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Thursday, February 24, 2000 - Page 4 NEWS Flood damages Blanche Ward Hall Computer labs suffer from hacking incidents continued from page 1 continued from page 1 Bucey describes it as "a horrible week," she Affairs Scott Kane, three students went be- bombs," which can be sent to email addresses as this one from happening, Mathews said said the college "did everything that they fore the Honor and Conduct Board last Fri- and are used to literally shut down the email that she has talked with the makers of Fool- could" to clean up the mess quickly. day. system. Fortunately, the students were un- proof and fixed the flaw that allowed the - Not much of the Bucey's personal be- One male student was charged with de- able to use the software. hackers to disable the security software. longings seemed to have been damaged, but struction of college property, and two were By the time the students were finished, She also said that Information .Services Bucey did have a rug and some pictures ru- charged with falsification of information two of the eight damaged .compurers were is always examining other safety programs, ined because of the incident. All students have the opportunity to appeal completely unusable, to the point where the but "it would be unreal to say that we can When asked if she was going to ask the the Boards decision within 48 hours of keyboards would not even work. make the computers completely secure, es- college for compensation, she said "it would Kane's official notification. Four other computers were so damaged pecially when systems such as the FBI's can be nice" but she is not planning on pursuing The Phoenix will have more information that they could only be used for word pro- be broken into." the issue. concerning the Honor and Conduct Board cessing purposes, according to Mathews. The Charlson lab will continue to use Accordingto Assistant Dean of Student when the official report is completed. , Currently, all of the damaged computers surveillance video for security reasons; how- are clean and currently in use. ever, it is unclear what steps the Writing Cen- Males "have it their way" at was "pretty simple," used to catch the students ter (which does not use surveillance video) The process to Mathews. according might take, if any, to heighten security. Information Services first looked at data Dr. Pam Regis and Dr. Erin Smith, who the Alpha Psi V-day dance from the computers that showed the specific are temporarily to comment on this issue. Cen- overseeing the Writing times the computers were damaged ter, refused They then obtained the surveillance vid- As for what punishment the students eos from the Charlson lab, and with the help might receive, Sayre said that the Honor and of Campus Safety, were able to identify the Conduct Board could give them "anything two students who were using the computers from a warning to expulsion, and anything at that specific time. in between." Webster said that the surveillance video He said that there have been two disci- is not live, therefore it is unable to project plinary incidents involving computers be- what is on each individual computer screen, fore. and it is only used if there is a need for an One of'the incidents involved the suspen- investigation. sion of a student; however, this is the first In order to prevent future incidents such incident which involves computer hacking. Dean Horneff discusses WMC's retention rates NVCOLt: TYSON "1.0 is the minimum grade point average SloffWriler for a first semester student and I think we Despite previous years in which WMC's have reasonable expectations." retention rate seemed significantly low, the Another reason for transferring, accord- retention race of current classes is steadily ing Horneff, is that students want to be closer improving. to some or to their boyfriend or girlfriend. Out of the 413 members of the freshman Additionally, students may come to WMC class, 23 left after the fall semester, seven of undecided about a major only to discover a which-were academically dismissed, accord- major that is not offered here, so they leave ing to Barbara Horneff, associate dean of the to pursue that major at another university. First-Year Program. The current sophomore "But, we arc never satisfied with the loss On Friday, February II, Alpha Psi Omega, the theatre honor society, held its 4th annual of any students," Horneff said. Valentine's Day Formal ill Alumni Hall. Above, the men of APO lip-synced to the class started with 331 students, and 263 are Backstreet Boys and serenaded their dates. Alpha Psi members invited theatre faculty still here. This represents a retention rate of Freshman Tekoah Forte, who is thinking members, alumni, and undergraduates ~ho have shown initiative 10 the theatre department 79.9 percent. The current juniors arrived with about transferring, describes her experience by either acting in or doing technical work for the 1999·2000 productions. WMCR 427 students, 320 of which are still here-a here thus far: "In the beginning of my first provided the music for the event. Spring theatre productions include "The House of retention rate of 74.9 percent. semester I did not feel like this was the place Bernardo Alba, .. which runs this weekend and next, and "MaratISade" that runs April 26· Asked why the overall retention rate is for me to be; there is nothing here that ex- 29. improving, Horneffsaid, "the retention rate cites me." is better because students and families are Horneff believes that "how you reach out Correction finding that WMC has what they were look- and associate yourself plays with people in clubs inside and organizations a role in defining ing for in a whole college experience, In the February 10, 2000 issue, the article on page three entitled "Writing test yields and outside the classroom." yourself," and that is part of the process in 33% failure rate," said that 227 out of 338 students failed the test. However, 227 out of She also believes that the first year semi- becoming and feeling a part of the commu- 338 students passed the test, which yields a 33 percent failure rate. The Phoenix regrets nar and peer mentor groups playa big part nity. the error. in aiding students' feelings of being con- Freshman Mandi Donaldson transferred nected to the WMC community. "I think the to WMC this semester from Catonsville first year seminar makes a big difference in Community College. She said she transferred lening the student connect with his or her here because, "I like a school where you are 30 Hour Famine peers," commented Horneff. "One of the not a number, but a name; not too big or small." is to help the new goals of the peer mentor students connect." However, not all students who leave The students of Western Maryland College are about to change the world! During "However, there are some students that WMC remain at the school they transfer to. the third weekend of February, 60 members or our college community will join hands go through the First-Year Program and peer For instance, sophomore Erik.Larson left with a million people world-wide to help save kids' lives. The 30 Hour Famine is a mentoring and still do not feel connected or WMC last fall to attend Salisbury State Uni- program that tries to raise awareness of the 800 million people who face starvation comfortable with the atmosphere at WMC," versity and has returned to WMC after only everyday. Those WMC students participating in the famine will began fasting on Fri- Homeff added. one semester away. day, February 25 and refrain from eating until 6 pm on Saturday, February 26. Sometimes students who say they are "I initially left for financial reasons, but Through their fasting, the students hope to help our community realize that while leaving for financial reasons are actually while r was gone I recognized the opportu- we sometimes complain about Glar food, we are truly privileged to have food to eat. leaving because of academic problems. nity I would have at WMC would be greater The participants are also raising money which will go to those across the globe who "What that translates to," said Horneff, "is because it is academically sound," Larson need food, shelter, and emergency relief. Much of the money raised at WMC will go to thai their parents told them that they were said. Larson also realized that the people he help refugees in Rwanda, child-headed households in Kenya, and the starving children not going to pay for their tuition at WMC would be around would be beneficial for him of Korea, Tanzania, and Peru. for them to have a social life and not do their and his future. Please look for participants wearing famine badges this weekend and make a dona- work." However, "Retention," .said Homeff "is tion to help end world hunger! Homeff does not think that it is unfair or not always about students who finish at Donations will also be accepted until February 25 through campus mail, box 1540. unrealistic to dismiss first semester students WMC, it's about students who discover Checks should be made payable to World Vision. Contact Jenny Weddle or Caroline with a grade point average below school stan- themselves, who they want to become, what Daniels for further details. dards. ''This is an ethical issue," Horneff said. they want to do, and then pursue it." .j