the
Herald By and for the students of Hobart and William Smith Colleges FRIDAY, December 12, 2008
GENEVA, NY
Colleges Launch High Tech Alert System
Obama’s Team Just Grows and Grows
VOLUME CXXX ISSUE 17
By Karissa Seeberger ’12 Opinions Editor “Is this for real?” asked an unnamed Colleges professor shortly after, asking him, “Is something wrong? Why didn’t after receiving an unclear e-mail from the new emergency I get one?” The system is so advanced that it can see if notification system. It was the first trial of the newest each person, of 2,944 on campus, answered and with what security measure implemented in a very innovative way. method. The system’s default setting is first to send a In fact, reassuringly enough, it is the same manner that message to a student’s cellular phone, then the HWS e-mail, Virginia Tech University chose to heighten its security and finally the room phone, and wait for a confirmation that measures after the tragic the message has been received. shootings that occurred in Only 44 percent on campus 2007. After messages were responded within the allowed received - whether it was time span, and 12 percent via text, e-mail, or phone responded late. According - a sentiment of confusion to the agency, 3N (National began to brew on campus. Notification Network), which Students were perplexed was selected after investigating as their cell phones four representative companies, simultaneously buzzed, the results are fantastic for beeped or vibrated in the a first time. It is hoped that middle of class. While this students and staff will realize could have been interpreted the importance of submitting as the end of the world, it was their contact information, as actually the beginning of a the system strives for better communicative system that results for the next fire drillwould inform all students like test. in case of an emergency. Dean Streeter has high Kate McCaffrey, director hopes for the next test that will of Residential Education, be sent out - a lofty goal of an actually received a text, 85 percent response rate. With regardless of the fact that Courtesy of http://elementaryteacher.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/text-messaging.jpg future meetings planned with she was in Texas at the time, the “implementation team,” it is on Nov. 12, 2008. She was pleased with the effectiveness a work in progress. Though it is not a complex system, as of the groundbreaking system stating that, “It gives us it is very user-friendly, we will soon become familiar with it the capability to communicate clearly and concisely in a over time as we are more exposed to it. It does not require very efficient amount of time, and most importantly, gives anyone who is particularly “technologically savvy.” While members of the community information on what to do discussing this matter with Dean Streeter, he pointed next.” to the fact that this generation of students religiously Those students who felt strangely left out of this checks their phones, making them an ideal instrument of mass text as they sat there in class quickly e-mailed Dean communicating urgencies to them. Montrose Streeter, who is in charge of the new system,
HWS Checks Out Keycards By Karissa Seeberger ’12 Opinions Editor All are in agreement that it is time for Hobart and William Smith colleges to move forward. The administration is currently looking into new possibility of upgrading our keys for a sleek swipe card that will be the new way of entering all on-campus buildings. It will ideally consolidate all students’ necessities into one card. Other universities nationwide have been using this system for its convenience and as added security measure. Every time a student swipes his or her card the computer system will not only grant the student entry to the building, but register that fact that the student was there. This will make finding a missing person easier as they would have the ability to track where the student had been. This powerful little card could even be used to purchase food from pizza delivery businesses. They hope to execute the card system within a year or two, so underclassmen can have their fingers crossed for this upgrade during their college years. Kate
McCaffrey, director of Residential Education, stated that, “The cards will give students more flexibility because the keys are inconvenient.” After the new emergency notification system has been thoroughly established, this is the next goal, towards a more progressive college. Many other universities have gone as far as to use a GPS system on their students and faculty, which may seem extreme, but has proven to be very useful. For those who are easily paranoid, perhaps this is disheartening, and very big brother-esque, but all in the name of safety. However, there has been no talk of implementing a GPS system on our campus. McCaffrey comically referred to campus communication when she said, “When I went to school we just yelled across the quad.” Whether it be a swipe card, a GPS system, or an emergency notification system, one of the most effective forms of communication is still the old-fashioned word of mouth. Wide-spread discussion will never go out of style.
Video Game Review: Spore
By Andrew Donovan ’11 Herald Contributor President-elect Barack Obama’s team is becoming clearer as he develops a group of people to bring to Washington with him in January. This complex process of naming staff members has held its current form since 1952. It was not until 1963 that the process became formal with The Presidential Transition Act of 1963 as it provided federal funding and logistics support to make the switch easier. This act was made better by President Bill Clinton in 2000 to update the very complex process. It is known that about 4,000 political appointments will be made and all of those have to be thought about and confirmed, with about 1,000 requiring confirmation by the Senate. Obama’s most high-profile choice was seen last week in Senator
Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. She made her first visit to the State Department Tuesday since being named to the position and had planned to have dinner with current Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. This is an interesting pick as Clinton was Obama’s chief rival in the Democratic Primary process, making this grouping of cabinet members being declared the “team of rivals.” Once confirmed by the Senate, Clinton will become the United States’ third female secretary of state following Rice and Madeline Albright under the Bill Clinton Administration. Speculation also continues regarding Caroline Kennedy being named the replacement senator for Hillary OBAMA continued on Page 2
Road to Economic Recovery? By Professor Alan Frishman Faculty Contributer It is clear that the global economy is in a recession and the magnitude of the world financial crisis is enormous. As I explained in The Herald on Oct. 31, in the United States, the unfettered financial markets, the rise in foreclosures, derivatives and credit default swaps, and the underestimation of risk have led to gigantic upheavals and losses. The losses and bankruptcies have altered and will continue to alter the structure of the financial sector and many other industries in the U.S. Some banks have had such large losses that they have collapsed: Wachovia Bank lost $96.7 billion and was taken over by Wells Fargo; Washington Mutual Bank lost $45.6 billion and was taken over by JP Morgan Chase, and the Indy Bank in California closed. The five major investment banks on Wall Street have been transformed: Bear Stearns was sold to JP Morgan Chase; Merrill Lynch which lost $61.7 billion was bought by Bank of America; Lehman Brothers went
bankrupt and the leftover scraps were bought by Barclay’s Bank; and Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are transforming themselves into bank holding companies. Citigroup lost $66 billion but has managed to survive so far; on the other hand, it holds $153.3 billion of credit card debt. Banks and institutions that are major credit card issuers (JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Capital One, American Express and Discover) are bracing themselves for the next wave of bad debt. American International Group (AIG), which held a huge number of credit default swaps, has been given U>S> government loans in successive stages to the tune of $150 billion, and other insurance companies are also in trouble. Many hedge funds have folded and others are on shaky ground. As the losses spread and accumulate, the rest of the economy is suffering with cutbacks, RECOVERY continued on Page 2
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CAMPUS HAPPENINGS
B e s t Wa y s t o R e l a x D u r i n g E x a m s
M u m m y ’ s T h e Wo r d
Stepping into Hyp~NotiQLand
Prescription Dr ugs Sur vey Results
OPINIONS
Sustainability Experiment
Wo r d s f r o m A b r o a d
A R T S A N D E N T E R TA I N M E N T
V ideo Game Review: Spore
S u d o k u , Wo r d S e a r c h , C r o s s w o r d
T wilight Review
SPOR TS
T h i s We e k I n S p o r t s
B A C K PA G E
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