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Volume 54, Issue 73 | friday, january 31, 2020 | ndsmcobserver.com
Iranian ND student denied entry to U.S. ‘I started crying in the airplane’: Grad student turned away by CBP amid tensions with Iran By KELLI SMITH Editor-in-Chief
Photo courtesy of Hamid Mohabbat
Hamid Mohabbat prepares to leave for America on Jan. 10. Mohabbat was denied entry to the U.S. at Chicago O’Hare International Airport.
Saint Mary’s IT introduces new Wi-Fi network By MARIROSE OSBORNE News Writer
Soon after the start of the new semester, Saint Mary’s students noticed a new feature to campus life. The old Wi-Fi systems, ResNet and BelleAire, were retired and were replaced by BelleNet, the newest version of Saint Mary’s Wi-Fi. “We intentionally allowed the old ResNet network to remain active for a little more than a week beyond the start of the semester to allow for everyone to transition,” chief information officer Todd Norris said in an email to the campus community. However, by the second week of the semester, ResNet and BelleAire were officially deactivated and replaced by BelleNet. BelleNet is active in both the dorms and academic buildings, unlike ResNet and BelleAire, which were separated by location. BelleNet is also accompanied
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with DeviceNet, which operates specifically for residents’ televisions and other large devices that require an internet connection. “These changes add security to our network to keep your information safer,” Norris said in his email. In general, the reaction to the change has been positive, sophomore Emily Tobias, an Information Technology Helpdesk consultant, said. “Professors were just confused and slightly frustrated at first, but once we told them to put in their username and password they were fine,” Tobias said. “There were some professors who ended up on the guest network, so we did have to help them get from guest to BelleNet which took some time, but we got them sorted out eventually.” The Helpdesk consultants are responsible for assisting faculty and staff with see WIFI PAGE 3
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W hen Hamid Mohabbat’s plane touched down in Chicago on Jan. 10, he could hardly contain his excitement. It was his first time in America and he was one step closer to Notre Dame, where’d he accepted a fullyfunded offer to study civil engineering through a combined master’s and Ph.D. program. A 22-year-old from Iran, Mohabbat dreamed of earning a doctorate at Notre Dame and becoming a professor in his home country. But upon exiting the plane in the U.S., Mohabbat’s plans
changed dramatically. “I was shocked,” Mohabbat said. On Jan. 10, Mohabbat was detained at Chicago O’Hare International Airport and placed in a detention cell for 19 hours. He was interviewed — interrogated, as he put it — about America’s relationship with Iran and the downing of a Ukrainian flight, which the Iranian military had taken responsibility for earlier that day. Despite being placed in an isolated room, Mohabbat didn’t think anything was wrong. He offered the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer his CV and research plan. He says he was honest and direct. Some time later, the officer came
back. Mohabbat was given a foam mattress and thin blanket on which to sleep and was instructed not to communicate with anyone. The next morning, he was sent back to Iran. “I was asked to get out and make ready to leave,” Mohabbat said. “I was given no reason.”
A national occurrence Mohabbat’s experience is representative of a national trend occurring amid America’s heightened tensions with Iran. The New York Times reported at least 16 Iranian students have been turned away at U.S. airports see ENTRY PAGE 4
Students provide supplies to fight coronavirus
DIANE PARK | The Observer
By ZIXU WANG News Writer
The outbreak of coronavirus has killed 213 people and sickened 9,720 in China as of Jan. 30, according to the People’s Daily, the largest official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party. The epidemic began in Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei Province. Cases of the virus have since turned up in 19 countries, including the United States where six people have been diagnosed.
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On Thursday night, the State Department issued a travel advisory telling Americans to avoid traveling to China because of the health risks of the outbreak. Hospitals in Wuhan are facing a severe shortage of medical supplies, including N95 respirator masks, protection suits, goggles and coronavirus testing kits. Posts from doctors requesting donations are widely spreading on the internet, and some Chinese students at Notre Dame are responding with help.
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Yizhi Hu, who graduated from the Department of Political Science in 2019, established the donation network with a group of volunteer students and alumni from Notre Dame, University of Chicago and other schools in the Greater Chicago Area. The network is comprised of logistics, procurement, communication with suppliers and hospitals, publicity and legal compliance, Hu said. “We established this network see SUPPLIES PAGE 4
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