During her freshman year, College senior Molly Frisinger was woken up in the middle of the night by her ringing dorm room telephone.
The voice on the other end identified himself as Mark and began to ask her questions for "psychological research" he was conducting.
Though Frisinger ended the conversation before the caller made any obscene comments, Penn Police officials say that situations like Molly's occur fairly frequently and often involve sexual content.
"We feel strongly that it is someone from the University; the phone calls are never anything violent, only sexual," said Detective James Blackmore of the Penn Police Special Services Department.
The Penn Police get approximately one complaint a week pertaining to harassing phone calls.
Blackmore said there are variants of these phone calls, but many ask for individuals by name.
"Some callers use the gimmick- -- 'Is Lauren there?' -- to engage in conversation. Then it turns sexual," he said, adding, "Sometimes it is an alleged grad student doing a psychological experiment, looking for 'submissive-type females.'"
Perhaps the most offensive are the "Naughty-Gram" calls during which the caller claims, "a friend has left you a naughty-gram." The caller proceeds to say vulgar, obscene things and then hangs up.
Blackmore urges students who receive these phone calls to hang up and dial 2-5-7 immediately. This will activate a call trace system and the police will be able to track the caller.
Blackmore described the calls as "a random pattern," adding that "second phone calls to one person rarely happen." Females are also targeted more than males.
The call Frisinger received -- the first of several -- caught her off guard. The man began by saying he knew her friend Lauren.
"He starts off asking you if you know some people who have very strong personalities, who like to tell people what to do. And of course everyone does," Frisinger said. "And then he asks if you know people who like to be told what to do. And of course you do."
"Mark" proceeded by trying to convince her that "the weak people should do the strong people's work."
"It's crazy," she said, adding that in her case in her case the calls were not sexual.
"I've gotten three more calls from him this year," she said. "Of course, now I know to hang up when he says 'Hi, I'm Mark.'"
Though she has somewhat learned how to deal with the phone calls, Frisinger remained worried about their invasive nature.
"It feels really intrusive to have someone call like that. I knew that I was safe, and that he couldn't get from the phone to my room, but it was still scary," she said.
The Penn Police Department generally receives more complaints during the weekend.
"Maybe four to five over a weekend, it is usually the same offender then," Blackmore said. "There are many that aren't reported."
Blackwell noted that there is no specific time of the year when more calls occur.
"Numbers go up and down; there is no pattern," he said, but added that during exam time more phone calls seem to happen.
However, Penn students worried about their security may find comfort in the new online Penn Directory.
The new directory, which recently went online, automatically hides students' personal information, such as their telephone number and e-mail. Those who want their information to be public must change their privacy settings for it to be revealed.
Students who are looking for other Penn students and faculty can still find their information, but only after logging in with a PennKey.
Lauren Steinfeld, the chief privacy officer of the University, said her office was not aware of harassing phone calls, but mentioned that "students are entitled by law to opt out of listing their information."
"Some students want their information to be accessible to other Penn students," Steinfeld said adding that, "students can hide their phone numbers in both views if they are concerned."
Frisinger said she thought that "Mark" probably looks up numbers in the directory.
"But the directory is really useful for friends and classmates getting ahold of you," she said. "So I wouldn't want my number to be unlisted."
