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Chico State’s Independent Student News Source since 1975 FEATURES:

NEWS: »Measles: An increase in measle cases has hit California. A3 OPINION: »Gender Identity: Why it’s time for Chico State to recognize third gender. A6

»E-cigarettes: A tool to kick nicotine addiction may be more of a hobby than a coping mechanism. B5

SPORTS: »Bumper Ball: WREC intramural sport combines soccer and bubble suits. B3 Trevor Ryan/The Orion

ARTS: »Rent Party: Students mark Black History Month in Harlen Adams Theatre. B7

Theorion.com | Wednesday, February 18, 2015 | Vol. 74, Issue 5 | First copy free, additional copies 50¢

Union protests alleged bullying

MENTAL HEALTH

STUDENTS

Labor group fights for fair treatment, wages in demonstration

STRUGGLE STARTING OVER

Brianne Mcevoy

Staff Writer

The California State University Employees Union took a stand on Friday in Trinity Commons to protest bullying from the administration and then marched to Kendall Hall shouting “no justice, no peace.” Many employees were afraid to participate in the rally and feared that they would be retaliated against or lose their jobs for showing up, said Jessica Verardi, president of the union’s Chico chapter. “Employees should never be made to feel that way,” Verardi said. “And if they JESSICA want to be an activist VERARDI and come out here President of CSU and support fair Employee Union’s wages or bullying or Chico chapter lack of transparency, they should have the right to do that.” Eight years ago, the university budget was more meager, which didn’t allow increases in salary. During that time, employees were asked to do much more than what their jobs required of them and were not compensated with overtime. During this time period, employees saw a 1 percent wage increase while management’s salary continued to rise, Verardi said. “It’s really hard when the managers are making six figures, and we most certainly aren’t,” she said. “We’re not being compensated, and they’re being rewarded for all of the work that we’ve been doing.” The six prominent issues that the union wanted to focus on are fair wages, bullying, lack of transparency, punctual information, support for employees and parking. The current policy regarding employee complaints doesn’t have a time limit or protect victims from bullying during the investigation, which can keep them in the same situation many months later with no resolution, Verardi said. Specific instances of bullying include belligerent behavior from managers, demeaning someone’s work and fingers being shoved in employees faces. In one

» please see RALLY | A3

Trevor Ryan/The Orion

Alberto Armienta, a sophmore computer science major, studies for an exam in the Meriam Library.

Freshmen depression rates on the upswing Michael McClurg

Staff Writer

Depression rates among college freshmen are at a record high and research shows that course loads and social media could be a factor. According to a study titled “The American Freshman,” researchers at UCLA found that 14,250 students said they felt depressed — a jump from 9,150 students five years ago. The number of freshmen that feel overwhelmed by schoolwork and other commitments has also risen from 27.1 percent to 34.6 percent. Depression comes in two forms — biological and situational. While biological depression often calls for the use of drugs to fix an imbalance in the brain, therapy is used in both forms to treat the mental illness. Starting out at a new school can be tough for students and can be a cause for depression. “It is very easy for freshmen to

1 3

develop depression,” said Ryan Leong, “There should be a nice balance bea Chico State first-year student. “They tween school and social life.” have to move out of the house and If students aren’t hanging out with live on their own in a short friends, they’re often on amount of time. In some social media — which can cases, freshmen leave their contribute just as much to very close friends and have feelings of loneliness and to start over again in a new depression, according to a environment. For me, the 2013 study titled “Envy on transition was very tough, Facebook: A Hidden Threat and it was overwhelming.” to Users’ Life Satisfaction?” The study found that The study showed a link bethe amount of time freshtween Facebook use and feelmen spend with friends is ings of envy and frustration. ANITA ZAMORA decreasing dramatically, an The longer participants spent Senior impact of the workload and browsing the site, the more demands that students face. these feelings increased. In 1987, 37.9 percent of “People spend so much time incoming college students socialized nowadays on the Internet, especially on at least 16 hours per week. By 2014, 18 social media, that they see all these picpercent of students reported spending tures or posts of others which makes at least 16 hours per week socializing the other person’s life seem all perfect with friends, an all-time low. and fun,” said Adriana Jimenez, a “I would not recommend a freshman Chico State sophomore. to study all the time and not have a social life or vice versa,” Leong said. » please see DEPRESSION | A3

18%

IN FRESHMEN

of students socialize at least 16 hours per week as compared to 37.9 percent in 1987.

feel overwhelmed by schoolwork and other commitments Source: The American Freshman

Monica Fitch/The Orion

Source: American College Health Association

Staff Writer

Chico State computer science students finished in top placements at the National Cyber League in fall of 2014. Students placed second and seventh in the silver bracket and seventh in the bronze bracket for the post-season competition. “This competition was a fantastic opportunity, which allowed us to learn common tools and techniques hackers use every day for breaking into systems and networks worldwide,” said Chris Witthans, participant. Students involved in the lower division, Beta team, placed second in the league. The higher-ranked division Alpha team trailed the Beta team by about 10,000 points. The challenge included a series of security puzzles, which involved cracking mixed-up passwords and computer file analyzing. There were three individual pre-competition challenges paired with

online labs that students used to prepare for the competition. “Security professionals must remain open and flexible at learning how system vulnerabilities or weaknesses can be leveraged in a remote attack, and this competition did just that,” Witthans said. Some students were required to be involved in the challenge for the “Advanced Security” class. “I am very proud of how well the students did in their first cyber challenge,” David Zeichick, computer science lecturer, said. “Out of 145 colleges, our students scored extremely well.” Zeichick believes the contest is important because it teaches students relevant skills for a potential future career in cybersecurity. “Companies are really starting to understand that (computer security) is an important department to have, and therefore there’s a big need for these skills,” Zeichick said. “This competition improves the interest level and the skills of our stu-

dents and makes the work fun.” Last fall, student Matt Bourn placed 28th, while student Ryan Nelson placed in 37th in the silver bracket. This placed them in fourth and 11th place in the Cyber League’s Western region. Chico’s computer information systems program achieved accreditation in 2008 and was the first such program in the western United States to do so. “As a security professional, and for anyone who aspires to dedicate a career to information security, the knowledge and skills gained were paramount,” Witthans said. “I personally enjoyed the high amount of engagement and cooperation given by my peers in this course. Everyone had new knowledge to contribute for the class as a whole, which definitely made this experience quite memorable.” Elaine Knudsen can be reached at newseditor@theorion.com or

@theorion_news on Twitter.

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