ISSUE 5 FEB. 23
SPRING 2016
BREAKING DOWN THE BARRIER: Sexual assault ‘prosecution’ at Florida Tech
Photo by Ebube Ubochi
The fliers line the bathroom stalls. Your eyes may rest for half a beat on the posters taped across the various walls across campus, and with a passing glance, you might continue on with your day. Eight people reported being sexually assaulted at Florida Tech in 2014, one of those in a residence hall. Of the eight that were reported, only four of them were sanctioned in what is called the University Disciplinary Committee: a panel of people that finds an accused guilty or not guilty. The UDC handles all disciplinary sanctions brought
against students, not just sexual assault allegations. It’s made up of faculty, staff and students. Dr. Dwayne McCay appoints the three faculty and staff members, and the Student Government President appoints the seven Justices. “It’s a big responsibility,” said Jess Cushman, SGA President. “It requires confidentiality.” So to get to the end process, which can seem harrowing, you have to take it back to the beginning. If a student thinks she or he has been sexually assaulted, she can go to many resources on campus. If she lives in a
Residence Hall, she can talk to her RA, though it should be noted RAs are a mandatory reporters. This means they’re required to report it to Security, and an investigation will continue. Pretty much anyone a student tells that’s in an administrative position is a mandatory reporter except CAPS, the Health Center and the Clergy. After telling someone, whether it be an RA or a professor or someone else, the next step will probably almost always be going to Security. When going to Security, a student will be asked if they want to file a report with Mel-
bourne Police. Florida Tech’s Holzer Health Center doesn’t have the resources to have rape kit testing done, mainly because of legal reasons, according to Joni Oglesby, Title IX Coordinator, and so Security always gently encourages victims to have rape kit tests done at the nearby hospital with Melbourne Police if they’re willing. “We try to get all the victims to allow us to call the police,” said Kevin Graham, director of Security. “Many times, they’re very apprehensive about that. But they have up to two years, they
have a certain time period in which they can file a criminal complaint.” The University is investigating for a violation in the student code of conduct, while if the student also files a report with Melbourne Police at the same time, MPD will be investigating for a violation of the Florida Crimes Code. A student can be found guilty of one, or both, or neither of these violations if they’re accused of a sexual assault. (Continued on page 4)
//REBEKAH DUNTZ EDITOR-IN-CHIEF @BEKA.PD
Ten offices broken into at Crawford Science Tower Ten offices were broken into in the Crawford Tower last week, as of Feb. 22, where the assailants stole several current edition textbooks in a complicated, stupefying manner. Security is currently investigating the burglary of which all happened on the fifth and third floors. Four of the offices were on the fifth floor, and six of the offices were on the third floor. The question: did they walk in with a set of submaster keys, or come in through the ceiling? According to Security, the cameras and swipe access didn’t catch anything. Many of the offices on both the floors, according to multiple sources, had white ceiling tile powder all over the floor and all over the desks when they entered their offices that Friday morning.
