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Worm bogs campus network
by Jerry Roys
The Metropolitan |
MetroConnect, launched at Metro July 7, was meant to be an efficient
single source of information for students and faculty. Since Tuesday
of last week, however, a virus clogged emails and slowed the delivery
system.
MetroConnect is a Web based system that provides access to personal
calendar, news, grades, personal records, registration, class
schedules, financial aid and online payments.
When logging on to MetroConnect Aug. 21, students were greeted
with a “Personal Announcement” informing them of the
MS Blaster Worm.
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by Kristi Starns - The Metropolitan
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| Brian
Esau works in WC 244 after the campus was hit with the MS
Blaster Worm Aug. 22. |
The announcement stated, “PCs and laptops infected with
the ‘MS Blaster Worm’ have been connected internally
and continue to adversely affect the campus network.” The
personal message was sent to each student’s MetroConnect
email providing steps to rid the virus from students’ PCs
and laptops.
Steve Beaty, professor of Information Systems at Metro State,
said that the Blaster was released Aug. 15, followed by the Welchia
and Sobig.f in the following days. Metro’s network was intermittently
unavailable throughout the week said Beaty.
The virus infects a system via an email attachment or by connecting
directly to the machine said Beaty. Characteristics of the newest
strain of @32/Sobig multiply via email, sending outgoing messages
with its own SMTP engine and then moves into networks. The virus
infiltrates computers’ address books and sends messages
to those contacts. The messages have various subjects: “your
details,” “thank you,” “RE: approved,”
“RE: your application,” “Re: wicked screensaver,”
and “Re: movie.” The worm carries the virus through
an attachment, which when opened infects that PC, according to
the Network Associates Technology, Inc. website.
Writers of viruses are difficult to locate, Beaty said. “The
viruses are rouge programs that attempt to break into as many
computers as possible. Once they have broken in, they will do
a variety of actions, from replicating themselves, removing files,
attacking other computers, sending out information, etc.”
Cathy Lucas, director of communications, said the college offers
200 smart classes where students bring their own laptops and connect
directly to the system. They are certified by a lab tech checking
each unit for viruses. When students patch onto the system, safeguards
are in place to protect the laptop from being infected by the
virus.
Firewalls and antivirus software are the two major approaches
to protecting against the risks of a virus. Beaty suggested that
users should disable “file sharer” on their computers
and run an antivirus program daily.
Metro’s network has a dual-redundant Cisco PIX firewall
as well as antivirus software on the college computers. Beaty
said, “Both are good, and necessary, approaches.”
However, the antivirus software can’t be updated quickly
enough. Currently, antivirus software can only handle viruses
after the virus is “in the wild.”
Beaty said that users must be vigilant in keeping their computers
safe by running up-to-date security software. “Microsoft
had released the patch to fix the Blaster worm a month before
Blaster started making the rounds.”
Beaty expected the current Sobig.f virus to be purged from MetroConnect
during the week of Aug. 25. In addition, Network Associates Technology,
Inc. stated that the virus contains a self-termination date of
Sept. 10, which means the worm will no longer multiply after that
date.
“Metro and everyone else on the planet, has had viruses
ever since we’ve had computers. Unless we can live without
computers, we will continue to have malicious code,” Beaty
said. “We will, of course, work to keep this from happening,
but it continues to be a chess game between the virus writers
and the rest of us.”
Headlines
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Committee prowls for presidential hopeful
by Jonah Heideman
The Metropolitan |
The Metro State board of trustees’ search for a new college
president will be one step closer to completion when the board
meets to select a search firm on Sept. 3.
In addition to the three firms that have already been interviewed,
the board plans on interviewing two more before a decision is
made, according to Metro Communications Director Cathy Lucas.
Metro State is not the only college in the state that has had
to fill a presidential vacancy in recent years. The University
of Northern Colorado hired a new president in the summer of 2002,
Kay Norton, without the use of a search firm, said UNC head of
media relations Gloria Reynolds.
Colorado State University also replaced their longtime president
Al Yates recently, although a representative from the university
could not be reached for comment on the process by which the university
found a new president. Aims Community College in Greeley is also
searching for a president and plans to hire a search firm.
Metro’s students have their own ideas about what the board
of trustees should look for in a president. “Our new president
should be knowledgeable, open-minded and accessible,” said
Metro student Justin Weiss. Weiss continued, “whoever they
end up choosing, his number one concern should be the students
of Metro State.
Once Metro State locates a new president, interim president Ray
Kieft has his own plans.
“Once my interim appointment at Metro is completed, I plan
to work on my novel, fish and wait for the next call about an
interim.”
