The Mercury

November 3, 2014

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ARRESTED FOR CYBERCRIMES 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 1010101010101000101010101110011010 1011011010101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 101010101010 10001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101 010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 1010101010101000101010101 1100110101011011010101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 101 01010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011 011010101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 1010101010101000 1010101011100110101011011010101010101101 101010101010100010101010111001101010110110101010101 01101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100 110101011011010101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 1010101 0101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 101010101010100010101010111001101010110110 10101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 10101010101010001010 101011100110101011011010101010101101 1010101010101000101010101110011010101101101010101010110 1 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 101010101010100010101010111001101 01011011010101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 10101010101 which Rotundo reportedly used the name “John Smart010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 1010101010101000101010101110011010101101101010 ESTEBAN BUSTILLOS ing.” Using the alias, Rotundo 101010101010100010101010 reportedly told C.C. Managing Editor 1010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 he had stumbled across the nude pictures of her and 11100110101011011010101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 10 Nicholas Rotundo, a 2013 management informa- claimed he could ensure the photos would never surface 101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 1010101010101000101010101110011010101 tion systems graduate, was arrested on Oct. 4 after the on the Internet.

1011010101010101101 101010101010100 The affidavit stated he then demanded several more FBI accused him10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 of obtaining inappropriate photos and items in exchange for keeping the photos private. videos of numerous women, in01010101011100110101011011010101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010 nude photo, a photo of cluding several former and cur- Among them were a full-body 101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 1010101010101000101010101110 her vagina and a video of C.C. masturbating. The email rent UTD students.

0110101011011010101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 101010 According to affidavits from requested that these items be sent by Jan. 29.

10101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 The 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011 affidavit stated that C.C. received another email the east district of Texas, Ro010101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 in which Rotundo used email and Snapchat from the widgerword account on Sept. 151010101010101000101 tundo threatened to release nude photos of her on Pink with the intention to harass or 0101011100110101011011010101010101101 101010101010100010101010111001101010110110101010101011 Meth, a revenge porn website, if she didn’t send in the intimidate.

Th e FBI charged 01 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110 him with two counts of cyber- requested photos and video within 24 hours.

101011011010101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 1010101010 After issuing a subpoena to Comcast to access the stalking and one count of in1010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 101010101010100010101010111001101010110110101 widgerword and breastperceptionstudy accounts, UTD trusion.

01010101101ROTUNDO 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 Rotundo was likely While UTD police originally police were able to determine that10101010101010001010101 the sender, according to the affi davit.

Subpoenas showed released a statement that stated 011100110101011011010101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 that he lived in San Jose, Calif., and worked for Google. they suspected four victims, Lt. Ken MacKenzie said 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 1010101010101000101010101110011010 In June, the FBI was able to obtain a search warrant police now believe there are several more individuals 1011011010101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 101010101010 for the account and found that it contained images of involved.

10001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 several nude females, including images of C.C. There According to the trial affidavit, investigators be- 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101 010101101 lieve 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 1010101010101000101010101 other females requestthe incidents began when Rotundo started send- were also messages to at least two ing additional nude photographs and videos, along with ing emails to an individual referred to as “C.C.” on 1100110101011011010101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 101 photos of two victims whose pictures had been taken or around June 4, 2013 asking her to participate in a 01010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011 remotely with the webcam of their laptops. breast-perception study.

011010101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 1010101010101000 The FBI arrested Rotundo in the Northern District The email, sent from breastperceptionstudy@gmail.

1010101011100110101011011010101010101101 101010101010100010101010111001101010110110101010101 com, requested several pictures from C.C., including a of Illinois, he pleaded not guilty. He is currently free on 01101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100 full-body nude photograph, a close-up frontal photo- $4,500 bond.

UTDPD is requesting that anyone who has been congraph of her breasts and two side-view photographs of 110101011011010101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 1010101 tacted by breastperceptionstudy@gmail.com, widgerher breasts.

Th e email said participants would be paid 0101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 101010101010100010101010111001101010110110 word@gmail.com or has allowed Rotundo to access his $4,500 for these images.

10101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 10101010101010001010 After receiving two more emails that increased the of- or her computer to call police at 972-883-2222.

101011100110101011011010101010101101 1010101010101000101010101110011010101101101010101010110 Any student concerned about these events may also fer to $6,000 and then $8,500 for the pictures, C.C. 1 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 101010101010100010101010111001101 Counseling Center at 972-883sent the requested photos of herself around the end of contact the Student 2575 to schedule free, confidential counseling.

December 2013.

01011011010101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 10101010101 According to the affi davit, C.C. later received an 010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 1010101010101000101010101110011010101101101010 from widgerword@gmail.com in January, in Additional reporting by Priyanka Hardikar and Sid Patel 1010101101email 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 101010101010100010101010 11100110101011011010101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 10 101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 1010101010101000101010101110011010101 1011010101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 101010101010100 01010101011100110101011011010101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010 101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 1010101010101000101010101110 So when the FBI contacted one of Rotundo’s ANWESHA BHATTACHARJEE 0110101011011010101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 101010 Web Editor acquaintances, a former UTD student, claiming 10101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011 the agents had found photos of her in Rotundo’s possession, she said she was surprised.1010101010101000101 When alumnus Nicholas Rotundo's friends 010101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 “That kind of stuff happens to people, but the heard he had been charged for cyber-stalking 0101011100110101011011010101010101101 101010101010100010101010111001101010110110101010101011 and intrusion, they were shocked and couldn't difference is that this was someone that I knew,” 01 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110 said the woman, who chose to remain anonybelieve the news.

101011011010101010101101 1010101010 During his time10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 at UTD, Rotundo was in- mous.

1010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 Bill Mikesell, a UTD alumnus, has been volved with several student organizations, in- 101010101010100010101010111001101010110110101 friends with Rotundo since 2011 and helped cluding Student Government, Mu Epsilon Kap01010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 10101010101010001010101 Rotundo and his girlfriend move to California pa and the Student Union Activities Advisory 011100110101011011010101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 last year.

Board.

10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 1010101010101000101010101110011010 He was shaken up by the news and said it His friends described him as a computer sav1011011010101010101101 101010101010 vy, moral and an10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 upstanding individual. He was 10001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 talented enough to land a job at Google after 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101 → SEE REACTION, PAGE 16 graduating.