“I walk into my office, and at first I laughed because I thought somebody was pranking me because it looked like snow was everywhere. So there’s this white debris everywhere so I was like ‘haha, somebody pulled a funny,’” said Natalie Dorfeld, professor of communication. “And then I realized the towels were misplaced over my chair, and every single book I had was rifled through, and every single drawer was open,” she said. “So at first I thought well, maybe they’re doing construction, or maybe it was the wiring, and then we all quickly realized we’ve been robbed.” Twenty books were stolen from Dorfeld’s office, though she didn’t have all the names of the texts on inventory on her bookshelf, so she will only be able to replace a few of them through her depart-
ment. “And the school definitely doesn’t need to be making more purchases,” said Keturah Mazo, communication professor and another victim of the robbery whose office resides next door to Dorfeld’s. “I found out Friday,” said Ingrid Bradley. “I went to my office to do some course preparation and look for some textbooks and came back to my office and looked on my bookshelf there was nothing there but one book left out of probably 20.” Hers were texts she’s collected over the years, for consulting and for school. “The evidence gathered at the scene indicates that entry was likely through the office doors,” Kevin Graham said in a press release. Dorfeld described the scene: The motion sensors in
the offices had been disabled, as well as the blinds being closed shut. White powder covered the desks and floors in some offices. The offices were disheveled, drawers left opened and rummaged through and papers in disarray. “I made the initial call to Security, and I was originally told it was probably a cleaning crew,” said Mazo. “And they didn’t realize until they came up for [Dorfeld] when she realized she was missing textbooks that day that all my current texts were gone.” Mazo and Dorfeld said don’t necessarily agree with Security’s stance that the per-
petrators could have entered through the doors. Mazo said, “If they came in through the door, it would have had to have been with a key, which means who has the keys?” “To unlock all the doors, it would have had to be a submaster,” said Greg Tsark, university architect. “Now this is math and humanities, right? So there’s two different submasters. So that doesn’t make sense either, does it?”v
//REBEKAH DUNTZ EDITOR-IN-CHIEF @BEKA.PD
In this issue Favorite Apps Martial Arts intructor Melbourne Commons
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ISSUE 5
FEB. 23
2
OPINIONS
STUDENTS’ FAVORITE APPS
Apple's App Store houses over a million apps, and there are even more on the Google Play Store. This made us wonder which apps students have on their phones. Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, WhatsApp and other social media apps seem to be the favorites among the Florida Tech’s students who were interviewed. Netflix, Spotify, Gmail, and Slack were also mentioned. Name: Haziq Azman Major: Physics Favorite Apps: WhatsApp & Instagram WhatsApp is just better than iMessage. You can have groups. Everyone can talk together. You can share photos. I even have a group for my family.
Name: Daniel Amankwah Major: Mechanical Engineering Favorite Apps: Instagram Instagram is my favorite because you get to see so many pictures and various people opening up their lives.
Name: Xavier Flowers Major: Astronomy and Astrophysics Favorite Apps: Instagram, Gmail, Netflix, Facebook, Snapchat, Spotify & Musixmatch. Basically, these are my favorite because they offer everything I need. They are easy to use and fast.
Name: Thomas Haynie Major: Business Administration Favorite Apps: Slack Slack is a messaging app like GroupMe or WhatsApp. It is great, especially for business.
Name: Mohit Dhanwani Major: Biomedical engineering Favorite Apps: SURE It’s a universal remote. I haven't used it recently because I don't have a TV, but there was a point when I was using it all the time.
Name: Tobi Walker Major: Aerospace Engineering Favorite Apps: WhatsApp The app I use the most is the messaging app WhatsApp.
Name: Alston Feggins Major: Biomedical Engineering Favorite Apps: Gmail I use Gmail a lot because it's faster and even though I have an iPhone I don't use mail.
Personally, I have many favorites when it comes to apps. I love Photoshop Mix, Instagram, SoundCloud, NYTimes, CutMeIn. The list goes on. The apps I use most frequently are Google Apps: Drive, Calendar, Sheets, Docs, Slides and Google Photos, which allow me to create seamlessly and collaboratively on my phone and my computer.
Name: Jenny Berg Major: Biomedical Engineering Favorite Apps: Netflix app Netflix is what I use the most. And iFunny, because it is funny (well not everything).
What’s your favorite app? Lets us know or by leaving us a comment on our website (www.ftcrimson.com) or on instagram (@ftcrimson). //LINDSAY ISAAC STAFF WRITER
ISSUE 5
FEB. 23
3
OPINION
Unsung Heroes run Florida Tech Athletics The Florida Tech Athletics Department is an iceberg. When parents and fans come to athletic events, they come to watch teams perform on the field and win the competitions. They do not notice the people behind the scenes doing press work, game operations and logistics and keeping the fields pristine. These duties are performed by people with an everlasting enthusiasm and a commitment to excellence. Their work often goes unnoticed and unrecognized. There are several key figures that keep the wheels spinning every day. Two of those people are Chris Raimondi and “Ticket Tom” Richard. Raimondi is in charge of field maintenance for the entire F.W. Olin Sports Complex. Every day Raimondi works from dawn until evening on the baseball, softball, soccer and turf fields.
