The official student newspaper of Quinnipiac University since 1929. Proud Recipient of the New England Society of Newspaper Editors’ Award for 2015-2016 College Newspaper of the Year
DECEMBER 7, 2016
VOLUME 87, ISSUE 13
ARTS & LIFE: RABBI REENA JUDD P. 10
SPORTS: FALL SPORTS AWARDS P. 15
QUCHRONICLE.COM OPINION: RESPECT RETAIL WORKERS P. 6
Women’s rugby team takes home second championship
Student loses online identity after being hacked By HANNAH FEAKES News Editor
See HOUSES Page 5
See HACKER Page 4
ERIN KANE /CHRONICLE
Members of the women’s rugby team celebrate their national championship win at the pep rally in the lower cafe. By ANDREW BREUNIG Contributing Writer
The lower caf was filled with spectators this past Thursday for a pep rally celebrating the women’s rugby team victory. The Quinnipiac Bobcats defeated the Central Washington Wildcats on Nov. 20 (46-24) in the National Collegiate Varsity Women’s Rugby Association Championship, guaranteeing their second consecutive national championship title. President Lahey was present at the pep
rally to personally congratulate the players on their hard-fought victory. “A lot of people doubted them. They were in everyone’s rearview mirror,” Lahey said. “But these girls went out and won it all over again.” Karee Helgerson, a junior forward on the team, emphasized how vital teamwork was to clinching the championship. “We have this amazing camaraderie that motivates us,” Helgerson said. “It was that common drive, the one we all felt so passion-
ately about, that pushed us to greatness.” The players were traveling every weekend and practicing countless hours during the school week. Helgerson praised head coach Becky Carlson, who was a constant motivator throughout the tumultuous season, especially against numerous rugby reporters who doubted Quinnipiac’s success time and time again. Carlson addressed everyone at the pep See RUGBY Page 5
Historic homes spared from demolition By MATT GRAHN Staff Writer
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3367 Whitney Avenue is one of the historic homes being saved from demolition.
president of public relations. Minkema still regrets not being able to save all the houses. “When you make a change to the landscape like [demolition], you do lose a bit of a community’s memory. That’s important,” he said. Minkema explained that the older buildings represent not only Hamden’s history in agriculture and manufacturing, but also the stories of people from the past. “[The houses] represent family histories that will be no longer represented there,” Minkema said. “Not just the physical struc-
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Quinnipiac has been in the process of demolishing former rental houses on their land along Whitney Avenue to free up space for other university uses. However, three houses on those properties of historic value will still stand. Most of the demolition took place earlier in the year, but due to a Hamden ordinance, houses of historic value must be given a 90-day wait period before being cleared. However, it was decided during a Nov. 16 meeting between Quinnipiac and Hamden that three of the six houses of historic value will be given reprieve, according to Ken Minkema, president of the Hamden Historical Society. Of the three buildings that will be spared, located on 3217, 3367, and 3369 Whitney Ave., two of them are on historic registries. 3217 is on the Historic Buildings of Connecticut list, and 3369 is on both that list and on the National Register of Historic Places, according to a letter that Minkema wrote on the Hamden Historical Society website. Minkema said that the school was understanding of his groups’ needs. “We’re gratified that the university is willing to do some of this important preservation work in cooperation with us,” he said. However, Quinnnipiac will begin to tear down the buildings on 3235, 3335, and 3341 Whitney Ave. before the semester is over, according to John Morgan, associate vice
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tures themselves, but the memory of the family will only be available in pictures and historical files.” Sophomore Aaron Treinish understands the concern that Minkema has. “I think that they should keep the historical aspect of the houses. I mean, history’s something that everyone should look back on and learn [from],” Treinish said. Joe DeRisi, a local contractor, sent an email to Sal Filardi, Quinnipiac’s vice presi-
Luke Seabach, sophomore game design major, started creating and uploading videos to YouTube when he was in seventh grade. Eight years later, he has an online following and thousands of subscribers. On Nov. 28, all of his content and hard-earned money was taken away from him within hours because of an online hacker. “I’ve reached a point where I’ve gotten fans. I have an audience,” Seabach said. “I could drop out of school right now and make a living off of this. Because of that audience, people love you and people hate you.” The hacking started with Twitter. The hacker tweeted at Seabach, “dope social security number.” “There’s only one way he would know my social, and that is if he hacked my Skype and got it from my W9 work form,” Seabach said. Seabach did not believe the tweet at first and just blocked the account on Twitter. An hour later, all of his online passwords were changed. Seabach changed them all back to get into his accounts. The hacker went on Seabach’s accounts, unblocked himself and made Seabach follow him so that the he could private message Seabach. The hacker asked Seabach for $500 or he would leak his social security number. Seabach did not respond to the message. “I did not want to feed into this. I’m sure he hacks 40 people a day,” he said. The hacker proceeded to take over Seabach’s Skype, social security, Gmail accounts and Dropbox. He also hacked PayPal and Chase and took all of Seabach’s savings. “He hacked everything, just for the sole reason of wanting an audience,” Seabach said. Seabach went straight to the Department of Public Safety, the Hamden police department and the police in his hometown of Greenwich, New Jersey. The police opened an investigation after Seabach gave them all the details. Since opening an investigation, Seabach froze his bank accounts and created new names for all social media accounts. He changed his Facebook name and plans to keep it that way until things calm down. “It sucks because it is eight years of doing YouTube, it’s just gone,” Seabach said. “Eight years I can’t get back. My job is gone, my money all gone. It’s a really shitty situation, but I took it as a learning experience. It’s just internet stuff, it doesn’t really matter. The worst part is that I lost complete contact with my clients.” Seabach also posted on Reddit asking people for advice on what to do after the hack. “I got a lot of good responses,” Seabach said. “Make your passwords 25 characters long, my old password was 13. I would make my passwords by looking around the room and naming inanimate objects. For example, ‘plastic chair,’ and then a number after. I set up full security on everything. New passwords and new emails for everything. Set up
Opinion: 6 Interactive: 7 Arts & Life: 10 Sports: 14