IOWA CITY – You have probably heard stories of employers searching social networking websites to find clues about a potential employee. MySpace and Facebook are popular, but many young people do not show any restraint as to what they post. The University of Iowa is now stepping in to make sure they think twice.

Iowa has taken public relation hits in the past from some images athletes had on their Facebook pages. School leaders hope a student-athlete driven policy will keep Iowa's reputation out of the mud.

As a member of the University of Iowa cross country team Molly Esche sees much more than scenery during a race. She understands student athletes represent the school. Esche said, "We just want to have a great reputation for the University of Iowa and the state."

Esche and other members of the Iowa Student Athlete Advisory Committee, or ISAAC, created a policy to keep Iowa's athletics pristine. It stems from incidents last summer. Three Hawkeye football players had pictures on the social networking site, Facebook. The pictures suggest the minors were drinking and flashing possible gang signs. Iowa Law Professor Bill Hines said, "This is not just Iowa, it's a national trend."

Hines helped ISAAC create the policy outlining what is not appropriate for websites like Facebook and MySpace. That includes no underage drinking and no nudity. Hines said, “The University's concern is a public reputation concern for the athletic department generally."

Starting in the fall, all student athletes will have to sign the policy and face penalties for not following it. Esche says some do not like the idea of censoring themselves from personal websites. But she says most understand this is best for the university.

The University will only conduct random checks of websites. And do not think Iowa is the first school to implement a policy like this. Professor Hines says most schools have some policy. And many will not let student athletes have a Facebook page at all.

Email Steve Nicoles at Steve.Nicoles@kcrg.com