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SLU breaks top 100 By JESSICA WINTER Managing Editor
Saint Louis University celebrated its entrance back into U.S. News and World Report’s ranking of the top 100 national universities. The news magazine released its 2015 rankings on Tuesday, Sept. 9 and simultaneously welcomed SLU back into the upper echelon of its prestigious list. Last year, SLU had fallen just shy of the cut and was given a position at 101 – as opposed to its more comfortable placing at 92 in 2013. This year, the university must be improving in some manner and accepts its 99th position alongside three other schools: University of Missouri, University of Nebraska—Lincoln, and University of New Hampshire. “We are always pleased when the University receives recognition for our outstanding academic programs and successful students,” said Jay Goff, vice president of enrollment and retention management. Jean Gilman, dean of admission, also commented on this achievement and what it could mean for SLU in the future. “I think this latest recognition for our academic programs will be yet another factor that will help future students see the value of a SLU education,” said Gilman.
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Thursday, September 11, 2014
Forecast: Cloudy with a chance of hacking? ITS Department talks security, password safety By Vivek Gorijala Associate News Editor
Facebook, Gmail, Twitter, the iCloud, computers, cell phones, and even the mySLU portal are all tools common among SLU students for work and for recreation. Many users automatically type in their username and password, and are immediately led to the application or device of their choice, without giving it a second thought. Generally, we think nothing of these actions; they are standard procedures. However, these usernames, passwords and passcodes make inviting targets for cybercriminals, and anyone—from national celebrities to SLU students, faculty and staff—can and has been targeted. Celebrities’ Apple iCloud accounts were recently compromised by criminals, who stole and then shared compromising photos online. The iCloud, which stored backups of photos taken on iPhones, was compromised by criminals who abused the password reset features offered by Apple. The photos were then stolen, and the FBI eventually got involved, attempting to track down the criminals while also trying to erase the images from the Internet and prevent the pictures from being shared.
Although in this case, the hackers targeted high-profile, high-value celebrities, Nick Lewis, SLU’s Director and Information Security Officer in ITS says that the mistakes that these celebrities made in choosing weak passwords are mistakes that many people make, including SLU students, faculty and staff. “There are only so many passwords that a person can remember. It becomes very difficult to keep track of more than a few,” says Lewis. Compounding this obstacle to more safely secur-
ing online data is the fact that SLU students, faculty, and staff have been targets of malicious phone calls and phishing scams. Phone calls in the past have come from individuals claiming to be from Microsoft, informing the call recipient of something wrong with their computer. As the caller gradually gains the victim’s trust, they are able to then solicit personal information from the individual. Emails have included statements saying that the computer has a problem or that the computer has run out of disk space,
Aramark: First impressions vary By CHAD MAXWELL Contributor
This semester has seen Aramark replace Chartwells as the dining services provider for Saint Louis University. The change has brought in many new dining locations such as Einstein Bros. Bagels, Panda Express and the new Billiken Club, as well as changes in the way meal swipes work and the variety of food choices at the dining halls. Chartwells had been the dining service provider at SLU for over a decade. Replacing them is Aramark, a Philadelphia-based business which serves over 600 universities and preparatory schools nationally. Aramark has contracts with various national chains to bring in Panera Bread (known as St. Louis Bread Co. locally), Starbucks, and Qdoba to join the other new restaurants that are now present on campus. Bringing in this new company has been a novel experience for many students and staff who have grown accustomed to the old experience. For those students using meal swipes, they are no longer allotted a certain number of swipes per week. Instead, students are given a set number of swipes for the entire semester and are able to use them as they please. Other changes include the swapping of old dining options for new ones. The Billiken Club replaced the Mexican-themed Salsarita’s, and the Fusz dining area will
Men’s Soccer upset