He arrives at games hours early to paint the lines, and stays until after all the fans have left to reset the field for practice the next day. “The amount of hours he puts in is remarkable,” said Head baseball coach, Greg Berkemeier. “He keeps our field as well as anybody possibly could and probably better than most.” Raimondi is diligent and his creativity is endless. He is constantly working on little projects to improve field conditions and the experience of the student-athletes. When he doesn’t have the tools for a job, he makes them. It is a full time job and if Raimondi wasn’t doing it, the coaching staffs would be picking up the slack. “It’s invaluable in terms of allowing us to focus on coaching the team and getting the players ready and getting them to be successful both on the classroom and on the field and out in society as well,”
Berkemeier said. Richard is another staple in the Athletics Department. Almost every athlete has seen him at one of their events or around the Clemente Center. Richard’s official job description is “director of ticket operations and game management.” The truth of the matter is, Ticket Tom does just about a little bit of everything. Besides running ticketing operations, he also manages the game operations workstudy students. He can be seen flipping burgers at concession, setting up rides for students to away games and being that extra hand wherever and whenever it is needed. Richard is tireless. Competition and day-to-day events would not run smoothly without him. He says that it’s all for love and pride for FIT. “I’m looking forward to the upcoming years,” Richard said. “I see our teams continuing to get better, our facilities continuing to improve and I
see the department growing.” FIT Athletics needs people like Raimondi, Richard and Ryan Jones, the assistant athletic director of Athletic Communications, but their efforts would all be in vain if not for the large support staff of work-study students that work with them morning, night and weekends. “Pretty much everything that happens, a student-worker has their hand in it,” Richard said. There are between five and eight students that assist in the effort that goes into every athletic event, and a lot more for football games. These students take pride in the amount of time they put into their jobs, most of them maxing out their 20 hours of work every week. “You have social media, scoreboard, music, the camera and computer,” said Nick Knowles, a two-sport student-athlete who does work study with Ryan Jones in the Athletic Communication De-
partment. “Even though were a small division 2 school we still take pride in what we do and getting the job done.” Despite the long hours and almost no recognition, Florida Tech Athletics is a family, and everyday is a family effort. Work study students have created their own community. On top of spending hours every week together, most of them will hang out on weekends too. “You kind of have to love it to do it,” said Anthony Delellis, another work-study student. “There’s a lot of hours and a lot of work. So you have to be passionate about it.” v
//AUDREY GANGLOFF SPORTS EDITOR
ISSUE 5
FEB. 23
CAMPUS LIFE
#DISCIPLINE
4
Martial Arts instructor pushes students toward physical, academic excellence
The floor of Clemente Center’s intramural basketball court comes to life on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Standing at the far end, Sensei Mark Laderwarg calls out in Japanese as his students strike precise poses, moving in sync with his voice. The Florida Tech Martial Arts Association is a student organization which meets directly after his Introduction to Karate class. Laderwarg is the organization’s faculty adviser. “The credited class, the P.E. class, is designed for beginners and people with no training,” Laderwarg explains. It’s to bring them up to a certain level by the end of the semester.” The school also offers an advanced karate class, which students can take after the introduction class. Though there are various styles in martial arts, Laderwarg instructs Karate to his first-year students, who then progress to Jujitsu, in which Karate can be included. Katarina Vukovic, a senior in Aerospace Engineering is the president of MAA and has been practicing since her freshman year at Florida Tech. In the years since attending her first martial arts class, where she saw other students training and asked to join, she has progressed through the program to the level of probationary black belt. Laderwarg, who served as a police commander with MPD before retirement, requires a minimum three years of training from his students before they enter the black belt proba-
tionary program. “When they start the probation, I ask them if they’re willing to dedicate the next year to training. It’s a big investment for me as well as them,” Laderwarg said. Though students may learn few new techniques during their probationary year, the process is about learning to perfect the many techniques they already know. “I train my mind and body,” said Vukovic. “It’s a great release from all the stress.” She trains three to four times each week, intent on honing her skills for the final test. She also helps instruct classes. Laderwarg has promoted four students to black belt in his eight years at Florida Tech, and Vukovic hopes to be the fifth. “It takes effort,” he said. “I tell people they can get their degree and get a black belt at the same time, but I don’t want to make it sound easy. It’s not easy.” Martial Arts tournaments are also part of training students for Laderwarg’s students. They participate in about three or four per semester, Vukovic said. “The sporting aspect is only a small part of what we do, but it’s still important,” Laderwarg said. “Partially to overcome that fear of facing people you don’t know, is we go to tournaments, and we get to fight strangers.” “To me, that’s the main idea. I don’t care whether my students win or not, even though they do tend to win more than they lose,” he said. Students begin attending tournaments when they