010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 1010101010101000101010101 1100110101011011010101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 101 01010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011 011010101010101101 10101010101010001010101011100110101011011010101010101101 1010101010101000

Alumnus arrested in connection to wrongful acquisition of sexually explicit photos; suspected victims include former students

THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COM

FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS Photos from the 2014 Diwali Festival

Photos

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LEADER OF THE PACK Sports

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Suspected victim shares her story

Scammers target students for money MIGUEL PEREZ Editor-in-Chief

Comics

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A student called UTDPD on Oct. 16 to report a caller claiming to be an agent of the Internal Revenue Service to coax money from the student.

The scammer asked the international student to deposit $460 for taxes at a location near Coit Road and threatened the student with an arrest warrant, said UTDPD Lt. Ken MacKenzie.

“We want to make students aware that the Internet scams are out there, and a lot of our students fall victim,” he said.

International students are targeted more frequently, but these telephone scams are not specific to UTD, MacKenzie said.

This follows a report from a student on Sept.

9 to UTDPD. The student was searching for

work as a nanny on an international service website. The swindlers, who claimed to be in Australia, reportedly said they needed help in establishing themselves in the United States.

They sent the student fraudulent checks and had her deposit funds into her bank; the student was asked to send back money in the form of VISA gift cards, MacKenzie said.

When her bank notified her that the check was fraudulent, the student stopped the next transaction. An initial $300 card had already been cashed, but the student could have potentially lost $1,800, MacKenzie said.

UTDPD shares reports of scams and frauds with the Information Security Office.

The most common types of frauds Information Security deals with involves emails, telephone calls and text messages, said Director of

Information Security Nate Howe. . They will often involve con artists claiming to work for government agencies such as the FBI or IRS, banks and the university help desk, Howe said.

There is at least one report daily, he said. In most cases, as people become more familiar with the signs of a scam, they’ll often delete it and disregard it, but there continues to be a portion of people who haven’t become aware of those signs, Howe said. Those are the potential victims.

Jon-Paul McGowan, who focuses on awareness and outreach for Information Security, said if students or staff members suspect an email is malignant, they should always forward it to the department.

→ SEE SCAMS, PAGE 16

Editorial Board

Disclosing, acquiring private photos should be sex crime

STUDENT SAMARITANS Life&Arts

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Millennials, and society at large, are consuming and molding electronic communication quicker every day, and the legal system isn’t keeping up.

From the widespread distribution of celebrity nude photos to Texas’ ruling against the banning of upskirt photos, the attainment and dissemination of private media can currently be

charged as extortion, identity theft, wiretapping or even copyright infringement, but the law does not recognize these offenses as sex crimes.

Under national law, sex crimes involve the coercion of a person to engage in a sexual act by force or other means. At this point, U.S. code does not recognize acts like hacking computers or deceiving individuals in an attempt to ac-

quire private media as a kind of coercion, even if these acts are sexual in nature and profoundly violate a victim’s body and sense of safety.

Courts and the legal system need to be more responsive to the way our interactions are changing, especially if the public’s perception of

→ SEE SEX CRIMES, PAGE 3

THE MERCURY UTDMERCURY.COM Volume XXXIV No. 17 Editor-in-Chief .JHVFM 1FSF[

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THE MERCURY | NOV. 3, 2014

NEWS

UTDPD Blotter Oct. 19 t " TUVEFOU XBT DJUFE GPS QPTTFTTJPO PG ESVH QBSBQIFSOBMJB BU Q N Oct. 20 t "O VOBïMJBUFE QFSTPO XBT BSSFTUFE PO -PPQ 3PBE GPS QPTTFTTJPO PG B DPOUSPMMFE TVCTUBODF QPTTFTJPO PG NBSJKVBOB ESJWJOH XJUIPVU B MJDFOTF BOE PUIFS BHFODZ XBSSBOUT t " TUVEFOU SFQPSUFE UIF UIFGU PG IJT CJDZDMF GSPN B CJLF SBDL OFBS 1IBTF t " TUVEFOU SFQPSUFE IJT QBSLJOH QFSNJU XBT TUPMFO GSPN IJT DBS TPNFUJNF GSPN 0DU

t " TUVEFOU XBT BSSFTUFE GPS UIFGU BGUFS IF XBT DBVHIU TUFBMJOH BO JUFN GSPN UIF CPPLTUPSF BSPVOE Q N Oct. 21 t "O VOBïMJBUFE NBMF NBLJOH VOXBOUFE DPNNFOUT XBT HJWFO B XBSOJOH GPS DSJNJOBM USFTQBTT BGUFS QPMJDF EJTDPWFSFE BMDPIPM PO IJT QFSTPO BU Q N t " TUVEFOU SFQPSUFE IJT XIJUF FBS CVET XFSF UBLFO PVU PG IJT CBDLQBDL XJUIPVU IJT DPOTFOU JO UIF 4UVEFOU 6OJPO BSPVOE Q N Oct. 22 t " TUBê NFNCFS SFQPSUFE BO VOLOPXO QFSTPO TUPMF TFWFSBM DPNQVUFS JUFNT CFUXFFO 0DU GSPN UIF 6OJWFSTJUZ 7JMMBHF MFBTJOH PïDF BU Q N Oct. 23 t "O VOBïMJBUFE QFSTPO XBT BSSFTUFE PO $BNQCFMM 3PBE BU B N GPS XBSSBOUT PVU PG %BMMBT 1PMJDF ɨF XBSSBOUT XFSF GPS TQFFEJOH BOE BO FYQJSFE MJDFOTF

LEGEND VEHICULAR INCIDENT THEFT DRUGS & ALCOHOL OTHER MAP: UTD COMMUNICATIONS | COURTESY

JUST THE FACTS

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UTDMERCURY.COM

OPINION

NOV. 3, 2014 | THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COM

3

Mainstream media distorts Muslim holy day ZIA HAIDER COMMENTARY

Oct. 25 marked the beginning of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar. The 10th day of this month, known as Ashura, has a holy significance for all Muslims, but true practices have been marred by the media’s focus on violent extremists.

For Sunni Muslims, the larger of the two primary sects, the day is one of optional fasting, and Muharram is affiliated with the landing of Noah’s Ark and Moses freeing the Israelites.

To Shiites, it is the apex of a 10-day mourning period for the massacre of Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, and his followers in 680 A.D. Central to the Shiite observance of

late a precept of Islam forbidding selfMuharram is the ritual of matam, an mainstream press every year.

