Page 7 - ThePhoenix1989-90

.i September 14, 19891 Western Maryland Collegel Page 3 Writing Center Buys New Computers Computer Viruses: by Steranie R. Shaffer A Serious Problem uonssuchas a spellchecker. Emerging at WMC ter consist of a slightly dif- automatic insertion of head- Western Maryland College is no longer immune [0 During the summer, ferent combination of com- ers and footers. a footnote computer viruses. Over the summer, the English Depart- WMC purchased new ponents and significantly formal, multiple columns, ment suffered the loss of a computer when the System. Macintoshes for the Writ- upgraded user options. In flexibility to adjust spacing Finder, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Works, and five other ingCenterinMemorial Hall. addition tonew monitors and between words and lines, files on the hard drive became infected with a virus. This Alhough the Writing Center printers,eachcomputernow many key equivalents to virus madethecomputervirtually·unusable. Although that is now equipped with brand has an external disk drive. commmands,andparagraph was an extreme case, throughout the summer, the campus new machines. the Power There are many oriented ruler fonnatting. was afflicted with lesser infections which caused printer Lab in Lewis and the IBM added substantial features In addition, there are problems and system bombs. Lab in Memorial did not get tothenewequipment. Most significant timesaving rea- A "virus" is a computer program which invades a new computers. The old significantly. memory has tures. To eliminate the re- computer systemandlorfinderoveraperiodoftime. Itmay Writing Center computers been drastically boosted. typing of part or all of a lie dormant and become destructive. or it may be conta- were sold over the summer. Previously the Macintoshes document. in order to in- gious (like the one on campus called nVIR A) and gradually The new computers had 512K--five hundred corporateiuntcanew piece. infect virtually all of the applications and system files. An- were a necessary purchase twelve thousand bytes of the new program allows for other version is the non-contagious virus which only for two reasons. according memory, but now the inter- more than one document to infects one file. At this time. there are four known Macin- to Edward Holthause, Mi- nal and external drives col- crosystems Coordinator in lectively provide 1600K. be open at a time. tosh viruses. all of which are contagious. the Office of Academic More memory is es- Finally. a major change. Maryland is the first state to pass laws against Computing. First.after four sential to accommodate the affecting primarily upper- transmitting computer viruses. If someone knowingly yearsofcontinuoususesince "latest generation of soft- classmen, will be noticed. places a virus on a computer system (stand alone or net- their installation in the ware" which surpasses the During the days when worked). itisarnisdemeanorpunishablebyuptofiveyears summer of 1985. the rna- capabilities of MacWrite. MacWrite was used in the in prison and/or a $5.000 fine. There is no provision for chines were worn down A program called writing labs. each data disk reimbursement to the party whose files were destroyed. enough to induce less effi- "WriteNow" has replaced had to contain the program The following are points to remember to avoid dent performance. MacWrite in both the Writ- in order for it to function. having files and computers infected. and to prevent spread- Also. a factor in the ing Center and the Power because there was only one ing infection: ' decision to re-equip the Lab. MacWrite will no disk drive. I) Never use the original copy of software that you Writing Center was cost. longer be used; however. Currently, there are purchase. Make back-ups immediately. and use them for Since it would have been WriteNow will be able to two drives. which is suffi- working disks. If your working disk becomes infected. "prohibitively expensive to recognize and convert cient to accommodate the - your only recourse is to delete the application. Thus. you upgrade the existing hard- MacWrite documents. program and a data disk. will need the originals to obtain a non-infected working ware," brand new comput- The benefits of Therefore, it 'is no longer copy again. ers were deemed a prefer- WrileNowwilibeexplained necessary 10 copy the pro- 2) Do not copy software from someone else. The only able alternative. tostuderusin frcshmanEng- gram onto a data disk to use software you can trust is that which you have purchased. The newly installed lish classes. The new soft- it, and copies will be avail- 3) Do not use software from another college or university systems in the Writing Con- ware includes valuable op- able to sign out in the labs. until you have put it through the Virus Clinic in the Office _______________________ ~~~~:.micCompUting. Virusesarerampantonlargeuni- V r o· SUR If 4) DonotuseSbftwareobtaincdfroma"bulletinboard." a 1- me erves p evised Card System you own such software. you can bring It to the Office of Academic' Computing to be checked for viruses. Viruses should be suspected in the following situ- by Todd Robb money into their accounts forty-eight hours, thecharge ations: and to use the card instead of for the meal will be re- _ inability to print a document Freshmen and re- cash at the Grill. funded. _ system bombs occur turning WMC students re- In the future. the Ms. Maureen _ dialog boxes look different than usual ceived a new identification card will also provide secu- Gregg. secretary to Dick - other abnormalities exist card this year during ma- rity access to dorms. park- Traegler, director of Dining If you suspect the presence of a virus, you can affirmed triculation, which also serves ing lots, the PELC. the Services, Vali-Dine that the contact the Office of Academic Computing at extension system previous as the new Vali-Dine-4meal swimming pool. and the contained many loopholes 478, or visit the office with the troubled disk. card. library. It will allow me through which students The Writing Center and Power Lab consultants will This new system is student to purchase items in to- one of the most modern sys- the bookstore, use the vend- could easily abuse the din- distribute copies of "Vaccine," a virus finder program, terns available for use in ing machines, make tele- ~:~~:~:~;;~~ ~p=u=to=n~y~ou=r=ow~n=d=;~==fu=r=frU==.============~ monitoring student services phone calls, and make use for the abuses. The Phoenix is looking for a on campus. The system will of late night pizza services. The problems with additional staff members. ensure that only those who These services may be in- have paid for services re- stalled by the start of the the previous Vali-Dine sys- ceive those services; it will spring term. tem. which lead to its down- If you would like to work on the also aid overall campus With the new sys- fall , included photo diffi- Phoenix staff, come to a meeting and security. tem,theVali-Dinecardmust culties and tracking the use Initially. the Vali- be presented for admittance of the card. find a position to suit your skills. dine system will be used in into the cafeteria. If a stu- With the new service, Englar Dining Hall and the dent forgets his or her card, there will be virtually no Pub forrnea1s. he or she will have to pay way to abuse the use of the Meetings are held each Monday at The Validine sys- cash,andwill then receive a card. as long as certain pre- 6:00 pm in the basement of the tem will also have several receipt. cautions are followed by the third section of Daniel MacLea. of the vall-Dine new functions. Thecard will If the student re- holders enable students to deposit turns the receipt within card.