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1: BREAKING Graham explained that he and the other Title IX members encourage sexual assault victims to use their rights and to preserve evidence. “All the evidence would have been destroyed if we do it, because we’re not prosecuting, or it might be packaged incorrectly. So we try to get them to report to the police,” he said. “We train the RAs in saving evidence, not changing clothes. I’ve been in Reslife for over eleven years,” said Greg Connell, Assistant Director of Resident Life. “When it immediately happens, I think a lot of individuals want to get past it, want to get over it, but I think when times eclipses and after it happens to them, I think they
want to go back and they feel more empowered, and they want to take action against what happens to them. So if you don’t save that evidence, it makes it harder.” The UDC: Immediately after calling MPD and filing a report, if that’s what the victim chooses, Security asks if they would like a victim’s advocate or counseling. Florida Tech has a partnership with Serene Harbor Domestic Violence Shelter. “We’re with them all the way, talking to them and letting them know what we can do for them,” Graham said. Once the victim has reported to Security, investigating officer Morgan McKinnon
Photo by Alex Coultrup reach their green belt. “So my first one was a few years ago,” Vukovic said. “They’re really cool, you get to meet new people, you get to compete, see how other styles do their thing, see where you’re standing compared to them, bring home medals and trophies.” Laderwarg became the Sensei at Florida Tech when he took over the martial arts program eight years ago after the previous instructor passed away suddenly. At that time, MAA was inactive. As an adjunct professor, he also teaches a course titled Principles and Techniques of Personal Protec-
tion, which stands separately from the martial arts programs, and meets twice a week for a total of nine hours over the course of four and a half weeks. He also instructs classes at the Palm Bay Recreational Center, where several Florida Tech students choose to receive additional training, he said. There are many things students can gain by taking a class. “It makes you physically strong, which is always good, even if you’re not practicing the martial arts,” he said “It also teaches you skills which can help with survival in self-defense situations. It builds confidence.”
And some people simply love it. “Ultimately, for someone who does it for most of their life, the art is the end goal, and they do it for the sake of the art,” he said. “At a certain point during the last 50 years, I probably learned how to defend myself.” “But it’s art for art’s sake.” The Florida Tech Martial Arts has information posted on OrgSync, and is also on Facebook.
the students campus-related criminal history, if applicable. The UDC does not know about this history at any point until this. Karley Herschelman is a Justice on the UDC this year. “We go through two hours of training, and a mock trial,” she said. “People should know it’s totally anonymous. If the justices know you, they have to remove themselves. Same thing with the faculty.” The committee deliberates on whether the assailant is guilty or not, based on the facts of the case. Bowers leaves the room for the deliberation. After deciding, Bowers decides what type of sanction the student will get. In 2014, for sexual mis-
conduct, there was one disciplinary hold, one counseling assessment, one restriction/ loss of privileges, and suspension from the university. The reported numbers continue to rise. And your gaze may quickly shift from the posters. But they’re there, and according to Oglesby, there are more posters and campaigns coming. She obtained a $10,000 Avon grant specifically for Title IX efforts, which she said can’t be used for anything else. “Everyone needs to know: we demand respect,” Oglesby said. “Not just women, men too. No matter your age, sexual orientation, gender identity, you are a human being.” v
//ALEX COULTRUP SOCIAL MEDIA CO-ORDINATOR @ALEXDEEC
THE BARRIER gathers the facts of the case. Security then presents the facts of the case to the UDC, who then holds a hearing. “We strongly encourage our students to use their rights. It’s in their rights to bring forth charges. We strongly encourage you to go to law enforcement, we strongly encourage you to go to health center, the hospital, counseling, campus security to do an incident report, while the incident is fresh in their minds in case they do want to pursue charges,” said Dean Bowers, Dean of Student Affairs. “As more time passes, it just makes it tougher.” If the assailant is found to be in violation, then the committee asks Bowers to provide
ISSUE 5
FEB. 23
CAMPUS LIFE
5
Football: Students of all cultures unite to engage in worldwide habit
Photo by Ebube Ubochi Aden Tuma steps from a ball placed about 20 meters from the goal. He jogs forward and fires the ball goal wards: it gracefully curves around the defenders and careens off the crossbar, kissing the back of the net and leaving the goalkeeper stupefied as 11 men and women erupt into celebration.