Rather than provide a truly com- harm. But, this very public minority Arabic term associated with a rhythmic thumping of the chest to signify prehensive or objective presentation becomes the poster child for the entire mourning. In the Shiite context, the of this ritual, news outlets, including occasion because the extremists are the term applies almost exclusively to the TIME, CNN and BBC publish per- only ones who get any press.

A TIME article from 2013 titled mourning rituals for Hussayn ibn Ali. functory articles with sensationalist “Shi’ite Muslims Around the World For me and most other Shiites, ma- images of screaming, bleeding men.

It’s true that there are extreme varia- Mark Ashura” is paired online with tam is a benign practice consisting of tapping the chest with an open palm. tions of matam that involve using a a slideshow; six of the 11 images deIn big groups of people, this leads to chain or a bladed instrument to lacer- pict blood-soaked men, and one photograph shows two children a steady beat that is often running toward the camera overlaid with recited poetry with blades in hand. The arcommemorating Husayn’s ... the mainstream press cannot settle ticle, far from showing Shiite martyrdom.

It’s a deeply spiritual ex- for easy characterizations of Shiites at a Muslims around the world or displaying a balanced picperience and central to the jooloos, Shiite processions time when the public eye is fixed on them. ture of Ashura, instead gives credence to the worst stereowhere mourners march down types about Ashura and, in a the street tapping their chests wider context, of Shiites. and chanting Husayn’s name Shiites comprise about 15 percent of in a show of solidarity. These tradi- ate the flesh in an attempt to truly feel tions are cherished in Shiite homes the pain of Husayn and his martyred the worldwide Muslim population. In and are often children’s first powerful companions; typing “Ashura” into any countries like the United States, where search engine will pull up pages of the Muslim population is already a miexpression of their Shiite identity. nority, Shiites are the minority within This is why it’s so painful for Shi- people engaged in these behaviors.

However, they are not condoned by the minority. Articles like the TIME’s ites like myself to watch as Ashura gets tossed into the wood chipper by the the Shiite religious leadership and vio- piece cause the entire occasion to seem

barbaric to Sunnis and non-Muslims.

The slapdash reporting caricatures the centerpiece of Shiite identity.

The reporting is lazy and dangerously exploitive. It doesn’t show the common practices of Ashura in mosques in Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and the United States. The media distorts reality to fit the mold of some Orientalist idea of the Muslim other. Rather than helping people understand a minority sect, this type of portrayal further mystifies and alienates Shiites.

Sectarian tension between Sunnis and Shiites in the Middle East is at an all-time high. From Yemen to Iraq, conflicts are occurring along sectarian fault lines, and the mainstream press cannot settle for simple characterizations of Shiites at a time when the public eye is fixed on them.

The Shiite community deserves comprehensive coverage because, now more than ever, there is a lot riding on whether Muslims can bridge the sectarian gulf and foster mutual cooperation.

HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY? Students can send submissions of 500 - 800 words to editor@utdmercury.com.

Letters to the editor must be 250 words or less.

Include references for any facts you cite. We ask for your name and contact information. Personal info will not be published.

We reserve the right to reject submissions, and we cannot be responsible for their return.

We reserve the right to edit for clarity, brevity, good taste, accuracy and to prevent libel.

The next issue of The Mercury will be published on Nov. 17. Submit your opinion or letter by Nov. 10 and contact us by Nov. 7.

“You’re right, Mom. I love this Barbie! She makes a great stand for my iPad!”

→ SEX CRIMES

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

victims and cybercrime are at all influenced by the legal definitions of these topics.

In 2012, Christopher Chaney was sentenced to 10 years in prison for accessing private nude photos of celebrities. He was indicted on 26 counts of computer hacking, aggravated identity theft and illegal wiretapping. Yet, he isn’t registered in California’s sex-offender registry for violating the women’s privacy without their consent.

A similar situation unfolded in August: An unidentified hacker posted private nude photos of almost 500 ce-

lebrities to the imageboard 4chan. In the ensuing media frenzy, the conversation touched on the culpability of the women and men targeted and the Cloud service that facilitated the distribution of the images, among other topics.

Amid the aftermath of the leak, Vanity Fair published an article where actress Jennifer Lawrence denounced not only the culprit but anyone who distributed and viewed her private photos.

She expressed disgust over the profiteering of what is essentially sexual exploitation. The media minimized the issue by branding it a mere scandal.

If identified and arrested, the culprit

COMET COMMENTS

could face charges similar to Chaney’s.

The culprit would not legally be considered a sex offender either.

But, this is not an important issue simply because it affects celebrities.

Our culture is more attune to life online, and our generation creates and shares a massive amount of information, words and images. As we continue to use technology and media platforms as a way to interact, we inevitably venture into more subjective territory when it comes to how we classify and understand our more intimate interactions.

Everyday-women and -men can also be the targets of malicious invasions of

privacy and breaches of trust.

With revenge porn creeping its way further into the public eye, it’s important to scrutinize and clarify the legal gray areas where sexual cybercrimes reside.

Revenge porn involves the distribution of sexually explicit media of a person without his or her consent. Photos and videos are posted to sites that specialize in this type of intrusion.

But, because of the Communications Decency Act, law officials cannot prosecute the websites hosting the content.

Only 12 states currently have laws that apply to the criminalization of revenge porn, including Alaska, Califor-

nia, Colorado and Pennsylvania. Texas isn’t among these states.

One of the most prominent concerns of lawmakers is that criminalization will be too broad and could result in impositions of the First Amendment.

The key is consent.

Victims do not choose to have their private media disclosed to third parties, and such acts can have lasting psychological effects.

We have to be ready and willing to protect all people’s safety and security.

No one deserves to be exposed and humiliated in this way for any reason, and these kinds of offenses must have adequate ramifications.

“What personal information do you think is safe to put on social media platforms?”

How closely do you guard your personal information?

Answer our poll at www.utdmercury.com.

RESULTS FROM LAST ISSUE “I don’t believe phone numbers should be disclosed and ... birthdates should not be disclosed.

I try to avoid these two things if possible. I feel like these two things kind of interfere with security.”

Pradnya Monite Computer science graduate student

“Academic information is pretty good – positive information, you don’t want to put anything incriminating yourself or anything like that.

Just positive things.”

“I think anything personal becomes like this fine grey area like you don’t want to give out too much information, so anything about like your personal address or what you’re doing.”

