Campus
3
Thursday, November 10, 2016
ThePlainsman.com
Campus
DAY IN THE LIFE
Shadowing a security guard at night: campus after dark Lily Jackson INTRIGUE EDITOR
Not many people know what happens on Auburn’s campus after the sun goes down. Students sleep soundly or study hard in the library while night security guards patrol campus ensuring the safety of faculty and students. Murray Guard, a security guard company contracted out by Auburn University, stations guards throughout campus starting at 4 p.m. The company is based out of Jackson, Tennessee. Lakisha Perry, account manager at Murray Guard for Auburn University, has been working there for six years. Perry manages about 63 employees. “We provide any basic security needs on campus,” Perry said. “That can range from traffic control, access control, event security, anything.” Perry said the guards aspire to be as peoplefriendly as they can. Being approachable and trusted by students and faculty is something that Murray Guard strives for. Perry said Murray Guard works closely with the Auburn Police Division and the Department of Campus Safety and Security. They are all in direct contact at all times during the job. “It’s a fast paced job,” Perry said. “If you don’t know what you are doing you can get be-
hind very quickly. It’s never a dull moment with us.” “You learn something everyday and we push everyone to better than they were the past day,” Perry said. Perry said the only difficult element of her job is the last minute requests for guards, especially during home game weekends, as the team of guards is stretched thin. “You’re trying to cover all of the areas and ensure safety, which can be tough sometimes,” Perry said. “But, we always get the jobs done.” Perry said there aren’t exactly slow periods, but during the summer they cut back on staffing. During the week, they serve around 16 hours typically stressing the early morning hours when crime is more likely. Perry said the hiring process is simple, but taken very seriously. Security guards are required to be certified on the state level and Perry requires an addition eight-hour instructive course before the guards are considered. “[Potential guards] must make an 80 or better in the course,” Perry said. “If they can’t pass that, they are not fit to be a security guard of security figure on campus.” The job entails a list of responsibilities. Perry said the guards patrol their post, check doors and windows, respond to emergencies in their
MADISON OGLETREE / PHOTO EDITOR
LaKeisha Perry discusses campus security.
area and assist students. They escort students across campus at night to reassure them of their safety. Perry encourages everyone to stop by the campus security office on Magnolia Avenue to
ask any questions about safety. “[Auburn] is a great, safe place to live and work,” Perry said. “Auburn University works to ensure everyone’s safety and they do a great job of it.”
SENATE
SGA discusses possible changes to dining, senate campaigning Romy iannuzzi CAMPUS WRITER
SGA’s weekly meeting included discussion of upcoming changes to campus dining and possible rule changes for senate campaings. EVP of Initiatives Trey Fields encouraged SGA members to pitch their ideas for changes to on-campus dining either. “This is really kind of a transformative time for dining on campus the next
two or three years,” Fields said. “Beyond just a dining task force, or any other things we’re kind of doing with dining on a daily basis, if you guys have any ideas that you think would make dining on campus you can come talk to myself or David Facteau in cabinet.” Budget and Finance Committee Chair Chris Smillie gave this week’s College of Business report. “We’ve been working this whole
semester on keeping some rooms in Lowder open during finals week so that students can study and not have to fight the traffic in the library,” Smillie said. “We actually have a meeting this week with Mr. Long, who is the Harbert College of Business chief operations officer, and we’re going to continue that conversation with him.” Student Affairs Committee Chair Sarah Grace Mitchell said the College of Engineering will host a “Men-
tal Health Day” in the Shelby Center. “Tomorrow from 9 a.m. to noon, the college is having a mental health day, so we’re doing yoga in Shelby center and in the McCarthy suite,” Mitchell said. “If you don’t know what that is, it’s a really nice suite at the top of Shelby Center.” The event is open to all students, Mitchell said. “There’s going to be yoga up there, there’s going to be cupcake decorating
and you don’t have to be in the College of Engineering to come,” Mitchell said. College of Education Senator Rebekah Kennedy presented a future order of business making changes to the process of running for student senate or cabinet, including a required GPA of 2.5 for campaign managers. “The campaign manager also has to turn in the admission of intent,” Kennedy said.
SECURITY
VIA AUBURN UNIVERSITY
Retired Army Lt. Gen. Ron Burgess discussed cyber threats during the Auburn Speaker Series.
Retired Army Lt. Gen. joins speaker series Romy Iannuzzi CAMPUS WRITER
Retired 3-Star Army Defense Intelligence Lt. Gen. Ron Burgess, a ’74 Auburn graduate, came to the Auburn Alumni Center to give a presentation regarding cybersecurity topics, including recent cyber-attacks, potential enemy forces in cyber space, and the role schools like Auburn plays in the cybersecurity world. Burgess talked about his history working in Southern Command as well as the impact of 9/11 on the cybersecurity world, including his involvement in intelligence gathering at Guantanamo Bay. “[After 9/11] I became the ‘Father of Guantanamo, because we had to do something with the folks coming out of Afghanistan, and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld along with President Bush selected Guantanamo as the ‘least
worst desirable place’ to put our invited guests,” Burgess said, “And I was responsible for the interrogation and intelligence portion of that mission until I left U.S. Southern Burgess said the number of devices connected to the internet worldwide can cause instabilities in cybersecurity. “According to Symantec… the number of connected devices in the world is equal to about four to every human on the face of the globe,” Burgess said. “You sit there and say, ‘hmm, is that really possible?’ Well, you know, for example, I’m standing here today in front of you, I’ve got two [smartphones], I took my ‘FitBit’ off, and I didn’t wear my ‘iWatch’ today, so I hit the mold.” Burgess discussed the role Auburn could play in the development of the cybersecurity world. “The mission of Auburn
University is training, education, outreach, and workforce development,” Burgess said. “Part of this, then is outreach, in terms of making people smarter on the topic.” Burgess said the recent digital attacks were related to the number of interconnected devices worldwide. “That internet of things actually became weaponized, because, in its simplest form, what happened, is, we all have different things around…the problem is, of course, [internet functionality] is coded in what’s called the firmware, inside,” Burgess said. “And so, the internet of things as it was connected, all whoever did it…they overloaded the system with a code that just took advantage of the firmware, and it just kept sending messages and multiplying, and it became a Denial of Service attack because it overwhelmed the circuits.”
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