VIEWPOINTS
Apple CEO refuses to help FBI in investigation, LAUREN GUSTAFSON Staff Writer
The San Bernardino shooting was one of many shootings in 2015. Following the shooting, police officers retrieved an iPhone belonging to one of the shooters. The FBI has ordered Apple to disable the feature that causes the iPhone to lock after 10 incorrect password combinations. On Feb. 16, Apple chief executive officer, Tim Cook, released a letter to all Apple consumers and everyone on the internet. This letter explains to consumers why Cook refuses to create a backdoor to bypass the software. In the letter, Cook states his concern that “Once created, the technique could be used over and over again, on any number of devices. In the physical world, it would be the equivalent of a master key, capable of opening hundreds of millions of locks — from restaurants and banks to stores and homes. No reasonable person would find that acceptable.” In a world where technology has become increasingly integrated into our lives, hacking is happening all the more often to celebrities and even the U.S. Government. This raises the ever-prominent issue of security. How secure are our laptops, our
creates security concerns
phones and our tablets? And the answer mainly relies on the companies that design our software and our devices. If Apple creates this software bypass, how secure will our information actually be? The FBI says the software will be used once, to unlock the shooter’s phone. But once software is written, it cannot be unwritten and that opens not only the U.S. government up to temptation, but also everyone in the Apple community and beyond. The software would be easy enough to hack into and then who’s iPhone would be immune? Cook’s refusal to develop the software is admirable; he’s taking a stand in the right direction in terms of security. According to Washington Post writer Ellen Nakashima, the FBI order was obtained under the All Writs Act, which is “a law dating to the colonial era that has been used as a source of authority to issue orders that are not otherwise covered by a statute.” Cook writes that “The implications of the government’s demands are chilling. If the government can use the All Writs Act to make it easier to unlock your iP-
hone, it would have the power to reach into anyone’s device to capture their data. The government could extend this breach of privacy and demand that Apple build surveillance software to intercept your messages, access your health records or financial data, track your location, or even access your phone’s microphone or camera without your knowledge.” The implications Cook writes about are terrifying. It is a line in the battle for privacy and security that needs to be drawn, everyone should feel that their privacy is respected. The counter argument that our safety depends on drawing out information from the shooter’s iPhone is valid but the software required to do so is powerful that it creates a dangerous situation. This information alone is enough to cause concern, once the order to unlock the shooter’s iPhone was issued; the U.S. government has shown that this law can be used to create orders that may otherwise be deemed unethical. Once combined with the dangers of creating the backdoor into the iPhone, it becomes slippery slope and the eternal question is: where will it end?
William Hook/Flickr
FBI requests shooters’ phone for evidence.
Should test scores define funding Editorial: Another old white for public schools? president not necessarily bad thing
CAITLIN WILLIAMS Staff Writer
For those that can’t afford the luxurious, extremely expensive private education, public school is arguably the next best option. With the lack of school tuition, funding comes from the success shown by the students based on their texting scores. The higher the students perform on their state testing, the more money the state will provide to that school. But what is that money used for? New iPads for school staff members? New technology for the classrooms? Schools press their students into preparing for state tests every year. The curriculums for the year is steered toward helping students pass the tests. In order to stop this from happening, the group Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools which included the two largest teacher unions in the country, organized “walkins” at over 800 cities in 30 cities. According to The Washington Post, “The walk-ins became venues for many messages including de-emphasizing standardized tests, slowing down charter school growth and ending state takeovers of local school systems.” Students and teachers participated with signs stating appreciation for their local schools and their employed teachers. The state requires schools to administer these tests to students so that teachers are forced to follow a teaching curriculum that strictly follows what will be on the test. Educators have to teach their students based off the guidelines of the test and prepare them for exactly what will be on the test. Teachers are being held to blame for the students’ failures with these state-mandated tests. “If the student fails the tests, it shouldn’t come back on the student. It’s the teacher’s fault,” said Anna Heron, mother of her two sons, Ethan, 9, and Landon, 7. So even though the state is forcing these
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tests upon the students and the schools, the teachers are the persons held to blame when the students fail to meet the ‘standard.’ “The curriculum was based off what we needed to know in order to pass. Everything we learned in school was because it was going to be on those tests,” said Emily Welch, a recently homeschooled sophomore from Chancellor High School. “The teachers would tell us that we had to learn it because it would be on the tests. They would purposefully word questions on quizzes or their own chapter tests so that it would ultimately prepare us for the question formats on the SOL’s state testing,” said Daisy Stover, senior at Orange County High School. The idea that people can come together and support the better interests for the students is enlightening and positive. But the answer to this entire struggle within the public school system isn’t in the schools themselves but yet the states. The state creates the test. But the educators are responsible for providing the students with the necessary knowledge to pass the tests. But with these tests come limitations within the schools, and not just financially. The schools are limited in the classrooms to what they can teach. Teachers are supposed to follow the curriculum in place in order to give the students the ability to pass the state tests. This means the teachers can’t teach with the fluidity and freedom they’d like on the topics they teach every
Albert G./ Flickr Public schools’ test scores determine funding.
Troy Paino: scooter rider, college kid enthusiast, comedian, and another old white guy? As President Hurley finishes out this semester as the University of Mary Washington’s ninth president, the student body opens its arms to its newest president, Dr. Troy Paino. But is Paino really “new” for UMW? Out of the nine presidents UMW has had over the past century, one has been a female and the rest have been older white men. Living in a generation ready for change and diversity, is Paino really the best option for UMW’s next president? The answer is yes. Regardless of Paino’s skin color, age or sex, he brings the character, enthusiasm and commitment that UMW needs. Yes, diversity is important and our school clearly is not the most diverse university in America, an issue that needs to be addressed and work toward fixing, but in this case, these common appearance qualities of UMW presidents is irrelevant. When picking the president of a university, looks should not matter. What should matter are their credentials, character and their plans to better our university. As a liberal arts institution, we want to be as progressive as possible. Someone who is, for example, a person of color, young and a woman would definitely be progressive, but an image is less essential than what that person brings to our university. Clearly Paino is a respected and loved president, which can be seen from all the praise he has received from Truman State University, the university he currently pre
sides over, and a good president trumps the image of progression. Now, that does not go to say that our university does not need progress. We need progress and we need it now. At this time, there is no way to tell how Paino will change our university for the better and move it towards being more diverse, but his appearance does not dictate how he shall act as president. As students wanting to better our school and create a more inclusive and harmonious environment, we should work with Paino right off the bat to create a more diverse institute. Paino has made it abundantly clear that he does this job for the students. He wants to work with us, not against us. So as a student body we should all work together, students and faculty, to make UMW an institution where diversity encompasses every aspect of our campus, whether that be in the classroom or on the field. A new president is a new chapter for the students of UMW. Anything can change, and what we do with these new opportunities is up to us as a student body, not Paino or any other faculty member. We are UMW, without us UMW would cease to exist. It is our right and responsibility to make change happen if we want it to happen. Next year will be a test for us as a student body, what we do with a new president is up to us. We at The Blue & Gray Press welcome President Paino with open arms and an open mind to what we can achieve as a university.
By THE BLUE & GRAY PRESS EDITORIAL BOARD
Thursday,January February 25, 2016 Thursday, 21, 2015