George Hernandez Mechanical engineering junior

Thompson Duo Business administration graduate student

Would you be opposed to penalties for overuse of water?

Yes, I think that will encourage people to save water.

No, I don’t think that’s a solution.

Yes, but only a small cash penalty.

No, I don’t think water waste is a problem.

75%

10%

10%

5%

74%

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THE MERCURY | NOV. 3, 2014

NEWS

Alum details work at Twitter

UTDMERCURY.COM

Vedic org brings vegetarian lunches

LINDA NGUYEN | MERCURY STAFF

Students are partaking in VOICE’s convenient vegetarian food.

MANJUNATH RAVI Staff Writer

PARTHASARATHY S.K. | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Ibrahim Bashir, Twitter employee and UTD alumnus, diagrams out his technical-work experiences for an audience of UTD students.

KARAN SHUKLA Staff Writer

The Association for Computing Machinery invited a director of engineering at Twitter to share his professional experiences and insights with students on Oct. 23.

Ibrahim Bashir, who received his Bachelor of Science in computer science from UTD in 2001, leads a team to solve inhouse problems for Twitter and fix critical issues that the company’s users and partners experience.

The Association for Computing Machinery is an international nonprofit organization based in the United States that is dedicated to advancing professional involvement and academic knowledge in computing. The UTD chapter of ACM offers coding contests, tech talks and access

to ACM newsletters to its members.

Bashir’s group has worked on a variety of projects such as building Twitter’s Mute feature, improving the speed and performance of the Twitter app in preparation for high-traffic events like the World Cup and performing data analytics to discover trends about Twitter users’ opinions on television shows.

Twitter is more than just a social-media platform, Bashir said. He considers Twitter to be an integral part of modern communications, emphasizing how Twitter gives people all over the world the opportunity to speak freely and reach out, even if they live in dictatorships and third-world countries with limited freedoms.

Twitter would like to diversify and enter new domains such as e-commerce, Bashir said.

“Right now, people see (a product) on

Twitter, search it on Google and buy it on Amazon,” he said. “Twitter’s vision is to go from an app to a service to an ecosystem.”

During his talk, Bashir fielded questions about working at Twitter.

“It’s a cool place,” he said. “Every silly caricature you’ve heard about Silicon Valley is true.”

Twitter is a young company at 8 years old. As a result, the culture is more like a startup company, unlike other technology corporations of similar size, he said.

Bashir’s favorite part of being an engineer at Twitter is the challenge and variety of his work.

“Every day, there is a new set of problems to solve,” he said.

Data Structures and Programming Languages were two courses that really stuck

→ SEE TWITTER, PAGE 16

Coconut curries and vegetable fritters are only a small sampling of the options offered as part of the Krishna lunch program, a vegetarian food service on campus that launched this fall semester.

The Vedic Organization for Inspiration, Culture and Education, or VOICE, started offering $5 vegetarian lunch boxes at the beginning of the fall semester in an effort to promote Vedic ideals, which include consciousness and truth.

“We have been on campus for two years and we have been promoting vegetarianism in our meetings,” said Ratish Pillai, president of the organizaiton. “(Students) all express interest in having facility for students to have a vegetarian menu for lunch on campus.”

VOICE delivers the

boxed lunches to campus every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Students need to log in to the organization’s website to pre-order their boxes, and a limited amount of extra boxes are brought for customers who want to buy on a walk-in basis. “(Student Government’s) role is to be the voice of the students and when (VOICE) came to us, we told them we will support them,” said Brooke Knudtson, president of student government. “It’s good because it’s student-led and students wanted this to happen. It’s great that they meet a specific target market at our university and SG’s main motive is to get more vegetarian options on campus.”

The food is prepared at Kalachandji’s, a vegetarian restaurant and Hindu temple in east Dallas, and the cooks prepare dishes with a strict adherence to Vedic standards.

“The idea is the

→ SEE KRISHNA, PAGE 16

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LIFE&ARTS

Guest prof highlights Students dedicate day to role of women in Nazi volunteering for Dallas orgs Germany, Holocaust PRIYANKA HARDIKAR Staff Writer

In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, and Ukraine became an independent country. This, for author and professor Wendy Lower, left many questions on German history unanswered and many archives on the Holocaust undiscovered.

“The question remained, what about all those regional o f f i c e s where the Germans had set up their operations in Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltics, LOWER where these crimes had occurred?” Lower, who teaches at Claremont-McKenna College, said.

“What was going on out there in the field?”

But when Lower went to Ukraine during the summer of 1992, the archives in the former Soviet Union revealed a different story – one involving the lives of ordinary German women during the Holocaust.

What she found then inspired her most recent book, Hitler’s Furies: German Women in the Nazi Killing Fields, which focuses on the German women’s equal but previously ignored involvement in the Holocaust.

Lower spoke about her book on Oct. 26, at the Burton C. Einspruch Holocaust Lecture Series, which the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies hosts annually.

The Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies program is a part of the School of Arts and Humanities and includes a certificate in Holocaust studies, graduate and undergraduate courses, fellowship support for graduate students and the Arnold A. Jaffe Holocaust Library Collection.

“It really took the collapse of the Soviet Union for us to not only get access to those materials and to get into those archives, but to start to really imagine and understand the scope of the violence that was occurring in these open-air settings outside the killing centers,” Lower said.

The program founder and director, Zsuzsanna Ozsvath, is a Holocaust survivor and has taught classes at UTD on the history of and literature from the Holocaust since 1983. As the glasses gained support such as the

Ackerman Challenge Endowment, developed into a working program, Ozsvath said.

Ozsvath, who earned a Ph.D. in German language and literature from UT Austin, has focused her research on attempting to study and understand what happened leading to the Holocaust. She said she has come to understand the vulnerability of the German people after World War I, the political circumstances that lead to World War II and why so many German soldiers weren’t punished for their roles in the Holocaust.

Despite this understanding, she said she still struggles to grasp the concept that some races are inferior to others and therefore, deserve to be eliminated.

“It is very difficult to have a just world, without knowing how an unjust world could have come to power, defeating every decent thinking man and woman, misleading our children and creating a government and a system that was set on the one hand to eliminate the Jews, the Gypsy, the Slavic and everyone who was thought as less valuable as the Germans were,” Ozsvath said.

The purpose of the program is to study the past, in hopes of understanding it and preventing it from repeating itself.

