Sign of the times

clipped from seattletimes.nwsource.com Seattle attorney finds that the Internet won't let go of his past By Isaac Arnsdorf Alleging discrimination at Seattle Pacific University, Shakespear Feyissa was keen to land his story in the student newspaper. While a senior at SPU 10 years ago, Feyissa was arrested on suspicion of attempted sexual assault and suspended. He was never charged, but the suspension stuck — indefinitely. He's a lawyer now, and that article — still among the first hits for Feyissa's name on Google — continues to hurt him personally and professionally, he said. So Feyissa, at 33, has been pressuring SPU to help clear his name. In an age when a Google cache can matter just as much as a polished résumé, people's life stories are no longer solely their own to tell. Instead, the traces of their lives are adrift in cyberspace, their reputations strewn across old news clippings or Facebook profiles or online discussion forums. Collecting and managing the fragments can be like repairing Humpty Dumpty.