Those that meet almost every Sunday at the Florida Avenue football fields come from a myriad of backgrounds and cultures, yet they all share a common interest in the sport of football. “It’s a lifestyle,” one of the players named Mark commented. “People from all around the world live
and breathe for the sport of football... They wake up, they work, they come home and then they go out to the fields for a romp with their mates.” At Florida Tech, things are no different, with dozens of players meeting on Sunday afternoons to play football, chat with old friends and make new ones.
Football is the mostplayed sport in the world, and also by far the biggest on the international stage, with, according to FIFA, over 700 million people worldwide gathering to watch the behemoth of all football matches, the World Cup Final, and with 3.4 billion accumulated views garnered during the World Cup overall. To put this in perspective, a record average 114 million people watched the Super Bowl last year, the main event in American Football. Additionally, a poll conducted by FIFA indicated that over 240 million people regularly play football worldwide, in addition to almost 5 million referees, assistant referees and officials involved with the game. “Football is almost always a blast to play, there’s nothing like it,” said one player. But if there’s one thing about football, it’s that it’s almost as competitive as it is welcoming. Games between Spain’s two biggest clubs, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, the world’s two most followed sports teams on social media, have been
dubbed the El Clásico, and tensions are often heated during these fierce rivalries between both the fans and the players. Fortunately, there have never been any noticeable casualties as a result of the clashes of the two giants, but this is only the case with El Clásico. In truth, violence in football matches have become so commonplace that there is even a term to describe it: football hooliganism. The worst disaster in football history was at the National Stadium in Peru, where a disallowed goal sparked a riot that left 318 people dead and over 500 with major injuries. The unbridled emotions fans like those at the National Stadium held for their teams go far to show how seriously many people take the sport of football, and testify to the measure of its involvement in the hearts of so many worldwide. //EVAN LINDEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
ISSUE 5
FEB. 23
NEWS
6
Chipotle holds nationwide employee meeting for safety protocol briefing In light of the recent explosion of dissatisfaction with Chipotle, the company is going the extra mile to redeem itself and prove its commitment to customers and investors alike. The Chipotle franchise, a favorite among Florida Tech students, held a nationwide strategy meeting this month to bring its employees up to speed on its revamped safety protocols. According to BuzzFeed News, Chipotle founder and Co-CEO Steve Ells told investors about the meeting in early January. Most of it was conducted via satellite and focused on testing procedures outside of the restaurants. In early February, we’re going to have an all-company meeting, all 60,000 or so of us,” Ells told investors. “We’re going to let all of our folks know what we know about how this happened, and, in detail, all the steps we’re taking to ensure that it won’t happen again.” The Feb. 8 meeting was set in stone for over a month and preparations were made to close all restaurants for a few hours, moving the opening time for the day to 3 p.m. local time. The company has faced a great deal of turmoil in
the past few months following repeated outbreaks of E. coli, norovirus and salmonella, which resulted in a considerable decline in sales. Despite customers’ longstanding confidence in Chipotle, and the company’s pride in its use of sustainably-raised, GMOfree Mexican food, the road to a full recovery may seem long and arduous to some. Two sickened customers — one in the state of Washington and two in Minnesota — have already filed lawsuits against the franchise. The company plans to switch from defense to offense in order to counter the blow dealt to its image and reputation. This meeting, which is intended partially as a mega pep rally for the company’s constituents, is only the beginning. The outbreaks seemed regional for the most part, with west coast branches in California, Washington and Oregon receiving the most complaints. A considerable portion of the company’s customers seem unaffected by the outbreaks at all. Adrian McHargh, a graduating senior in aerospace engineering, heard about Chipotle’s struggles over the break, but this wasn’t
Photo by Ebube Ubochi
Chipotle held a company-wide meeting in early February, and many consumers will still follow the company despite the setbacks.