“To understand the past, it means to teach the future,” Ozsvath said.

Not everyone will agree with history, but knowing everything that happened is necessary to contain it, she said.

But teaching tragedy is often challenging, Ozsvath said, particularly when it is one that cannot be healed.

It is difficult to teach the Holocaust, she said, because America is built on the belief that when life is hard, one can overcome it; each American child is raised to believe that from the day he or she is born.

This is difficult to apply to the Holocaust, Ozsvath said.

“A person lost her mother, father, her husband and all her brothers and sisters,” Ozsvath said. “There is nothing that you can overcome or that you have in your hands that good attitude can change.”

When studying the Holocaust, the blame is easily placed on men

→ SEE HOLOCAUST, PAGE 11

PARTHASARATHY S.K. | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

(From left to right) Matthew Deng, Maleha Hameed, Grace Pham and Rachel Choi work together in the community garden on campus, utilizing garden tools to serve the community through their contribution to a sustainability project.

Dallas Arboretum, Texas Tree Foundation, Goodwill among partners CHRISTINE VU Staff Writer

More than 450 students volunteered for agencies, including the Dallas Arboretum, Goodwill and the Texas Tree Foundation as part of Viva Volunteer on Oct. 25.

The annual event hosted by the Office of Student Volunteerism, or OSV, celebrates National Make a Difference Day, the largest day of community service in the United States.

“It is a giant team effort … we all work together to put on Viva Volunteer,” said Tiffany Peart, program coordinator for Viva Volunteer. “It is incredible to introduce service to students when they first get to the university. Viva is the commutation of so many different service opportunities.”

This year, while working in conjunction with the Texas Tree Foundation, students planted 27 new trees in front of the Jindal School of Management.

Without working closely with both student and local organizations, beautifying the UTD campus would not be possible, said Thea Junt, energy conservation and sustainability manager.

“Service matters because it is weaving a web of connections and coming together to make a difference,” she

said.

The OSV provided transportation, breakfast and lunch to all Viva volunteers, as well as a T-shirt.

“It’s really an incredible and meaningful experience to spend your morning serving an agency … to build that camaraderie,” Peart said. “That’s what Viva’s about — making a difference.”

Registration for Viva Volunteer opens up every summer for student organizations. For students who are not affiliated with an organization, registration opens up in the fall.

This year’s fall registration filled up within 24 hours, the quickest in the event’s history.

The event began at 8 a.m. Students picked up their T-shirt at the sign-in table before boarding their bus to go to their assigned service sites at 9 a.m.

Some volunteers sorted donated goods while others helped rescued animals; the wide variety of tasks all benefited local organizations within the community. UT-PACT students made activity books for children in foster care.

“It is a fun way to unwind, share stories and swap pictures, and talk about the impact they’ve made,” Peart said.

This year, Director of Community Engagement Raul Hinojosa led

a group of students at the Richardson Family YMCA to organize baseball storage units and swimming-pool supplies and wipe down athletic equipment.

“Some of the Viva memories I have are really memorable,” Hinojosa said.

“It is just a few hours of time that we give up, but they’re memories I’ll hold onto for a long time. To wake up early seems like a chore, but when you get to doing it … it is really fulfilling and you see the impact.”

Viva Volunteer gives students the opportunity to explore their areas of interest and build a network with community organizations, Hinojosa said.

The event is also a chance to meet other people who want to make a difference in their community, he said.

“All of the work that we did today in two hours … they told us would take a month to do,” Hinojosa said.

“This high impact service gives us the chance to do something meaningful, and for them, it saves them money and time to get organize and stay focused on their mission. We know that the nonprofit services that we serve don’t have a lot of resources, so they count on volunteer services like ours to help them with their daily business.”

‘Ouija’ underwhelms with unoriginality SHYAM VEDANTAM COMMENTARY

With uninspired scares and lackluster directing by Stiles White, “Ouija” is a completely forgettable foray into the horror-film genre.

Hasbro is taking a similar approach to 2012’s “Battleship” by force feeding viewers another movie about a board game, this time about one where friends spell out answers on a wooden board in hopes of connecting to the spirit world.

In the opening flashback scene, Laine (Olivia Cooke) and Debbie (Shelley Hennig) are childhood friends messing around with a Ouija board. The girls are now teenagers who have grown out of the game, but Debbie mysteriously kills herself. Laine can’t bring herself to admit that Debbie would commit suicide, so she uses the Ouija board to contact her spirit and get answers. Laine involves her boyfriend Trevor (Daren Kagasoff ), her sister Sarah (Ana Coto), Debbie’s boyfriend Pete (Douglas Smith) and a mutual friend Isabelle (Bianca Santos) who are also looking for solace.

While “Battleship” was only loosely based on the board game, “Ouija” uses a formulaic plot without any neat ideas, has a modest budget and takes itself too seriously.

The teenage characters that are dropped down into a suburban house for their eventual and well-forecasted deaths are paper-thin. They each

have lines of dialogue that clearly broadcast their high-school stereotypes, along with some over-the-top costuming. Unfortunately, the actors don’t do much to alleviate this problem.

Each step in “Ouija” relies heavily on every other horror film ever made. There are gigantic gaps in logic that completely take viewers out of the film.

Those flaws would have been forgivable if there was any tension or substantial scares in “Ouija.” The potential scares are foreseen well in advance; they’re unoriginal and unearned.

Doors shut by themselves. Doors open by themselves. Gas stoves turn on by themselves. Lights flicker on and off by themselves. A creepy, shoehorned doll comes into the shot. By the film’s end, nothing innovative or novel can be found in the script.

Many of the scare tactics set up in the film induced laughter at the screening. The movie ends up being a source of jokes instead of an escape into another world. The former makes for a better experience with “Ouija.”

Perhaps the problem with “Ouija” stems from the incessant product placement. The film strains to keep bringing back the wooden board and include it in the frame and story when other paths would make more sense. This ends up being painfully distracting.

The tactic might have been necessary to finance “Ouija,” but this strategy ends up hurting the film’s believability and pacing. Viewers may wonder how a film could have been formed around the premise of a classic, wooden board game; it seems as if director and cowriter White

HASBRO | COURTESY

Shelley Hennig plays the role of Debbie Galardi in the supernatural thriller “Ouija.” Released on Oct. 24, the film is another venture into moviemaking for the game company Hasbro.

couldn’t come up with a plausible answer. The result is disappointing since other moviemakers have been able to create clever ideas for what could have weird marketing ploys and made great films such as “The Lego Movie.”

