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IT department continues to crack down on copyright violations BY THERESA MUELLER TMUELLER@LANTHORN.COM
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pon acceptance to Grand Valley State University, every student is given a GVSU email account and access to the GVSU network. With this access come many policies that students must uphold, including conformity to the GVSU copyright policy. GVSU’s Information Technology department sent out a mass email Tuesday, Sept. 26, to all currently enrolled students regarding the copyright laws and policies at GVSU. On average, about four students per week violate copyright laws using a GVSU network. The IT department sees the cases of copyright violation increase slightly every year, but the email was part of the annual effort to remind students what they are and are not entitled to do. “The challenge is finding the best place to notify students,” said Sue Korzinek, associate vice president and chief information officer for IT. The timing is strategic since at the beginning of the semester students are usually bombarded with emails that usually find their way to the “trash” without even being read. Korzinek said IT sends the notification out in late September in hopes that students will actually open the email and take it seriously and not disregard it. The email states, “It has always been against the law to copy someone else’s work without permission, and downloading songs, movies or software from the internet for personal use without permission and/or without paying the owner is considered theft.” The recording, software and movie industries are constantly monitoring various networks, including GVSU networks, to watch
out for illegal activity pertaining to impermissible downloads. As other companies monitor the activity of GVSU networks, the IT department is notified if any copyright laws have been violated on a GVSU network. “We get notifications because they have a ‘@gvsu’ assigned to
them,” Korzinek said. Notifications from other companies include the time of day, the Internet Protocol (IP) address and what the user downloaded illegally. Then, IT searches network logs to find out who had the connection at the specified time of day. “Once (IT) absolutely determines
the user, we lock the student out of their account and notify them that they violated copyright,” said John Klein, associate director of academic services for the IT department. “Then, (the user) gets a notification letting them know they’ve been locked out and need to contact HelpDesk.” As students are directed to the
GVU Foundation elects new directors, cabinet members BY ANNE MARIE SMIT NEWS@LANTHORN.COM
POLICIES: Tiesha Anderson, a worker at Manitou, sits at the desk waiting to assist students Tuesday, Oct. 3. GVSU’s IT deparment recently sent out a mass email regarding the copyright laws and policites at GVSU. GVL | DYLAN MCINTYRE
Grand Rapids economy continues to thrive Grand Rapids has recently been named one of the United States’ fastest-growing economies by Forbes. With a 4.4 percent change in employment between 2015 and 2016 in the city, totaling in a labor force of 575,563, it’s no wonder that people are looking for work in the Grand Rapids area. Brian Long, director of supply management research for the Seidman College of Business at Grand Valley State University, explained that Grand Rapids’ booming economy
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BY MEGAN WEBSTER MWEBSTER@LANTHORN.COM
HelpDesk for a first offense, they are required to fill out paperwork acknowledging the copyright policy and confirming they will not violate in the future. If students commit a second offense, they are directed to the dean of
doesn’t come down to one factor. Feeding the economy, there’s the automotive industry; the furniture industry, which supplies 14 percent of the world’s office furniture; and cost efficiency within businesses. “I can’t come back and say that the city of Grand Rapids or county of Kent did something super fantastic and as a result, the employment improved,” Long said. “It’s more of a case of a myriad of things that all came together.” Long said Grand Rapids’ automotive businesses have been strategic with whom they do business in order to stay afloat and thriving
within today’s general economy. “A lot of them made a conscious effort to say, ‘Hey, if we’re going to make a conscious effort to stay in business, we have to figure out how to do business with the Japanese or the Koreans and in some cases the Germans,’” Long said. Another large contributor to the city’s booming economy, Long said, is Grand Rapids’ Medical Mile. Even though the medical field has nothing to do with the automotive or furniture-making industries, it allows Grand Rapids to diversify its workforce while remaining strong when economies
experience a downward turn. “Now, when I say diversification in Grand Rapids, immediately they will refer to the Medical Mile because the Medical Mile has nothing to do with the steel-furniture business or the automotive business,” Long said. “The other advantage of that particular industry is that, I don’t want to call it recession proof because when we do get a recession, they quit hiring, but they don’t lay off half of their staff. That’s a huge advantage.” Even though Grand Rapids’ economy could be considered a maSEE ECONOMY | A2
Once a year, the Grand Valley University (GVU) Foundation elects new directors and cabinet members. This annual election took place Wednesday, Sept. 27, when five new directors and six new advisory cabinet members were selected for the 2017-18 academic year. When the terms for existing directors and cabinet members are about to expire, GVU Foundation directors recommend a candidate who they think fits the role. The membership committee then meets to assemble a list of candidates for current directors to review, and during the annual meeting, new directors and cabinet members are chosen by popular vote. The GVU Foundation has been a part of Grand Valley State University since its beginning. The non-profit organization was initiated by Lewis William Seidman, a businessman in Grand Rapids who sought to establish a state-supported institution of higher education in West Michigan. Karen Loth, executive director of the GVU Foundation and vice president for university development, elaborated on the main priorities of the organization. “Our goals are to increase student scholarships, expand student-support programs and invest in keeping our academic programs and the learning environment at Grand Valley relevant for students and their future employers,” she said via email. In June, the foundation announced the start of the “Laker Effect” comprehensive campaign, a multi-year campaign that raises the funds necessary for GVSU to be an institution of opportunity, achievement and relevance. Through financial aid, academic merit scholarships and need-based scholarships, students are given the opportunity to pursue an education that might otherwise be out of reach. According to the GVU website, the foundation currently offers 450 donorfunded scholarships to 1,400 students and hopes to double that amount in the future, helping thousands more students pay for their tuition. In addition to increasing the number of students able to attend GVSU, the foundation aspires to increase the number of students completing their degree. It recognizes the diligence and drive students need to graduate, as well as the skills they will need to develop to be successful in their careers. The Laker Effect campaign aims to maximize student support by emphasizing leadership development and experiential learning, especially among first-generation and at-risk undergraduate students. On top of helping finance students’ college education and providing them with the support they need to graduate, the foundation strives for relevant growth through the construction of new academic facilities and the improvement of existing ones, matching the demand of the workforce. Currently, the foundation is looking to expand the health campus and the Padnos College of Engineering and
BIG BUSINESS: People stroll around the ArtPrize Nine opening-day festivities in downtown Grand Rapids Thursday, Sept. 20. Grand Rapids has recently been named one of the United States’ fastest-growing economies by Forbes, with a 4.4 percent change in employment between 2015 and 2016 in the city. GVL | MATT READ
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