the reason he stopped eating there. “It wasn’t because of that I stopped,” he said. “Just time. I would still eat there and I’d definitely say it’s one of my favorite places to eat.” The company is also counting on help from health officials, whose investigation remains open after having been carried out since November. “One thing that will give custom-
ers some relief is when the CDC calls this over,” Ells said. “I am hopeful that that will happen relatively soon.” Student athlete and ocean engineering major Katie Coughlan commends the company’s efforts to win customers back. “I haven’t gone there this semester, but the E.coli thing didn’t have anything to do with that,” she said.
“I’m glad they’re trying to fix the problem and I hope it’ll help.” Chipotle also plans to release a film to explain what happened to customers, as well as the procedures they are implementing to minimize the risk of another outbreak. //EBUBE UBOCHI SCI-TECH EDITOR @TWEETINGEBUBE
Housing caters for student expansion with townhouse-style residence
Students will be getting a new housing facility by next semester, called the Melbourne Commons, which is currently under constuction. A new student housing area called Melbourne Commons is under construction on South Babcock Street across the street from Florida Tech and next to Landmark Apartments. It will be up and running for Fall 2016. With Florida Tech growing each year, the housing is specifically built with students in mind. Melbourne Commons will be a 39-unit townhouse community with 2, 3 or 4 bedrooms available. It will be of
particular interest to students for a few reasons. Each room is privately leased. A student will not have to worry if his or her roommate drops out or does not pay rent. Each person is only responsible for his or her room. Pricing for the rooms has not been released yet, but is similar to that of Panther Bay. All floorplans are furnished in the common room area, but students are expected to
have their own furniture for bedrooms. Although the start of the fall 2016 school year is less than 7 months away, and the building site is currently nothing but an open field, the head developer guarantees that Melbourne Commons will be built and ready for students before school starts. “We will deliver these housing units before August 27th”, said Troy Baumgartner. “It seems fast, but we’ve done
it before.” And he is right. This is the developing company’s third project. “We are looking for students and two property assistants- one male, one female”, Baumgartner said. Property assistants are very similar to resident assistants, much like the ones on the Florida Tech campus. It is a paid position that would require a student to run errands around the housing units. Students are excited to see the condominiums come to life. Many people prefer to live off campus as the years go by. Danielle Larochelle, a freshman in biomedical engineering, thinks the Melbourne Commons sounds like a convenient idea. “I think it’s really cool that you’re only responsible for your room,” Larochelle says. “Because in apartments and houses you lease, if your roommate doesn’t pay rent, someone has to fork up the money somehow.” With the construction of Melbourne Commons and Florida Tech continuously expanding each year, it appears as though the town of Melbourne is falling away from being a quiet little beach town. More housing means more students, which means a larger college-centered town.
Jarin Eisenberg, the executive director of Downtown Melbourne Main Street, says that Melbourne in general is definitely growing. “More density is better. We want more memories, more experiences”, she said. “We think of it as a live, work, play environment. We want students who graduate from FIT to be able to walk around and remember the good times they had at Meg’s and Matt’s Casbah”, Eisenberg says. Downtown Melbourne does not currently offer any high end residential housing, but they are proud to work with FIT and want to keep the connection with the students strong. Eisenberg even says that within a few weeks, they will be announcing a cool project between Downtown and FIT that they have been planning. It appears as though Melbourne is being called “Mel-boring” less and less each year. With the growing student population and event planning Downtown, Melbourne is gaining the potential to become quite the hot spot in the Southern Tier.