Headlines
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Metro tops 20,000 students
Enrollment numbers topple previous record
by Darcia Cox
The Metropolitan |
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‘When you’re trying to get to the computers in the
library, you always have to wait.’
- Michael Bechard, UCD student
From the 1965 opening of Metro through the spring semester
of 2003, enrollment never topped 20,000.
As of Aug. 21, the total student enrollment for the college
was at 20,499. Tom Gray, the registrar for Metro, said this
was not a final count as the census is not taken until Sept.
3 for the fall semester.
The number of students at the University of Colorado at Denver
was 11,683 with the Community College of Denver at 5,757 students
on Aug. 21. Metro has hired new full-time and part-time faculty,
but according to Metro student Vanessa Clark, classes were still
hard to get into, “especially as far as science classes
go.”
In the fall of 1993, Metro enrolled 17,551 students. There has
been a 16.8 percent increase in the student body in the last
10 years. If these numbers continue in this pattern, the school
will be at 23,943 students by fall of 2013.
Some campus activities have been positively affected by the
increase in student numbers. Gregg McCorkle, a junior manning
the rugby sign-up table, said the 34 men and six women were
a good number of players for a first day sign-up. He said, “Typically
we’ll have this number over three to four days.”
The campus bookstore, ACB was crowded during the first week
of the semester. Jason Barkow, a bookstore employee, said,”
We had long lines from the UCD section to (the cashiers). It
was insane.”
Denice Dorchak, a sophomore, said she feels crowded at Metro,
“only when I’m standing in line for textbooks.”
Dorchak took her book business to Big Dog Textbooks this semester
in order to get away from the bookstore’s overcrowding.
Dave Barry from parking services said there are an estimated
5,700 parking spaces on campus. The number of students for Metro,
CCD and the UCD totals 37,939. With these high numbers, the
bus pass included with a student ID looks even more appealing
to students who are able to take advantage of this economic
mode of transportation.
When it comes down to the students’ opinions, they vary.
Michael Bechard, a sophomore at UCD said, “When you’re
trying to get to the computers in the library you always have
to wait.”
Eleanor Evans, a freshman at Metro, said she doesn’t think
the Auraria campus feels overcrowded at all.
Headlines
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Gun policy tabled
by Jeannette M. Porrazzo
The Metropolitan |
"We don't want people being arrested for carrying finger
nail clippers or a pair of tweezers."
-Ann Rice, Metro trustee
A vote regarding the proposed weapons policies on campus has been
postponed until Sept. 17. Board members said at their meeting
Aug. 20 that the postponement was due to a lack of information
and the definition presented was too broad.
“We felt that we needed to discuss the definition further,”
said Ann Rice, chairwoman of the board.
According to Mark Heckler, interim chancellor at University Colorado
at Denver, the attorney general’s office gave to the CU
Board of Regents the go-ahead to author their own policies for
college campuses.
“The vote was tabled because we want feedback from the student
government and other college organizations; we want their input
on the policies,” said Heckler.
There was also concern from other board members that there could
be potential liability problems because, “the breadth of
the definition gives rise to the possibility that it could be
enforced differently in different situations,” Rice said.
“We don’t want people being arrested for carrying
finger nail clippers or a pair of tweezers.”
There are already policies in place at other institutions of higher
learning throughout the nation, which have been set up to protect
the students and employees of these colleges and universities.
Three months ago, a female student at the University of Tennessee
was murdered in her dorm room. She was shot, then set on fire
by an acquaintance she had turned down for a date.
The dorm building had to be evacuated and it took weeks for the
police to catch the alleged murderer, according to their local
newspaper, The Tennessean.
UT has very strict policies on weapons on campus and even posts
these policies on campus.
So between now and Sept. 17, the board will have to come up with
definitions of what constitutes a concealed weapon.
They will also have to write out a definition, then propose a
policy to enforce the new rules.
For now, the rules will be as follows: No student will be allowed
to carry an illegal weapon on campus and if caught doing so they
will be arrested, first through the school, then through the city.
If you possess a concealed weapons permit you still have the right
to carry a weapon where you please. For now.
According to the Student Advisory Committee to the Auraria Board,
the proposed policies and definitions were adopted from the University
of Colorado.
In the too-broad definition that caused a postponement of the
vote, a weapon could consist of: “Anything used or designed
to be used in destroying, defeating, or injuring a person; an
instrument designed or likely to produce bodily harm, or an instrument
by use of which a fatal wound may probably or possibly be given.”
“A ‘weapon’ may include, but (is) not limited
to: Any firearm, BB gun, pellet gun, bow and arrow, cross-bow,
slingshot, cross-knuckles, knuckles of lead, brass, or other metal,
any bowie knife, dirk, dagger, or similar knife, or any knife
having the appearance of a pocket knife, the blade of which can
be opened by a flick of a button, pressure on a handle or other
mechanical contrivance.”
