E AGLE N E W S The official student media group at Florida Gulf Coast University since 1997
VOLUME 17, ISSUE 24
WWW.EAGLENEWS.ORG
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2019
EST. 1997
FGCU’s ITS to implement new security system By Alexandra Figares Editor-in-chief @AlexandraNews_ FGCU’s Information Technology Services will be adding a new step for security for logging into systems at the university. The new two-factor authentication system, which would ask for a customized password and a user’s confirmation of proof, aims to deter hackers from logging into student accounts, preventing possible identity and financial theft. In 2017, over 4,000 email accounts were compromised due to phishing, Senior director of ITS Sven Hahues said. So, what are some warning signs that a hacker might be targeting emails? Hahues says emails including messages with a sense of urgency, links and spelling errors are telltale signs of hacking attempts. He also said that ITS always tries to put the same header and footer in emails, to separate themselves from hackers. “It should always say, ‘Dear FGCU students and faculty,’ and at the bottom of the email it says. ‘contact the help desk’”, Hahues said. “We try really hard to not send you guys links.”
STUDENT GOV. NEWS The FGCU Student Government Senate met on Tuesday, Feb. 19 for their weekly Senate meeting. Here’s what was discussed: BOARD OF TRUSTEES The next BOT meeting will on April 9, 2019.
How fast are you going? By Danyelle Rodriguez Gulf Coast News Wire Radar speed signs are tools that Florida Gulf Coast University has been utilizing for the last 10 years. The objective of the device is to bring awareness to the driver of the speed that they are going, and what speed
they should be going. So how has their presence affected faculty and students? FGCU senior, Tyler Evans, who has been attending the university for the last four years, believes that the radar speed signs have definitely made the campus roadways safer. “A lot of the time I feel like people
zone out when they’re driving, especially when you’re heading to class or home,” said Evans. “You just have a million things going on in your head, so usually you aren’t thinking about how fast you’re going, but if you speed past those signs they start flashing and it’s a wake-up call to slow down, and it keeps you from
getting pulled over.” However, Officer Myles Kittleson, who has worked at the FGCU Police Department for the last five years, and also pushed for the grant that funded the newest radar speed sign two years ago, doesn’t feel
FAST >> Continued on A3
‘I’m going back to college to study marijuana’ By Matt Kaminsky Gulf Coast News Wire Michelle Hilmes had to relearn everything. She didn’t know what a tree was and she couldn’t explain the colors in a sunset. She had trouble seeing and she couldn’t communicate. On Feb. 16, 2015, Hilmes was told that she had a brain tumor. Two days later, she had surgery to remove it; there was no option. If it didn’t come out, it would eventually kill her. Fortunately, it was not cancer. “When it happened,” Hilmes said, “it affected my vision, my speech, and now I have a mild case of aphasia. It was like I hit a reset on my brain and had to relearn everything.” Over time, through many doctors, physicians and speech therapists, she is grateful to be where she is today. Hilmes is back in college at Florida Gulf Coast University to take part in the new integrated studies major that will focus on the cannabis industry. “I have always been a proponent of marijuana,” Hilmes said. “After watching my dad suffer from ALS, I knew that
UPCOMING INITIATIVES Focusing on legaslatie efforts in Tallahassee. Working on marketing for library 24/4. Campus Wifi OPEN SEATS: College of Arts and Sciences: 5 College of Health and Human Services: 6 College of Business: 1 College Engineering: 1 College of Education: 2 Grauate: 1 Undeclared: 1 SECOND READING Senate Bill 1819-050 GSA Speaker: Passes FIRST READING Senate Bill 1819-051 University Police Department: Moves forward
I would one day work in the cannabis field to help people suffering from diseases like ALS or MS.” Hilmes’ father died nearly 20 years ago from Lou Gehrig’s disease. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as ALS, is a neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. The doctors told Hilmes and her sister that marijuana would help her father, but there was no safe way for the daughters to get their father help. “At 55, my father was diagnosed, and at 57, he was gone,” Hilmes said. “When he was having tremors and couldn’t sleep, I think that was when the doctors told him that marijuana would help him.” Hilmes and her sister felt hopeless. Their father was dying and the medicine that would help him was a Schedule I drug. If they were caught with marijuana, they could have been charged with a felony, which carries a one-year minimum sentence in prison. “The (stigma) of marijuana
COLLEGE >> Continued on A3
Photo provided by Matt Kaminsky Michelle Hilmes, a student at FGCU, poses for a picture. Hilmes is a proponent of marijuana use.
UF professor gives lecture on free speech By Leah Sankey Assistant Opinion Editor @fgcueaglenews Free speech and hate speech often intersect, and what defines free speech is widely debated. University of Florida professor, Dr. Clay Calvert PHD, gave a lecture at FGCU on the dichotomy (or lack thereof) between free speech and hate speech. “The fact that we’re seeing major splits about the meaning of free speech on college campuses simply reflects a larger rift about the meaning of free speech, even in the United States Supreme Court,” said Calvert. On campus, FGCU students are berated by religious zealots
through a megaphone for their perceived sins. The First Amendment protects this display of free speech. Public universities, like FGCU, are subject to the First Amendment of the Constitution – which protects free speech and often protects what society would consider to be hate speech. Calvert said that a bedrock principle of the U.S. constitution is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds that idea offensive or disagreeable. The only three categories of speech that are not protected by the First Amendment are fighting words (words expressing an insult, especially of an ethnic,
racial, or sexist nature), incitement to violence and true threats. Calvert quoted Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr, “We protect the right to express the thoughts that we hate.” An example of the First Amendment protecting hate speech is when the father of a Marine killed in Iraq sued the Westboro Baptist Church after it showed up to his son’s funeral with signs that read “God Hates Fags” and “You’re Going to Hell.” The Supreme Court ruled that the right to free speech protects the church to express their opinions during military and other highprofile funerals. Calvert said that although these statements seem defamatory, they are considered
matters of public concern and are therefore protected. On campus, it’s not unusual for FGCU students to be berated by religious zealots through a megaphone for their perceived sins. The first amendment protects this display of free speech. “There’s now a clear division in the United States Supreme Court involving a proper level of First Amendment scrutiny, to which cases or statutes which involve free speech should be subjective,” Said Calvert. “In a nutshell – even the justices on a supreme court disagree about the scope and reach of the First Amendment in terms of what it protects and what it safeguards against.”
INSIDE
REMEMBERING PARKLAND ONE YEAR LATER
BASEBALL SCORES 38 RUNS IN OPENING
BASKETBALL CLINCHES PART OF THE ASUN TITLE
STUDENTS KISS DOGS ON VALENTINE’S
An interfaith service was held last Thursday in Parkland. Posters were made to remember the victims. See more on A5
Baseball opened up its 2019 season with a loss and a pair of wins over BethuneCookman. See more on B1
Women’s basketball earned of share of the ASUN conference title with a win over Lipscomb Tuesday night. See more on B3
Students and staff took pictures and pet dogs after paying three dollars towards funding both groups. See more on B5