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L\ January 17, 2003 » A** 88 ”
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Spike Lee shakes up
by Erin McCarty
news editor
“I’m glad it stopped snowing." Spike
Lee quipped as lie greeted an audience
of hundreds in Erie Hall who braved
Wednesday’s blustery squalls to hear
the acclaimed filmmaker's address.
Maleficent weather conditions were
soon forgotten as Lee launched into a
lecture detailing, among other topics,
the importance of education and his
disappointment with today's media.
“One of mv great regrets is that I did
not really do as well as I was capable
of in college," said Lee. After two years
of college, he had exhausted his supply
Beh rend student
pleads guilty in
child-porn case
A Penn State Behrend student admitted to having child pornog
raphy on his computer while attending and living at Behrend.
On Jan. 8, Jeffrey A. Ewing, 20, pleaded guilty in Erie County
Criminal Court to a misdemeanor charge of obscene and other
sexually explicit materials and performances. Ewing admitted to
having 10 video clips of children engaged in sexually explicit be
havior.
An Erie Times News recent report cited a criminal complaint
filed in the case, saying a man told campus police Ewing had the
child pornography, “making it available to anyone.”
Ewing was charged April 26 after campus police responded to a
complaint and found child pornography on Ewing’s computer at
102 Ohio Hall, according to the complaint. J.E. Harrington of the
Penn State Behrend police was the arresting officer, according to
the Penn State Behrend Police and Safety office.
Sentencing for Ewing is set for Feb. 18.
This is not the first case of child pornography at Behrend. Chad
Warren pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography in 1999
while living at Lawrence Hall. Brian Scott Jackman, was arrested
in October 1998 on eight felony charges of using a university
computer to collect and trade child pornography while he was
enrolled at Behrend.
According to Ron Hoffman, manager of Network and
Information Services, Penn State University does not monitor
content on student’s computers due to privacy issues.
“That is not to say someone else is not monitoring them,” said
Hoffman.
Behrend students are subject to the same monitoring of the
general public by various government and law enforcement
agencies.
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of electives but still had not decided on say that doing what you love does not
a major. Urged by his
advisor to come back
in the fall with a
choice of major, Lee
spent the summer of
1977 the notorious
Summer of Sam
which he would later
revisit in film— by
roaming New York
with his Super 8
camera. By the end of
the summer, he had found his focus
“I was very lucky because 1 found out
what it is 1 love,” Lee said. “That’s why
college is so important.” He went on to
by Kevin Fallon
editor-in-chief
lnside
"You control the media, you can in
fluence hozv people think. You influ
ence how people think and you don't
need bombs."
necessarily mean doing something that
will make you a great deal of money.
Many students are attending college
because of the sacrifices made by their
Bookstore blues
Students rush to get their books on Monday. They were welcomed back only to face long lines at the bookstore
- Spike Lee
PHOTO BY KEVIN FALLON/BEHREND BEACON
Behrend
parents in
classmates are now
overweight, bald, unhappy,
and divorced,” said Lee.
“They started going down this p
Contact Us
v\-' r-.ii-V-. :-T-
order to get them a g»
education. Mindful of wl
their parents have given ui
they often pursue carer
that will allow them
repay that debt
convince their parents thi
education was worth
cost.
“Far too many of
continued on page 3
Hackers pry
into Behrend’s
network
during break
Penn State boosts level
of computer security
throughout University
by Rob Wynne
managing editor
During the last week of December, one
of Behrend’s computers was hacked into,
leaving a “Star Trek - Nemesis" movie
on a simplified file-transfer protocol
(FTP) service. Although relatively
harmless, this recent hack has prompted
University officials to take a look at
higher levels of computer security.
The cracked machine was recognized
by University Park’s Internet security
enforcement agency and removed from
Penn State’s network, according to
statements from the computer center.
Additional computers that monitor
suspicious activity were also placed on
Behrend’s network to scan for potential
weaknesses and/or threats.
According to Ron Hoffman, manager
of network and information systems,
Behrend’s computer systems, as well as
students’ machines in the residence halls
are hit twice per second by parties
seeking to crack passwords.
“ People use easily cracked passwords,
like their name or birthday,” said
Hoffman. He suggests students and
faculty should not lend out a password
and should frequently change it.
Jim Serafin, a computer center
technician, said a hacker could gain a
variety of things by cracking into
someone else’s computer.
“They [hackers] could download
copyrighted information for
redistribution, access checking account
information... Graham Spanier recently
about identity theft, and how bank
account information, social security
numbers, and credit-card information is
stored in programs that allow for easy
purchasing,” said Serafin.
Other colleges and universities have
HACKERS
PHOTO: KEVIN FALLON7BEHREND BEACON
continued on page