The only memorable part of “Ouija” is a small role for Lin Shaye, known for her work in the “Insidious” films, who has a neat gimmick involving dental floss. Shaye is acting on a completely different plane than everyone else in the movie, and her scenes are definitely the best. The floss segment even inspired an audi-

ence member’s Halloween costume.

But to be honest, will anyone get the reference? Will there be any buzz for the film around Halloween?

Is “Ouija” frightening or memorable? The answer to all of these questions: a resounding no.

LIFE&ARTS

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Broadcast group grabs award in NYC

→ HOLOCAUST

RadioUTD wins Best Use of Limited Resources award

who have evidently played a part in the war and mass killings as soldiers, she said.

German women, on the other hand, weren’t soldiers, and as a result, aren’t given much thought in their involvement.

The women may not have been soldiers, but they were typists and nurses and all kinds of other professions, which took them to the front where the major killings occurred, Ozsvath said.

This didn’t occur to Lower until she found the documents that included a number of testimonies the women had given.

“She’s telling me every detail about the procedures that were taken, how orders were conveyed to kill units, who had access to classified material, identifying killers and often describing scenes at the killing sights,” Lower said. “We never asked, ‘how come they know so much?’”

Lower said she was able to account for half a million German women who circulated in the eastern territory – 400,000 of them in war service.

Knowing this and the many sides of 20th-century history is a step to understanding your existing life, Ozsvath said.

“It is so much a part of the past that it is not 100 percent gone yet,” Ozsvath said. “You can say by knowing what has happened, you are going to watch out and understand that you can never make such a mistake in who you elect.”

ESTEBAN BUSTILLOS Managing Editor

Radio UTD won Best Use of Limited Resources at the annual College Music Journal conference in New York on Oct. 23.

Members of the station, also nominated for Best Student Run Internet-Only Station, attended the event with hundreds of other college radio DJs from around the nation.

“The CMJ awards are a big deal,” said Station Manager James Pacifico. “We’ve pretty much been nominated every year since we’ve been a college radio station ... Because CMJ is kind of like the overarching community for all the college radio stations, it really helps us just become a prominent station on the scene.”

Music Director Aarin Brown said Radio UTD faced competition on two different fronts at the conference: One station campaigned heavily for itself while another specifically campaigned against Radio UTD. Despite these setbacks, he was happy with being considered for the awards.

“To be nominated was still good, because that’s people’s choice,” he said. “It means a lot of promoters and a lot of other stations saw us as a good station to nominate. So the nomination, to me, is a lot more important than winning it, because at that point it wasn’t a popularity contest. Getting nominated means somebody specifically thought of your station to nominate.”

Promotions Manager Humza Khan said he would have preferred to have won the award for

RADIOUTD | COURTESY

(From left) James Pacifico, Humza Khan, Hannah Steiner, Matthew Cocco and Aarin Brown after winning the “Best Use of Limited Resources” award at the College Radio Awards in New York City.

the best Internet-only station since that is Radio UTD’s area of expertise.

Still, he felt the experience was good for the management team, who connected with other DJs who deal with many of the same issues.

“Especially being there, it’s good to know we face a lot of similar problems as a lot of other college radio stations,” Khan said.

Radio UTD management has focused on growing the stations presence in Dallas, Pacifico said.

They have connections with concert venues, pro-

moters and fans to increase the public’s awareness of what they do.

The organization also hopes to push its online presence and work with local businesses, he said.

“We’re working to revamp our website. We’re working to get an Android app out there so more people can listen to us,” Pacifico said. “Aside from that, we love to work with other businesses in the area a lot more. A lot of them are starting to figure out who we are, so we really want to do some cross promotion.”

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10

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SPORTS

BEND IT LIKE BECKETT

Senior forward leads Comets in goals, points; uses relationship with military brother to inspire play on field ESTEBAN BUSTILLOS Managing Editor

Despite having a career-defining season on the women’s soccer team, Carli Beckett is less focused on her personal ambitions and more concerned about the success and future of her teammates.

Beckett, a healthcare studies senior and team captain, currently leads the team in points, goals, game-winning goals, assists and shots on goal.

“She just has a nose for the goal,” said assistant coach Sterling Mueller. “It’s a more difficult quality to possess than you think, just to see a goal opportunity to develop and get that shot off. She sees goals from places I don’t think many people, regardless of level — DI, DII, DIII — see.”

Beckett’s 12 scores currently rank second in the conference. She also leads the ASC in game-winning goals.

Even though she has had a slew of recent success, Beckett said it took her a while to get acclimated to the collegiate game when she first started.

“It’s funny what you learn in four years,” Beckett said. “I was a completely different player my freshman year. At the time, I was still getting a lot of playing time, but it’s just different. You learn a lot in the four years.”

However, her personal performance isn’t the most important thing to her, Beckett said.

“It’s all about the team,” she said. “Those stats don’t exist without your team. So there’s an assist behind all of those goals. Three people before me worked their butt off to get the ball up there. It’s cool that those (stats) exist, but my main focus is the team and winning and getting the result we want.”

Beckett has made it a point to focus on the team’s success over her own. She said the thought of awards like Player of the Year for the conference hasn’t even crossed her mind.

Head coach Kanute Drugan hasn’t heard Beckett state an objective she has that focuses only on her, he said. She has, however, been very vocal about her goals for the team.

“She’s been very clear that she wants to be a conference champion. She’s been very clear she wants to win a postseason tournament.

She’s been very clear she wants to experience the NCAA tournament,” Drugan said. “That has been consistent from the day I arrived.”

YANG XI | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Beckett, who grew up playing soccer with her twin brother, Austin, said her sibling rivalry has helped drive her will to win, even to this day.

She first started playing the game when

Comets smash Jackets

Austin joined a team, and she wanted to join in. Her first experience of life on the pitch was playing with a squad of boys, who, Beckett said, she was able to keep up with.

The two siblings, who played on opposite ends of the field, would often be each other’s biggest opponent.

“Anything we did was a competition,” Beckett said. “We’d wrestle. We’d race. We’d see who could score more goals. Everything we did was a competition with each other.”

When they started to become more serious about the game, colleges began scouting the siblings and tried to convince them to play at their schools. Even though she had offers from several Division I schools, Beckett, who went to high school in Round Rock, chose to stay close to home and attend UTD. Austin, on the other hand, chose to play goalie at Concordia. But, after about a semester, he had another calling.

