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DAILYWILDCAT.COM
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2013
VOLUME 107 • ISSUE 56
Cyber security University places stronger focus on emerging field of cybersecurity through research grants
BY MARK ARMAO The Daily Wildcat
While the world we perceive occupies a physical space, the advent of the Internet and other technologies have caused many people to frequent a different type of place: cyberspace. But unlike the physical world, in which the police are a phone call away, the security of a web user is not guaranteed. Because hackers work day and night to exploit the Internet for personal gain, researchers at the UA have received multiple grants to explore the emerging field of
cybersecurity. “[Maintaining] cybersecurity has become a big problem for government, for industry and also for the general public,” said Hsinchun Chen, Regents’ professor and Thomas R. Brown Chair of Management and Technology in the Eller College of Management’s Management Information Systems Department. Chen is the principal investigator of two cybersecurity projects, both of which are funded by the National Science Foundation for a total of $5.4 million. One project will utilize “big data”
analytics in order to make sense of the covert world in which hackers operate, while the other will focus on training the cybersecurity professionals of the future. The trainees’ job will be to stay one step ahead of hackers, who are constantly looking for new ways to exploit vulnerable computer networks, whether it’s to make a statement, as in the practice of hacktivism, or for monetary gain. Because hackers have a habit of sharing information online, the hacker community is a vast “underground ecosystem” that
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must be understood before it can be suppressed, Chen said. Using cutting-edge data-mining techniques, the researchers will comb through massive amounts of online chatter to single out the most influential hackers in hopes of identifying their strategies and protecting against them. Researchers are also looking at other ways of preventing cyberattacks. Eric Gross, a graduate student in the MIS department, is one of those being trained as a part of Chen’s Scholarship for Service grant. Gross’
CYBER, 9
Trojan report: UA safe, not sorry
KICKS ‘R’ US
BY MAGGIE DRIVER The Daily Wildcat
“In the States, these kinds of injuries haven’t happened to women in 130 years,” Meyer said. Meyer said that while the work he did in Uganda with the fistula repair surgeries was challenging, the facilities he used to do the repairs were sufficient to get the job done. “Repairing these holes in bladders … is the hardest surgery I’ve done in my entire surgical career,” Meyer said. “I’ve become a better vaginal surgeon back home because of the work I did [in Africa] because of the
The UA has been ranked the third-best university for sexual health programs and services, after Ivy League schools Princeton University and Columbia University. Researched by Sperling’s Best Places in coordination with Trojan Condoms, the 2013 Trojan Condoms Sexual Health Report Card ranked 140 universities across the U.S. by a variety of factors provided by campus health services. Lee Ann Hamilton, the assistant director of Health Promotion and Preventative Services at UA Campus Health Service, said the Sexual Health Report Card takes into consideration a broad range of services, such as STD testing and educational programs. In addition to its programs, Campus Health was also evaluated based on its website and other educational efforts, such as its advice column “Sex Talk,” Hamilton added. “We were very thrilled because we have been moving up over the years,” Hamilton said. “The other two [universities] are very wellknown for their services in sexual health and leadership in health ed.” Since Princeton and Columbia, number one and two on the list respectively, are both private institutions, the UA is the number one public institution, Hamilton said. Private universities have different sources of funding and probably have more resources, according to David Salafsky, the director of Health Promotion and Preventative Services at Campus Health. Salafsky said Campus Health works hard to provide the best resources, programs and services possible on its limited budget. “Those private institutions [are] great institutions, but they’re private, and we run on a different model here,” Salafsky said. “It was really nice to see us head and shoulders above all the other schools that would be like us.” According to Hamilton, Campus Health has a lot of services that can help potentially or already sexually active people reduce health risks. “That’s why it’s important,
MEDICINE, 7
TROJAN, 7
RYAN REVOCK/THE DAILY WILDCAT
DIEGO AUBERTVASQUEZ, a hydrosystems engineering junior, does a “touch down rise,” which is a martial arts tricking stunt, on Tuesday outside of the Park Student Union. Aubert-Vasquez has been doing traditional martial arts for 15 years and has been doing martial arts tricking for two years.
UAMC doctors go international Physicians embark on overseas medical missions, gain world experience BY ETHAN MCSWEENEY The Daily Wildcat
Dr. Bill Meyer has been visiting Africa since 2004 to perform surgical procedures. Meyer, a clinical associate UA professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the UA College of Medicine and a physician at the University of Arizona Medical Center, said he first went to a hospital in Ethiopia nine years ago. He spent two weeks there learning how to do fistula repairs which involve fixing an abnormal connection between organs. Since his first visit, Meyer said, he’s met other physicians in Africa practicing the same kind of medicine who have periodically invited him back to help with fistula repair surgeries. Meyer is one of many UA physicians who travel overseas on medical missions. While these programs aren’t run through the UA, physicians in the ObGyn
Department often go on the missions, coordinating among themselves when to leave so there aren’t too many doctors gone at any one time, Meyer said. The ObGyn Department needs at least one doctor on call at all times to help deliver babies, Meyer added. The doctors leaving have to do extra hours to make up for the time lost and have to notify the department four weeks in advance if they’re planning to go on a mission. Meyer’s most recent mission was in mid-September to Uganda, where he operated on women who had developed vesicovaginal fistulas, which are holes between the bladder and vagina that occur due to labor complications. On his 10-day mission, Meyer treated more than 40 women suffering from this condition, which results in urinal leaking. While this condition is rare in the U.S., these fistulas are common in African countries like Uganda due to poor medical conditions, Meyer said.
SAVANNAH DOUGLAS/THE DAILY WILDCAT
DR. BILL MEYER, a clinical associate professor in the UA Department of ObGyn, is one of many physicians who embark on medical missions.
NEWS - 6
UA HOSTS EXCELLENCE AWARDS
SPORTS - 11
PAC-12 POWER RANKINGS ALL SHAKEN UP
ARTS & LIFE - 3
POETRY CENTER TO SHOWCASE UA FACULTY
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Female characters’ talents, regardless of how remarkable they may be, are greatly overshadowed by their exaggerated features and revealing clothing.” OPINIONS — 4