//MARY KOZAITIS STAFF WRITER
ISSUE 5
FEB. 23
SCI-TECH
7
Electronic Frontier Foundation Files FTC Complaint Against Google The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights activist group has recently been pushing companies such as Google to better protect student privacy as part of its Spying on Students Campaign. One of their main focuses has been on technology and software used in K-12 classrooms which students are often required to use and may collect personal data. The Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a complaint on December 1st with the Federal Trade Commission against Google for collecting information on school children, arguing that Google violated their agreement to the Student Privacy Pledge. According to the EFF, the Student Privacy pledge is a legally enforceable document in which companies providing services to K-12 schools agree to safeguard students’ personal data. Those who sign agree to not sell student information, not behaviorally target advertising, use data only for authorized educational purposes, and be transparent about data collection and use of data among other things. The EFF says that Google has vi-
olated their agreement by enabling their “Sync” feature by default on Chromebooks sold to schools. According to the EFF’s press release, this feature allows Google to track, store, and data mine for non-advertising purposes, student information including: sites visited, search terms, links clicked, videos watched, and saved passwords. I many cases use of these computers is required for class work and the EFF argues Google had not obtained permission from students or their parents to collect this information Google responded in a blog post by Jonathan Rochelle, Director of Google Apps for Education, arguing that they had not violated any laws or their agreement to the Student Privacy Pledge. According to Google’s blog, The Future of Privacy Forum and The Software and Information Industry, co-authors of the Privacy Pledge, felt that Google had not violated the agreement and the EFF misinterpreted the requirements of the pledge. Google says that it’s Apps for Education Core Services only collect information to be used within the scope of educa-
tion and not for advertising, and it Chrome Sync feature is optional, and any aggregated data used to improve Google Services is anonymized. On January 13, Senator Al Franken, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, wrote a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai expressing his concerns over how student data was being used and secured. Franken writes “There may be a discrepancy in how Google treats student data obtained through its core Google Apps for Education— product that are deemed educational – versus how Google treats student data obtained through other services”. Franken also considers an opt-in regime in which students would be able to
share their information with Google upon parental consent. According to the EFF in 2015, the Data Quality Campaign found that 46 states introduced 182 bills and passed 28 new laws to protect student privacy. The go on to mention that the Elementary and Secondary Education Act failed to include any significant new student privacy protections. //CHRISTOPHER PANGALOS STAFF WRITER
The Chromebook is pictured above.
DIGITAL HOMEWORK... Is it Worth the Cost?
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights activist group has recently been pushing companies such as Google to better protect student privacy as part of its Spying on Students Campaign. One of their main focuses has been on technology and software used in K-12 classrooms which students are often required to use and may collect personal data. The Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a complaint on December 1st with the Federal Trade Commission against Google for collecting information on school children, arguing that Google violated their
agreement to the Student Privacy Pledge. According to the EFF, the Student Privacy pledge is a legally enforceable document in which companies providing services to K-12 schools agree to safeguard students’ personal data. Those who sign agree to not sell student information, not behaviorally target advertising, use data only for authorized educational purposes, and be transparent about data collection and use of data among other things. The EFF says that Google has violated their agreement by enabling their “Sync” feature by default on
Chromebooks sold to schools. According to the EFF’s press release, this feature allows Google to track, store, and data mine for non-advertising purposes, student information including: sites visited, search terms, links clicked, videos watched, and saved passwords. I many cases use of these computers is required for class work and the EFF argues Google had not obtained permission from students or their parents to collect this information Google responded in a blog post by Jonathan Rochelle, Director of Google Apps for Education, ar-
guing that they had not violated any laws or their agreement to the Student Privacy Pledge. According to Google’s blog, The Future of Privacy Forum and The Software and Information Industry, co-authors of the Privacy Pledge, felt that Google had not violated the agreement and the EFF misinterpreted the requirements of the pledge. Google says that it’s Apps for Education Core Services only collect information to be used within the scope of education and not for advertising, and it Chrome Sync feature is optional, and any aggregated data used to improve Google Services is anonymized. On January 13, Senator Al Franken, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, wrote a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai expressing his concerns over how student data was being used and secured. Franken writes “There may be a discrepancy in how Google treats student data obtained through its core Google Apps for Education—product that are deemed educational – versus how Google treats student data obtained through other services”. Franken also considers an opt-in regime in which students would be able to share their information with Google upon parental consent. According to the EFF in 2015, the Data Quality Campaign found that 46 states introduced 182 bills and passed 28 new laws to protect student privacy. The go on to mention that the Elementary and Secondary Education Act failed to include any significant new student privacy protections. //SHADHAB TAMBOLI STAFF WRITER