“I just saw a brighter future for myself in the military,” Austin said. “I saw guys in uniform and just wanted to wear that instead.”

The family was supportive of the decision, Beckett said, even though they were worried at times.

Austin, who is currently a Specialist in the Army, was recently deployed for six months in Afghanistan. It was an experience Beckett didn’t think she would encounter.

“We’ve been asked what motivates us,” she said. “More than ever, this year, it was my brother and knowing that he’s out there fighting so that we can play every single day … I just want to play for him because he can’t.”

Beckett and Austin communicated while he was in Afghanistan through Skype, Facebook or phone call at least once or twice a week.

Due to his commitments in the military, Austin has not been able to see many of Beckett’s games, which he considers a major downside of his job. He is forced to keep up with her progress by checking her stats online.

“I remember the first time that I did that in her first game, and she scored; it was very emotional,” he said. “Even till now, I’m praying that I’ll be able to see her play, but I’m not going to be home any time soon. It still sucks because that’s the only thing that I can do.”

While his whole family has been a motivation to him, Austin said, his sister and the work she has done on the field have been particularly inspiring.

“I can never picture myself not trying hard when she’s working her ass off to do what she

→ SEE BECKETT, PAGE 13

NUMBERS ON THE BOARD

*

ARUN PRASATH | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

*

The Comets were able to control the ball for much of the game, limiting Howard Payne’s chances to score. Senior defender Brian Childs scored the first goal of his career in the 64th minute.

SAARA RAJA Staff Writer

The men’s soccer team trounced Howard Payne 3-0 on Oct. 23, bringing the Comets one step closer to entering the conference tournament.

UTD dominated ball possession during the game, making 31 shots on goal in comparison to the four made by the Yellow Jackets.

As the game went to the half, both teams remained scoreless. The Comets did not have to wait much longer; 25 seconds into the second half, senior forward Omar Jaroun scored the first goal of the match.

“We like to pass the ball. If we have it, they can’t score with it, so you know we definitely do that,” said senior defender Brian Childs.

In the 64th minute, Childs translated a corner-kick assist from freshman forward Danny Myer into a goal, scoring UTD’s second point of the match. This goal was Childs’ first goal for UTD. Head coach Jason Hirsch praised Childs for his performance in the game and his growth as a player.

→ SEE SOCCER, PAGE 13

*Ineligible for first two seasons of ASC postseason play

ESTEBAN BUSTILLOS | MANAGING EDITOR

→ BECKETT

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12

does,” he said. “The fact that she works her ass off, and she’s playing soccer and getting good grades; it keeps me going.”

Beckett, who wants to be a doctor, said she feels like she is leaving at a time when the program is very strong.

Even with nine seniors, including Beckett,

leaving the team after this year, she believes the team will continue to be successful.

“After three years, it’s cool to see how the program has changed,” she said. “I’m leaving really feeling like it’s heading in a good direction. It’s going to be so awesome to watch the girls and support them throughout the years and know that they’re in such good hands. I think as a senior, that is one thing that I’m just really, really happy about.”

— In brief — V-ball player breaks program kill record Senior middle blocker Taylour Toso broke the program kill record on Oct. 24 in the volleyball team’s game against UMHB. The Comets won the match in three sets, going 25-16, 25-14 and 25-13.

The previous record of 1, 264, held by former player Dana Hilzendager, had stood for the last two years.

Toso, who finished the night with 12 kills, said the next day that the credit for her success went to the team.

“I couldn’t have done it without the great passing that we had last night,” Toso said. “The better our passes, the more attempts that I get.

I think it just shows how much the program has come in the four years that I’ve been here. To reach a record like that in four years is a really

big deal.”

Toso’s 301 kills this season lead the team and rank third overall in the ASC. She also leads the team with 376 points.

After breaking the single-season record for kills last year, Toso was named the ASC Most Valuable Player and first team All-ASC last year.

Head coach Marci Sanders said the hard work Toso had put in over the last four years helped her to get to this point.

“She’s put in so much hard work over the last four years, “ Sanders said. “We’ve challenged her, I think, beyond her comfort zone a lot of the times. She’s matured so much.”

-Esteban Bustillos

13

All-Time Leaders in UTD Women’s Soccer

GOALS

“Some players do grow a lot, some don’t. (Childs is) one that has grown a lot,” Hirsch said.

“He is, from when we got him as a freshman to what he is now as a senior, two totally different players. I mean he’s so much better now in every single way. He played like an animal out there, he did really well for us and all the guys all love him, so they were happy for him.”

After the game, Childs expressed his happiness at having reaching the accomplishment with his teammates.

“It’s an honor to play and coming out with the teammates,” he said. “Everyone dreams of scoring a goal in a college game, so I’m just glad to get out there and do my best.”

UTD’s third goal came in the 76th minute by junior forward Chase Withrow on an assist from Jaroun. The remaining 14 minutes of the game were spent keeping the ball and preventing the Yellow Jackets from making any

goals.

Hirsch was satisfied by the plays made in the game and the way the Comets handled the Yellow Jackets.

“We have a specific style that we want to play, and we were able to do that for long stretches tonight,” he said. “We were able to keep the ball a lot, pass it around and try to switch the field. We did a good job of that, and that’s what we’re trying to do, nothing special against this team.”

Hirsch said he is happy about the current trend but does not want to make any predictions, preferring to take it one game at a time with the ultimate goal to win the conference tournament.

Child’s is confident in the team’s ability to make this goal a reality.

“I think (our chance of getting first) is pretty good,” he said. “You know I think we got a good thing going here; I think we’re peaking at the right time. I’m excited for where this team is going.”

THE MERCURY | NOV. 3, 2014

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

Kristin Andrews Leah Bowyer Natalie Taylor Theresa Buckles Tiffany Knobloch Serena Griffin Carli Beckett*

ASSISTS

→ SOCCER

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12

SPORTS

1.

2.

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4.

5.

6.

7.

