INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 135, No. 59
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2019
n
ITHACA, NEW YORK
16 Pages – Free
News
Arts
Sports
Weather
Two Robberies
Vape
Lax Excited for Start
Partly Cloudy
Two robberies on Triphammer Road happened within the span of a week.
Is truth, the anti-smoking organization, protesting nicotine in the proper way?
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Men's lacrosse opens its season Friday with high hopes.
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HIGH: 41º LOW: 27º
Former Student Sentenced to 2 Years
YOO JIN BAE / SUN GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Phishy business | Students and faculty received a deluge of suspicious emails this weekend.
Reynolds pled guilty after authorities found weapons in his apartment By NICHOLAS BOGEL-BURROUGHS Sun City Editor
Email Phishing Scheme Baits Cornell Students
A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced former Cornell student Maximilien R. Reynolds ’19 to two years in prison, concluding a case that began almost a year ago when a tip from a Walmart employee led to FBI agents busting through Reynolds’ Collegetown door. The sentence followed Reynolds’ guilty plea in November, when he admitted that he had paid someone to
purchase a rifle for him and had illegal- of ammunition, knives, a bulletproof ly possessed the rifle, as well as a silencer vest, a gas mask, a flare gun, a hack and makeshift bomb. Reynsaw and more. As part of olds, 21, could be released the plea deal, Reynolds also before December because admitted to owning a handhe has already been imprisgun that police divers found at the bottom of the Cayuga oned for about 11 months Inlet about a month after and can earn a reduction in the raid. his sentence for good behavIthaca Police Chief Pete ior, his lawyer said. Tyler said after the discovThe raid of Reynolds’ REYNOLDS ’19 apartment on Dryden ery of weapons in ReynRoad in March 2018 uncovered a olds’ apartment that, “Collectively, all cache of weapons and protective gear, including the AR-15 rifle, 300 rounds See REYNOLDS page 4
Vaccination nation
By ROCHELLE LI Sun Staff Writer
At first, the email appeared to be a reply to previous emails — opening the email revealed a blue box with instructions to “display trusted message.” However, unsuspecting Cornellians who opened the email quickly found out that the email was not what it seemed. In fact, the email was part of a University-wide phishing scheme that spread over a single weekend, affecting Cornell staff, faculty and students alike. For some users, clicking on the link once was enough to compromise their account. For others, a fake login website appeared after opening the link, asking users to input their NetID and password. Once opened, the phishing program then massemailed contacts that the compromised account had previously communicated with. The subject line changed with each message, cleverly disguised as a response to a previous email received by the user. Yoorie Chang ’20 was one of the many students deceived by the email. Chang had received the initial email Sunday morning, but her account only began sending out the malicious emails that afternoon. Shortly afterwards, friends and professors who received emails from Chang’s account reached out to her in confusion. “I was incredibly embarrassed. I had no idea what was going on,” Chang told The Sun. “My defenses were down. I didn’t even suspect it was a scam email.” When Chang first saw the email, she assumed the request for her NetID and password was a security measure implemented by Cornell. Sarah Kimball ’21 was suspicious of the fake email, but did not realize that simply clicking the link could allow the program to hack her account. Kimball first received these compromised emails Saturday, but only realized her account was hacked when she received automated out-of-office responses from some of the people the program emailed. “I kept waiting throughout Saturday and Sunday to receive an email from Cornell IT, just regarding the hacking and warning us not to click on any emails,” Kimball told The Sun. On Monday, Cornell Information Technologies See EMAIL page 4
ALISHA JUCEVIC / THE NEW YORK TIMES
A mother and her son wait in an immunization clinic in Portland, Ore. Measles outbreaks across the country, including in Oregon, have seen an increase.
Wegmans Cuts Food Prices After Shutdown Discounts effective until March 2 By EMMA CORDOVER Sun Staff Writer
Pasta, potatoes, eggs and bread are just a few of the items that Wegmans chose to discount from Feb. 16 to March 2 in response to a shortage in national food stamp funding and lingering food insecurity after the government shutdown. Among the discounted items at the chain, which has a location in Ithaca, include Wegmans brand iceberg lettuce, skinless chicken breasts, frozen vegetables and ready-to-serve soup. Compared to alternatives like GreenStar Food Co-op — which is selling pasta for $1.40 more, eggs for 57 cents more, and pasta sauce for $2.20 more — Wegmans is currently a cheaper option. During the longest gov-
ernment shutdown in national history, the Trump administration mandated states disperse food stamps intended for February by Jan. 20 to aid Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program beneficiaries. New York State released SNAP funds by Jan. 17. Because food stamps were distributed several weeks ahead of schedule, there was concern over what would happen in February. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities stated on its website that if states did not move up food stamp distribution for upcoming months, the “risk of a long period between SNAP benefits is a concern.” The chairman of the grocery giant, Danny Wegman, addressed these conSee DISCOUNTS page 4
BORIS TSANG / SUN ASSISTANT PHOTOGRPAHY EDITOR
Price chops | Wegmans displays its temporary price reductions for select food items at its Ithaca store entrance.