University of South Carolina Libraries
The University of South Carolina Wednesday, April 19, 2006 Vol. 99, No. 89 • Since 1908 USC looks for answers V • after e-mail incident Retail students were sent database that included SSNs, other personal • information Joshua Ration ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR An e-mail concerning summer school was sent to retail students last week with an unintended attachment — a database of student information containing more than 1,200 students’ Social Security numbers, local addresses, permanent addresses, cell phone numbers, home phone numbers, e-mail addresses and dates of birth. The e-mail also disclosed the students’ emergency contact information. Former student Joseph Reece said he received the e-mail even though he is no longer a student and was upset to discover his information was included in the database. “It included any student who had taken a retail class,” Reece said. “The biggest issue is that I wasn’t told about it. A friend told me — I wasn’t even informed that my information had been leaked.” Don Stowe, associate dean of hospitality, retail and sports management, said steps are being taken to prevent another instance of student information being accidentally released. “The best thing that is happening is the university is changing to a new data system,” Stowe said. “It will allow us to pull down files and allow us to communicate with those people without creating our own databases.” Stowe said that any “professional person working in an advisory E°mRIL • 10 Researchers present Katrina findings Speaker: ‘We are a Jachie Alexander NEWS EDITOR As part of Earth Week, • researchers Tuesday presented projects targeting the impact of Hurricane Katrina during USC’s Katrina CRISIS National Summit at the BellSouth building in downtown Columbia. In response to Hurricane Katrina, the Office of Research created CRISIS, tlic Coastal P.oc 11 i onoy Information Systems Initiative for the Southeast, three weeks after the hurricane made landfall. The office awarded nearly $400,000 in grants to faculty members of various disciplines. Researchers were given Six months to do their research and provide results at the summit. Eighteen projects were conducted. The conference commenced with speeches from Harris Pastides, vice president of the Office of Research and Health Sciences, and USC President Andrew Sorensen. Pastides commended the university for “leaping into action” at such a quick pace. “In my 25 years in // New Orleanians academia, I have never seen such a focused and effective response launched in a quicker amount of time,” Pastides said. Sorensen addressed the “USC factor” in addressing hurricane relief, detailing the efforts of community members to help those displaced by the storm. “I want to commend the university staff, faculty and students for the extraordinary way in which they came together in response to Hurricane Katrina,” Sorensen said. “I’ve been a professor and administrator for 40 years, and I have never seen a group of faculty members and administrators come together with the rapidity and thoughtfulness than this group did.” Sorensen said at a public meeting he pledged the use of the Naval armory to process Katrina evacuees. In 48 hours, Sorensen said the building was cleaned and outfitted with 100 computers and 80 telephones. Ahmed Kassem, a research assistant professor, presented his group’s research pinpointing the flaws in closing the 17th street canal HHIRIHR • 10 Jackie Alexander / THE GAMECOCK Michael Tidwell, author of “Bayou Farewell: The Rich Life and Tragic Death of Louisiana’s Cajun Coast,” speaks Tuesday at the CRISIS National Summit in the auditorium of BellSouth in Columbia. USC researchers presented their findings from 18 research projects that address the social and environmental aftereffects of Hurricane Katrina. Clean Carolina, student groups to beautify campus Katie Boucher TUB UAMEC(X'.K From the Coliseum to Columbia Hall to Capstone, many student organizations will be cleaning campus today as part of the annual Clean Carolina project between noon and 2 p.m. “Clean Carolina is an on-going annual project organized by Student Government that aims to reduce litter and beautify our campus,” said education graduate student Danielle Vegas, project director. The event was created in the 1990s and modeled after the Adopt-A-Highway program. Student organizations involved in Clean Carolina are given an area to keep clean throughout the year, and a sign marked with the organization’s name is put in the area. SG President Tommy Preston, a third-year political science student, will help kick off the event on Greene Street. Lunch and T-shirts will be provided for those involved in the project. The kick-off was originally scheduled to take place in March, but was rained out and intentionally rescheduled for this week because Saturday is Earth Day, Vegas said. “Although I have never done it, I would like to get involved and would like to see more students get involved,” said Nick Young, a fourth-year marketing and management student. Vegas said the event is only open to registered student organizations, but the student services committee will be recruiting people not involved in a student organization. “One way we hope to reach out to this type of student is through the University 101 program,” Vegas said. Meagan Hartley, a second-year cicnn • 10 IN AGE OF INTERNET, ‘PHISHING’ CAN MEAN DISASTER 6ina Uasselli . STAFF WRITER Many students have seen the Citibank commercials about identity theft, but few realize how susceptible they are to the problem. “Identity theft occurs when someone else uses your personally identifying information without your knowledge or permission,” said a statement on the U.S. Department of Education’s Web site. Identity thieves gather personal information to open new credit card accounts, or use active accounts. “They may call your credit card issuer to change the billing address on your credit card account,” says a statement on the Federal Trade Commission’s Web site. “The imposter then runs up charges on your loeniuv • i A Day in the Life Parking attendant eyes meters, grad school Leslie Draffm THE GAMECOCK Parking around the Russell House is possibly one of the most chaotic events of USC students’ daily routines, but as appealing as the Russell House Bookstore parking lot seems, students should beware of parking attendants who watch the lot during store hours. Ashley Witherspoon, a fourth-year economics student, is one of those attendants. Witherspoon has worked as an attendant for USC during the 2005-2006 academic year, and her position makes her responsible for giving notes to drivers so they can park for free during their allotted 30 minutes ure • s Viewpoints Tecla Markosky slams Brad and Angelina’s chosen birthplace for their child; Liz White enlightens us on the proper etiquette for breakups. ■V 5 The Mix Great Googly With innovation, Googles creators sent the search engine to No. 2 on Business Week’s most innovative business list. Hey, Bulldogs The Citadel comes a knockin’ tonight at Sarge Frye Field to take on USC’s baseball team. Sports Index Comics & Crossword.... 16 Classifieds..19 Horoscopes..16 Opinion.13 Police Report..2