Theresa Buckles Leah Bower Carli Beckett* Christina Cox Natalie Taylor Serena Griffin Tiffany Knobloch

29 29 24 22 20 19 19

POINTS

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57 52 51 40 29 26 24

1999-2002 2008-2011 2002-2005 2003-2006 2003-2006 1999-2002 2011-present

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Leah Bower Kristin Andrews Natalie Taylor Theresa Buckles Tiffany Knobloch Carli Beckett* Serena Griffin

133 2008-2011 131 1999-2002 122 2002-2005 109 2003-2006 77 2003-2006 72 2011-present 71 1999-2002

2003-2006 2008-2011 2011-present 1998-2001 2002-2005 1999-2002 2003-2006

*Career stats not yet final

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The Forest 3

by Emily Grams

by Timothy Shirley

by Justin Thompson

by Timothy Shirley

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THE MERCURY | NOV. 3, 2014

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by Ian LaMarsh

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THE MERCURY | NOV. 3, 2014

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came out of the blue because Rotundo was the last person any of his friends would suspect for such a transgression.

“I was reading the comments on one of the Reddit threads and someone had said ‘He was MIS’ golden child.’ And he was,” Mikesell said. “You fully expected him to be a CEO of something.

This was not something that I would have expected from him.”

Mikesell said Rotundo seemed to be in a healthy relationship.

The last time they had spoken in May, nothing had seemed amiss.

When he heard of the allegations against Rotundo, there was a sense of disappointment and betrayal, Mikesell said.

“I was saying to somebody else that at one point, this is a guy I would set my moral compass towards,” he said.

Raj Dwivedi, who was SG president at the time Rotundo served on the senate, said Rotundo was one of the active members.

“He always struck me as someone fairly genuine, fairly hardworking,” Dwivedi said. “He was always a reliable member of senate.”

Rotundo worked alongside Michelle Abuda, a graduate student in the Jindal School of Management, on an MIS case-study competition.

Abuda spent 48 hours with Rotundo and another teammate in a hotel room in Minneapolis working on the case, and she never felt uncomfortable with him, she said.

“What I know (about) him and what I read are two totally separate things, so I don’t know what to think anymore,” Abuda said.

For the suspected victim, despite having to come to terms with the reported violation of her privacy, the healing process has begun for her as she finds support from close friends and family, she said.

However, since several news outlets including The Daily Mail and The New York Times reported the story, several readers, in their comments, have blamed the victims for being careless.

Reading the comments that readers on these news sites have posted has been a traumatic experience for her, the victim said.

“But what the news isn’t telling us is that the situation wasn’t your typical run-of-the-mill scam,” she said. “The way that they were perpetrated was so elusive that most people would have been taken advantage of.”

Denying others access to personal laptops and not sharing photos on the public domain is a short term solution, the victim said.

In the long term, society has to collectively abstain from invading privacy, she said.

“This issue is so much greater than one single cyber-stalking case because if we no longer value and acknowledge each other’s personal autonomy, then we reduce ourselves to the lowest, most uncivilized, most undignified society,” she said. “We have to start holding ourselves and others to higher standards than that.”

Technology has aided this diminishing sense of privacy, the victim said. However, privacy is a matter of choice, and that is a right that consumers should respect even when perpetrators don’t, she said.

Meanwhile, others who might have been violated in connection to this case should not fear speaking up, the victim said.

“They would fear that people would look down upon them for being so naïve, but there’s a difference between being naïve and living with the viewpoint that people are good people and I never think that’s something to be ashamed of,” she said.

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“Even if we have seen it, we’ll at least confirm,” McGowan said. “It may be that you’ve discovered something we haven’t seen yet, or you’re the first to get it. What we can do is take that breadcrumb trail, follow it back and block anything coming from that vector.”

In the past, scams could be identified through spelling and grammar errors, but swindlers are much more cognizant to this tip now, he said.

Some of the emails are caught by filters, but as scammers get more creative, emails are designed to bypass these checks.

Government offices like the IRS or the Immigration and Naturalization Service will never email people regarding serious matters, McGowan said. “(Scammers) need to instill a sense of fear and urgency,” he said. “They don’t want you to think logically. They don’t want to give you a second to realize that this doesn’t make sense.”

Whether callers say they’re from the FBI or the bank, Howe suggests taking the time to research the legitimacy of any cold call. Students should take down the number and politely ask to call back, he said.

“If you feel pressured, that’s usually indication that somebody is trying to take advantage of your fears,” Howe said.

Students should contact the police regarding phone calls and should report to Information Security if it is an electronic scam,

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with him, Bashir said. These courses went beyond simply teaching popular programming languages and taught the timeless computing paradigms that are vital for working in the industry, he said.

For students who want to go into the field, Bashir emphasized that technical breadth matters more than technical depth, explaining that being knowledgeable of many key computing concepts is more valuable than having expertise in one or two programming languages.

He recommended focusing on core skills common to all careers such as cooperation, communication, writing and problem solving.

“We overvalue things like writing code and being a CEO,” Bashir said. “Computer science is really just about solving problems.”

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environment and the conciousness of the people who are cooking and preparing the food is also highly elevated, so that’s what we are trying to promote” Pillai said. “We are packing from there and bring it on campus as boxed lunches” Soy nuggets drenched in coconut curry, brown rice stir fry and stir-fried tofu in sauce are some of the dishes featured on the menu.

“I was worried after coming to UTD whether I will be able to have vegetarian food as I have been following vegetarianism all over my life and Krishna lunch at UTD came to my rescue” said Narendhiran Poyyamozhi, an information technology management graduate student. “I go there once a week but if there are my favourite dishes I go thrice a week.”

UTDMERCURY.COM he said.

Information Security analyst Nick McCormick said the worst case he’s experienced involved 14 victims.

There are hackers who launch campaigns for recreational purposes and bystanders who unknowingly hack others, Howe said.

Information Security also has seen a rise in people seeking identity information because it can be sold, resold and reused, McGowan said.

Anything that compromises an individual’s identity in a way that credit can be used in his or her name and can have serious consequences on the victims future, Howe said.

“It’s a very important point for people to remember, especially at the age of being college students just starting out, that in the future they’re going to want to buy a car, buy a house and apply for jobs,” he said. “Those all depend on having a clean credit report.”

Job postings offering work-from-home positions and apartment postings, like those found on Craigslist, can be a cache for scams, Howe said.

Information posted on social media has the potential to hurt people in unexpected ways, Howe said.

Howe said the answers to security questions — the kind needed to reset passwords — could be easily researched and accessed via social media sites like Facebook.

“It doesn’t mean (social media) can’t be enjoyed, but it should also be balanced with an awareness that your privacy is going to go away unless you take an interest in it, he said.”