SCENE
OPINION
SPORTS
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Bringing art and communication together with Roote Wordes
We found the best taco trucks so you wouldn’t have to
CWU softball’s recent venture down the coast
Vol. 125 NO. 2
April 12, 2023
See Full Story on Pg. 8-9 Remembering Shady Acres: the once ‘peaceful,’ affordable community to be covered by Kittitas County Event Center expansion Photo by Rob Fraser
When personal information doesn’t stay personal: how your data ends up in someone else’s hands Photo of Kittitas Valley Fire & Rescue. Photo by Anna Fridell
Central Washington Fire Training Academy opens doors for prospective firefighters Anna Fridell Staff Reporter A new opportunity for incoming firefighting trainees has become available through Kittitas Valley Fire and Yakima Fire Department. The two organizations combined their spaces and trainings with the creation of Central Washington Fire Training Academy, which was opened in January. The new program offers a resource to incoming trainees that prefer to stay local, while also getting the same training they would elsewhere for less of a cost compared to the Washington State Fire Academy in North Bend, Washington. “[It’s] roughly half of what it costs to go to North Bend,” Kittitas Valley Deputy Fire Chief Rich Elliot said. A typical day training in the Central Washington Fire Academy may consist of classroom courses directed to get the International Fire Service Accreditation Congress certification, as well as live-fire training held in controlled areas in Yakima, according to Yakima Fire Department Deputy Fire Chief DJ Goldsmith. According to Goldsmith, the classroom training courses are held at the Yakima Fire Department. “The training is going very well,” Goldsmith said. Only positive feedback has been received from instructors of the academy, including Goldsmith and Elliot. “My training officers are very happy with it. Our recruits are doing really well. They’re getting a very high-quality structural fire academy, it’s something that we’ll likely repeat.” Goldsmith said. This academy offers incoming trainees an opportunity to study and practice firefighting as a career, where the opportunity may not have been presented otherwise due to factors such as cost and location. The Fire Training Academy held in North Bend, Washington State Fire Academy, has been shown to have limited spots, according to East Pierce firefighter and CWU EMT/Paramedicine professor Colin Nash.
“There isn’t enough room for fire academies to host everyone who wants to go,” Nash said. “New academies or more spots benefit everyone.” Though firefighting may be seen as a volunteer-heavy profession, the increased cost of living and increased certifications have prevented aspiring firefighters from finding the time or ability to volunteer, according to Nash. Nash said there is a need for more firefighters, because local fire departments are often already on another call when new calls come in. The reactions from trainers in the academy, as well as feedback from the trainees, has reflected that the academy has been beneficial to the community, according to both Nash and Goldsmith. “We have nothing but positive feedback from everybody,” Goldsmith said. “It’s awesome watching them grow together as recruits.” The academy has wasted no time in getting the trainees ready for a career in the firefighting industry, according to Goldsmith. “Day one of the academy, we hit the ground running,” Goldsmith said. A typical day training in the Central Washington Fire Academy may consist of classroom courses directed to get the International Fire Service Accreditation Congress certification, as well as live-fire training held in controlled areas in Yakima. “I look for attitude, I look for work ethic, and I look for the ability to make decisions, and probably in that order,” Elliott said. To be a firefighter requires maximum effort and tactical decision making, according to Elliott. “This is a job where you have to do your best all the time.” Making decisions in a quick manner is essential to being a firefighter, and the academy strives to train their recruits to prepare in the right ways. “People within our agency in Kittitas are coming up to us talking about what a great job, and how awesome it is to see these kids grow and just become firefighters,” Goldsmith said.
Morgana Carroll News Editor When Deborah Wells was the president of CWU’s Ethical Hacking Club, she got a call from someone claiming to be from Microsoft as she was wrapping up a club meeting. The scammer said that they could tell she was sitting at her computer and was calling because it was infected with a virus. This is a common form of scam call, where the caller pretends to remove a virus and then asks for payment information. Wells played along with him for a while until the bit ran its course. According to Wells, scam and phishing calls are one way that people can get your personal data. Another way that your information is collected is through data farming, a technique used by social media platforms. Wells said this creates one source that a bad actor could get a large chunk of data from. “They have all the data stored in the cloud,” Wells said. “And in this instance the data is attacked, then they take the data and they sell it or they hold onto it.” Wells said the data that social media collects is typically done with the intent to sell it to advertisers. “There’s a lot of data that’s gathered that’s not malicious, there’s no mal intent,” Wells said. “It’s used for marketing purposes, they want to sell you things… say we’re talking about a trampoline, and then 10 minutes later on your Facebook feed there’s a bunch of stuff on trampolines.” She said that the best way to protect yourself from having your information stolen is to make sure to always manage app permissions, such as location services and data. Wells said that everyone should be aware of who they’re giving their information to.
“Sometimes you get these ads…and you’re like I don’t recognize this company,” Wells said. “And it’s not one you normally shop with, it’s not Amazon or TJ Maxx. But you really like the product, well do some research before you start putting your credit card info in.” Wells recommended avoiding putting your personal information anywhere you don’t need to put it. She said not to enable location services if you don’t need to and not filling out anything past your basic information if you can. “Just limit your digital footprint by not putting in so much information, just put in the bare minimum,” Wells said. Have you ever Googled yourself? Wells said that you can look yourself up to see how much of your information is available online. “You can do your own forensics,” Wells said. “You can Google your name and see what comes up.” To test how much personal data could be found on the internet, The Observer conducted an experiment and used two free websites that said they excel in finding people’s information online. To discourage the use of these sites, the names of the websites will not be published. All The Observer had to do was put in our reporter’s name, and the website turned up with results that included their address and contact information. The Observer team also searched using only their phone number, and the same results appeared. To further test this point, The Observer staff tried this experiment with friends and roommates with their consent, and it turned up their personal information as well, including home address and the names of immediate family members.
Personal information is often obtained by bad actors hacking into orginizations’ clouds. Photo by Morgana Carroll