last year I asked you to check on your screen?”

“I do.”

“Can you tell me how many students with the last name ‘Ryan’ graduated that year?”

“Ms. Kane, a large percent of our students are of Irish ancestry.”

“I know,” Gina replied. “I’m one of them.”

“This call is taking an awfully long time, Ms. Kane.”

“Please call me Gina. And Rob, I really appreciate your patience. Before we hang up, I want to talk to you about the mailings I received regarding this year’s fundraising campaign.”

“How kind of you,” Rob replied with more enthusiasm.



* * *



Fifteen minutes later Rob had emailed her spreadsheets of the last name “Ryan” from the six years she had requested. A $3,000 contribution had been charged to her MasterCard.





5





Gina combed through the spreadsheets Rob had sent her. To the right of each student’s name—Last, First, and Middle—there were columns for different pieces of information: Date of Birth, Home Address, Employer, Email, Phone Number, Spouse’s Name. She quickly verified that Rob had been correct when he told her none of these students listed the email address she was seeking.

Using the Cut and Paste tools she put the names on a new spreadsheet. Across the six graduation years there were seventy-one, with slightly more females than males.

She then selected each Ryan whose first name began with “C” and moved them to the top of her list. There were fourteen: Carl, Carley, Casey, Catherine, Charles, Charlie, Charlotte, Chloe, Christa, Christina, Christopher, Clarissa, Clyde, and Curtiss.

Gina printed the list and used her highlighter to accentuate the women’s names. Not sure about “Casey,” she checked the middle name. It was “Riley.” That one could also go either way, she thought. She added “Casey” to her list of women.

She paused a moment as a troubling thought went through her mind. Her friend Sharon’s email address was “S” followed by her last name. But “Sharon” was her friend’s middle name; “Eleanor” was her first name. If she were searching these records for Sharon, she would be looking under the wrong name. “Please let your first name begin with ‘C,’ Ms. Ryan,” she whispered to herself.