Volume 65, No. 5
September 25, 2008
SINCE 1943
T SECURITY
University e-mail lured, hooked by phishing Internet woes traced back to external error By Brian Silva THE PAN AMERICAN During the weekend of Sept. 13-14 a University of Texas-Pan American e-mail address was phished and as a
result, sent out thousands of spam emails to various groups. Once the problem was discovered and investigated by the Division of Information Technology, that organization shut down the account. The e-mail portion of the account was the only part breached, and officials insist that pesky computer troubles affecting the campus this week are unrelated to the scam. Problems with faculty and staff e-mail last weekend were a direct result of the scam.
“An e-mail username and user appeared to “The rule of thumb is to password informah a v e never respond to an e-mail tion to gain access volunteered the request for personal infor- to the UTPA username and pass- mation...” account and started word information to submit large amounts of phishassociated with a Mauro Scardigno valid UTPA Chief info. security officer ing messages.” account by According to responding to a Scardigno, no uniphishing message,” Chief Information versity data was compromised, since Security Officer Mauro Scardigno the phisher’s attempts were strictly said. “The phisher used the e-mail limited to e-mail access.
The University of Texas System was notified about the incident, as is required by System policy. Phishing is password harvesting that uses lures to “fish” out user financial and account information, according to information provided by IT. Most scammers use some sort of deception to make a link in an e-mail look genuine. “Phishing is a very real problem,” Scardigno said. “The rule of thumb is
SEE PHISHING || PAGE 11
T CAMPUS
HESTEC: Seven years of entertainment, opportunities Past enrollment figures show increase in science interest By J.R. Ortega THE PAN AMERICAN For the past seven years, The University of Texas-Pan American has hosted the Hispanic Engineering and Science Technology week. The annual event has brought local, state and national figures to promote young Hispanic interest in educational opportunities in the engineering, science, technology and math fields. As it has become perhaps the university’s signature event of the year, HESTEC has imported actors and musicians to help and entertain more than 80,000 attendees each year, along with recruiters and proRoberta Zamilpa /THE PAN AMERICAN
WOMEN WORKFORCE - Magda Yrizarray, vice president of workplace culture and compliance for Verizon Communications, speaks to Latinas on females in science Wednesday.
fessionals to help Valley residents understand what’s out there for them. HESTEC has become a veritable corporation in itself, with a huge fundraising arm, a powerful public relations machine, and national notoriety. The big question is, does it work? While at times the event seems more festive than informative, enrollment figures provided by the Office of Institutional Research show a gradual increase in involvement in UTPA science and engineering fields since the event’s inception. This would be one way to gauge the effectiveness of HES-
SEE HESTEC || PAGE 11
T Don’t miss HESTEC! Next week, The Pan American will have a full-colored spread documenting the events of HESTEC 2008.
T TRANSPORTATION
Freshmen parking exile to be addressed in future By Ana Villaurrutia THE PAN AMERICAN The University of Texas-Pan American’s decision to have freshmen park farthest from campus may sound unwelcoming to a newcomer, but parking manager Melissa Sandoval assures that the decision will help students overall.
INDEX
For years, parking at this commuter university has been the bane of most students’ mornings at one time or another, as getting to class on time has turned into a perennial hunt for the occasional and coveted empty space. With the help of UTPA’s police department, the parking and traffic committee members decided the problem was caused by under-use of
FEATURES
PG. 2
the lots furthest from campus, called remote lots. “The more traffic you direct toward the outer perimeter of campus the less traffic you have concentrated in the heart of campus,” said Roberto Cantu, chair of the parking and traffic committee. “PD (police department) had looked at other campuses’ models and presented the idea to the committee.”
NEWS
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An excess of parking tickets, which usually cost $15, and student complaints about parking prompted the university to act. At the beginning of the semester, freshmen received a map in the mail marking their approved lots. They were also issued a different-color parking permit designating their ability to use remote lots from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. after which
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
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they can park in any other lot. Sophomore, juniors and seniors can still park at the remote lots as well. “It (remote lot S-1) wasn’t even one-fourth used,” said Sandoval of the remote-parking area. “There was a lot of illegal parking, with students parking in the streets and there was a lot of ticketing.”
SEE PARKING || PAGE 11
SPORTS
PG. 13