requiring that more must be downloaded. One similar email in Aug. 2013, led to a data breach in which criminals could potentially have compromised health records. The attack was conducted on SLU and many other regional universities, and although SLU worked diligently with the FBI and contained the incident, other schools suffered more extensive damage. However, despite the problems that have occurred in the past, and the difficulty in remembering a different password for each website,
Jessica Park/ Illustrator
Lewis says that there are a plethora of options available for those who wish to increase the security on their personal accounts. One option is a password manager, according to Lewis. “I use a password manager. I store all my passwords in a manager called Password Safe, which allows me to look up any password I need from a secure location.” Another method of better securing data that is being pushed by Lewis is See “ITS” on Page 3
Jammin’ for Jesus: Theology club spreads the love parishioners] and pass them out to people on the street because people would ask for money, but it was easier When sophomore Theto give them a sandwich ology major Hannah Vesbecause I knew they would tal came back from Cape eat…It brought a smile to Town, South Africa after a their face and made them semester abroad last spring, know they mattered.” she knew that she wanted And it’s this generosity to bring some of her experithat Vestal hopes to bring ences there back to St. Louis to SLU through the Jamin some medium. And on min’ for Jesus events. AcFriday, Sept. 12, she will be cording to Vestal, the plan doing just that: hosting the for the “Jammin’” event is to “Jammin’ for Jesus” event get food donations (bread, in collaboration with SLU’s peanut butter, and jelly— Theology Club. the first month’s food has “At least for the first already been couple of donated by m o n t h s S c h n u c k ’s ) [in Cape I knew they would set up on Town], I was eat...It brought a tables under very lonely, a tent (the smile to their face I guess,” first location and made them Vestal said. of the event “And so I know they matis outside spent a lot of the Center tered. time praying for Comand think- -Hannah Vestal, student munity Ening about gagement) ‘Why am and then to I here?’ It get students to come by and kind of went from me being make the sandwiches. Vestal like ‘What am I doing here’ then plans to bring the sandto ‘OK, maybe I can make wiches to St. Patrick’s Center something out of this situadowntown for distribution. tion and help people.’” “The city of St. Louis While studying in Cape wants you to give donations Town, Vestal attended mass to a specific place,” Vestal at St. Michael’s Catholic said. She will not be handing Church, whose parish activthe sandwiches out directly ity of making and distributon the street. “[Although] ing peanut butter and jelly that’s what I really like,” she sandwiches to the poor insaid, “actually giving the spired her to bring a similar sandwiches to people.” activity—“Jammin’ for JeIn addition to Sept.12, sus”—to SLU. the Theology Club plans to “While I was there [Cape Town], I would also make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches [with St. Michael’s See “Jesus” on Page 3 By PAUL BRUNKHORST News Editor
Ryan Quinn/Photo Editor
Dining: Aramark has yet to open some venues on campus, including in the BSC. turn into the Billiken’s Lair later this fall. Argo Tea inside the Pius XII Library has become Einstein Bros. Bagels. Most of the changes have been seen favorably by a majority of students; however, one replacement has a demographic of students at SLU less than thrilled. Many vegetarian students found Terra Ve, a vegetarian/ vegan location in Clemons Hall, to be fantastic for their needs. Terra Ve took meal swipes and offered multiple vegetarian choices, as well as gelato and vegan snacks for purchase using flex points. Despite this popularity, Terra Ve has been replaced by a Starbucks. This move has been met with some con-
troversy, as many students felt that a Starbucks was not necessary on campus the fully stocked Starbucks located across from Reinert Hall, was already sufficient. Other than the loss of vegetarian options though, students are very complimentary towards the new additions around campus. The Panda Express in the Busch Student Center has drawn a lot of praise from various students. “The food here just hits the spot,” said Tarun Yandamuri, a sophomore at SLU. “It is great comfort food after a tough test. I’m not a big fan of the lines, but it doesn’t take too long.” Panda Express is not the
only place with a strong following; The Billiken Club also has its fans. Tannia Pourdavarani said about the Billiken Club, “I love it. The deep fried mac n’ cheese is just so yummy.” When asked about her opinion of the atmosphere of the location, Tannia called it “great” and “a fun place to go with friends.” Kent Porterfield, the vice president for student development, was optimistic about Aramark’s new contract with SLU. He said, “In selecting Aramark, we have chosen a partner that we believe will enhance the campus dining experience for all members of our SLU community.”
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Vol. XCIV No. 2
We Remember
SPORTS PAGE 5