Given that definition, even possession of an instrument designed
to look like a firearm or other weapon, with the intent to scare
or assault another, could be considered a weapon.
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Tivoli’s exterior stripped
White paint is being removed from the Tivoli student union in
effort to preserve the building’s structure
by Clayton Woullard
The Metropolitan |
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‘The renovations allow for preserving the building for
the long-term.’
- Jeff Stamper, Assistant director of the Tivoli Student Union
Since June 1, Phipps Construction, which is managed by JD Jacobs
& Company, has been working on the exterior renovations
of the Tivoli.
According to Tivoli Student Union Assistant Director Jeff Stamper,
the Tivoli complex will undergo several exterior and interior
structural changes over the next two years.
“[The renovations] allow for preserving the building for
the long-term,” he said. “They ensure that the building
is safe and is being run efficiently. Plus, they just make for
a great building.”
Workers are currently removing the paint, which was applied
in 1937, from the building because it has been keeping the moisture
in, which, according to Stamper, helped to accelerate the decay
of the mortar holding the bricks together.
He also said the roofs of the complex buildings will be refurbished
because 20 years is about the average life span of a roof.
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By Joshua Buck - The Metropolitan
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| Crews
from Denver Commercial Coating scrape the paint off of the
side of the Tivoli Brewing House Aug. 26 as part of the
Tivoli restoration project. The company is using a safe,
biodegradable stripping agent called Peel-Away to take the
top layers of paint off before hand stripping the remaining
paint. |
The exterior renovations are slated to be completed by the middle
of the Fall Semester, according to Stamper, and will be followed
by the interior renovations.
When the Tivoli was assigned in 1994 as a student union, the
air conditioning and heating systems had been structured to
work specifically for certain shops in the Tivoli, which opened
as a shopping mall in 1984.
“This is a pretty necessary change,” Stamper said.
“It should save us a lot of money on energy costs as well
as being much more efficient.”
The fire safety system will also be upgraded.
According to Director of Student Auxiliary Services & the
Tivoli Student Union Barbara Weiske, the Student Advisory Committee
to the Auraria Board (SACAB) has been behind the plan to re-open
the storefront at the southeast corner of the Tivoli as a lounge
area.
The corner, which used to house a Domino’s Pizza store,
is the busiest entry point on campus, according to Weiske.
The tentative date for completion of the renovations is sometime
by the fall of 2005, according to Stamper.
Weiske said she looks forward to seeing the completed renovations
on the 125-year-old complex.
“When the paint is removed, it will make such a statement
about [the Tivoli’s] history,” she said. “It
will be so much more evident when you can see the different
layers of construction.”
According to Weiske, the $28 million reported as the cost of
the projects in an April 24 article in The Metropolitan, has
remained the same.
She said about $20 million will go toward construction costs
and the other $8 million will go toward miscellaneous costs.
Weiske also estimated that $5 million has already been spent
on construction, which is only in its initial phase.
According to Stamper, the funds for Tivoli renovations will
come from the $18.50 fee all Auraria students pay as part of
their mandatory fees. Those fees came from a 2000 student bond
fee referendum.
Headlines
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All invited to Convocation
Fall convocation is scheduled for Thursday, Aug.
28, in the Tivoli, and interim President Ray Kieft invites the
entire campus community.
The awards to be presented are: The Distinguished Services Awards
and Gold Key Award. Emeritus status will also be recognized.
Kieft will give a short speech following the awards. Coffee,
juice and pastries will be served.
Kieft began working at Metro earlier this summer and has been
spending much of his time chatting with students, faculty and
staff.
Campaign to reduce smoking shows good results
According to a survey done in August, 2002 by
the Colorado Collegiate Tobacco Prevention Initiative, 32 percent
of the student population smokes.
Last spring, a poster campaign and a highly publicized Great
American Smokeout event was held, and the survey was redone.
As a result, the percentage of student smokers then dropped
to only 25 percent.
According to a national survey done by The American Lung Association
in 2001, about 22.6 percent of the adult population are smokers.
The pain of parking
Left and right, parking lots were filling up,
leaving lines stretching for miles as faculty, staff and students
waited for a parking space last week.
According to Mark Gallagher, AHEC director of parking, the parking
lots are at 98 percent capacity right now, when usually a 90
percent capacity is the goal.
Commuters are encouraged to try riding RTD buses and the Light
Rail system to get to and from school. Another good idea is
to allow plenty of extra time in order to find a place to park.
Headlines
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