Page 105 - Phoenix1999-2000

Volume XXI, Number 2 Computers hacked campus-wide MICHAEL STOKES use of computing resources.' use the college resources in a Staff Writer According to Philip Sayre, dean proper way," said Mathews, "but On Wednesday, February 9, two of Student Affairs, both students these students installed programs Western Maryland College stu- also violated state and federal laws that can be used to harass people dents temporarily damaged eight concerning tampering with com- and even harm computers beyond campus computers in an attempt to puters and could face criminal WMC." install potentially devastating soft- charges. According to Mathews, the stu- ware. "However, my job is to enforce dents first attempted to remove the The incident took place in both college rules, and I feel this is security software Foolproof from the Charlson lab in Hoover Library something that should be kept the computers, which is used to and the Writing Center in Hill Han. within the college," said Sayre. block access to certain directories, The Charlson lab incurred the The Phoenix has spoken with programs, and functions that might most damage, in which six of the one of the students, who declined allow users to change settings or to eight computers were tampered to comment on the situation until download and run other programs. with. ~ after the Honor and Conduct Board "A lot of evaluation went into After a "highly specialized in- hearing. the decision to use Foolproof, vestigation in which both Informa- Although the hearing was held which is regarded as top-notch se- tion Services and Campus Safety on February 22, the results were not curity software," said Mathews. worked hand in hand," according available until after the Phoenix After causing several comput- IL.GEORGE to Mike Webster, director of Cam- went to press. ers to shut down in their attempts "Do not use" signs hang on several computers in the Writing Center pus Safety, the two students were Christine Mathews, director of to remove Foolproof, the students and in Charlson Lab as a result of recent hacking incidents. apprehended. Information Services, called the in- finally disabled the security soft- lions. anyone who chooses to do so. Both students are being charged cident "a very serious one" because ware. She believes the students ob- One of the programs that the with violating the academic honor the students could have harmed Then they installed certain tained the software from the lnter- students had installed and at- code and the conduct code, which someone else. types of software that Mathews said net, where certain individuals place tempted to use contained "mail includes a policy of 'responsible "We all have a responsibility to can be used for malicious inten- the programs to be downloaded by continued on page 4 Vandalized pipe floods Blanche cal sound from the bathrooms alerting them that something was SraffWrirer across the hall, they soon discov- wrong. Some students complained Early Tuesday, February 8, resi- ered that their bedrooms had be- that Campus Safety did not respond dents of Blanche Ward Hall woke come bathtubs filled with three to 10 the problem quickly enough, al- However, Kane comments that to the sound of rushing water after five inches of water. though Mike Webster, director of if the incident is considered group a student kicked a water pipe in a At 2:00 am on Tuesday morn- Campus Safety refutes the accusa- Bid night tumed sour for one related the possible consequences third floor bathroom. ing, students began calling Campus tions. Phi Alpha Mu pledge when she was are not exact. Although students like sopho- Safety to report the water at the "It took a long time," said rushed to the hospital for alcohol "We don't have a very strict more Mindy Bucey dismissed the same time that shorts in the fire Bucey. "I didn't know what they poisoning at approximately II pm schedule on if this happens then sound of running water as a typi- alarm system at Blanche began were doing, or where they were. that night. these are the consequences ... " ex- [The water] just kept coming for She came back to campus plains Kane. fifteen minutes after we called." around 3 am., according to Assis- He says they are determined on Webster said that two officers, tant Dean of Student Affairs Scott a case by case basis and vary including himself, went to Blanche Kane. greatly due to whether or not the as soon as calls came in. but it took Although Kane says the college incident pertains to a group or an some time for Joseph Bentz, direc- has yet to determine if the incident individual. tor of maintenance, to arrive on the was "group related" or an indi- In recent years, if an act of this scene to tum off the water. Because vidual act, it did occur on the sec- nature was found to be directly re- both officers were busy either turn- ond floor of Albert Norman Ward lated to a Greek organization, it has ing off the electric or the water, Hall, which is the Phi Alpha Mu continued on page 3 Webster said "it makes sense that floor. people didn't know we were there." Kane says students notified Despite the complaints against their resident assistant of the Inside Campus Safety, students don't woman's condition. seem to have complaints about the After the R.A. found her non- time it took to clean up the mess. responsive, Campus Safety and the Although the water that flowed paramedics were called. WMC alumnus, Jorge del from the broken pipe was clean, the ' The exact blood alcohol content Villar, expresses his thanks to smell that lingered after the initial has yet to be released by school of- Dr. Badiee for her support dur- mess was unbearable to some. ficials. ing time spent at WMC. "The smell was so intense. It While the woman is of legal was horrible. We couldn't live like drinking age, it is still unknown as that, "said Bucey, who was forced to whether or not the incident will Take a tour of Westminster. to sleep off campus for the week. be considered an act of hazing. Megan Martin and Kate Meri Songer, Blanche's residence Kane says even if it is consid- Esposito review two popular life coordinator, did ask if Bucey ered hazing, the college "probably Main Street businesses. The theatre department'sjirst production of the semester will and her roommate had a place to wouldn't notify the police." open this Friday evening in Alumni Hall. Above, senior Laura sleep, but they already had the situ- Furthermore, Kane states, "we Connor (who portrays Adela) and senior Megan Townsend ation under control, Bucey said. don't typically involve the police Dan Gadd and Greg Lederer in- (Poncia) share an intense moment during a dress rehearsal for Soiled carpets were replaced in even for underage drinking because "The House of Bernardo Alba. " See page 2 for the related story. terview NFL-hopeful Tom Se- less than a week, and although we [WMC] have our own disciplin- lecky on his plans for the fu- continued on page 4 ary policy." ture.