Internet Invasion: Online Privacy

Posted on 18. Nov, 2009 by Jen Cotto in Feature

Imagine this scenario. You just graduated from PUC with your bachelor’s degree. After a very educational internship at a major corporation, you are ready to enter the work force and take on the world. You find a great company who has agreed to interview you for a position you have always wanted. You’ve sent your resume, a remarkable portfolio, and you have even provided them with first class professional references. There you are, they day of the interview, in your favorite suit and ready to impress your potential employer. When you sit down for the interview, you are shocked to hear the GM of the company quote your Facebook status and ask you to elaborate. Think this is a little farfetched? Think again! Believe it or not, this is actually happening more than you think. More and more in this increasingly competitive economy, employers and even colleges and universities are checking out every detail of your life.

It is nothing new that potential employers and educational institutions at every level check and double check your references, GPA, and credit scores among other information; but as the unemployment rate reaches an inconceivable 10 percent in the nation, employers now have the luxury to be picky. And it’s not just employers; colleges and universities are also tapping in to social networking sites to determine a student’s admission to both under graduate and graduate programs. Everyone wants to know every detail of your life, not just professionally and academically, but also personally—and there is no better place to find it than the World Wide Web.

How they do it

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past decade, you most likely have a myspace, facebook, or other social networking site. If you do, you probably haven’t given much thought to the fact that all kinds of people have access to personal information on your site. People that you don’t know can have access to every detail of your personal information. Have you stopped to think lately if you would want your boss or teachers looking at what you have on your facebook? According to Marcia Muller, Human Resource and Operation Manager of Spanish Broadcasting System, a national radio and television company, if you don’t feel easy with the idea of your boss or teachers looking at what you have up there, then you should probably take it down. “Companies are now using social networking sites to see the personal lives of potential employees and interns. Most corporations are increasingly interested not only in professional credentials, but in the characters of those we are looking to hire. We want to make sure that even when off the job, our employees will represent the image of our stations in a professional way.” Muller explains that even when a person intentionally makes a social networking profile public for all to see, for example on-air talent like Disk Jockeys or Television personalities, companies will seek out your personal profiles and study every detail of what you have posted for everyone to see.

But, what if your profile is private? “There are always ways to get around a private profile” Sais Muller. “Everyone is connected with someone you know, one way or another, so even if your profile is private, someone you know may have photos of videos of you, and there is a loop-hole where someone can access that information” Muller says. If it is on the web, eventually it will make its way to anyone who wants to access it.

Feel invaded?

That’s because you are. Although every social networking site has privacy policies and you are, to a certain extent, protected by the law, what you put on the internet is there for potentially everyone to see. So, when you post or upload information on line, think about what you are posting. Just like any other information, if you wouldn’t want certain people to access it, it’s best to be left off the web. Here at PUC there are also ways in which you can protect yourself. According to Juan Balderas if ITSS, the only way anyone in school can access information or files on your computer is if you have file sharing enabled. So, if you don’t have personal files on your “share” folder, your information is safe. Juan says ITSS does not have access to the files on your computer, and even if someone did try to access your PC, it would require your approval.

When it comes to your privacy and protecting your image, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Take a moment to think about what you have on the web, and what files you are sharing with everyone at school. If you wouldn’t feel comfortable with your PUC advisor, or your boss looking at those videos or pictures, its best you take it down. You are the only one who can take control of the information that is shared, and I recommend you do.

Forum Raises “Viral Voice” Against Human Trafficking

Posted on 27. Oct, 2009 by Crystal Um in Feature

Carlsbad, San Diego—On October 8-9, 2009, the leading activists of human trafficking gathered for the first annual Global Forum, designed to strategize a slave-free future by mobilizing teachers, students, and businesses to end modern slavery. Forum participants discussed domestic as well as international issues, and engaged in three breakout sessions of their choice to implement entrepreneurial strategies as well as global policies for treatment of the issue. Forum representatives included Bay Area Co-Director of MISSSEY, to Not For Sale’s Peru project founder, Lucy Borja, and the Not For Sale Campaign California State Director, Stephanie Voorkamp with entrepreneur David Arkless.

Nola Brantley, Co-Director of MISSSEY, Motivating, Inspiring, and Supporting and Serving Sexually Exploited Youth, served as a panelist for the breakout session titled “Innovative Models of Survivor Care,” Brantley was the first intensive case management treatment service model and programs for commercially sexually exploited children to receive specialized advocacy and assessment in Alameda County Juvenile Justice Center, the development and implementation of a transition and recovery center for commercially sexually exploited children in Oakland.

Brantley indicated how 90 percent of the victims are American children in the foster care system. These children were removed from biological care on the premise of protection, only to be used as consumer exploitation for street and Internet prostitution purposes. Brantley discussed the 2002-2003 cases where groups of 3-5 children under 18 were arrested upon the charges of prostitution to demonstrate how there were no concrete systems in place for domestic cases of sexual exploitation. Brantley served as an advocate for these children who were prosecuted under the 647B Prostitution charges because of the discrepancies between the law and how the children were processed legally in Alameda House Justice Centers. “Domestic cases do not have the same protection resources as international cases,” Brantley said. “Our kids are falling through the cracks.”

The reoccurring cases of trafficked minors were also validated by Lucy Borja, who created Generacion, a Not for Sale International project providing prevention and aftercare programs to street children in order to develop entrepreneurial economic life skills in Lima, Peru. “Children do not share in the same freedom as adults, and are not even regarded as citizens,” Borja said. According to Borja, Children are arrested and sent to juvenile hall on the basis of polluting the public environment—an outcry made by local residents who shun the children as decreasing their property value. There are many instances of children being shot and abused by criminal enforcement and exploiters. The traffickers target children who have no one to turn to, forcing them to be dependent suppliers of their demands.

Borja has worked with the government to create homes and opportunities for the children who have been marginalized by the system. They were able to start a landscaping business with the government to provide for basic needs for the women and children, as well as a means of preventing re-victimization by their exploiters. In addition to recreational life skills, empowerment is also employed as a method for prevention. Borja believes in the power of theatre, music, and surfing to promote social change in an environment where children can tell their own stories to educate others in the safety of school settings.

The marginalized victims living in impoverished homes are a distinguished trend of human trafficking cases in Lima, Peru, and around the globe. Entrepreneur, David Ormesher, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Closerlook, Inc., and Adjunct Professor of Customer Management at the IIT Stuart Graduate School of Business, Chicago, IL, proposed entrepreneurial solutions to crisis to promote change, as evidenced with Borja’s landscaping business in Peru. He emphasized how human trafficking could not be undermined unless strategic objectives were employed along with mutual partnership of developing countries to combat poverty. The demand for social enterprise businesses have been growing with grants up to $20,000 for ideas to advance sustainable practices and public engagement. Currently, Rwanda has been receptive to social enterprise policies, and has streamlined investment options so that an outside investor is entitled to 50 percent of the invested amount or used assets. Freeplay Energy, one example of a successful social enterprise in Rwanda, replaced dangerous kerosene lights with sustainable, cost-efficient sunlight and “wind-up” technology lanterns. Unlike conventional business models, the challenge of social enterprises like Freeplay Energy was to create a capital based on the average earnings of the demographic. The dollar-a-day approach was used to make Freeplay Energy as affordable as kerosene, yet renewable for a lifetime.

Sustainability and entrepreneurship may be the solution according to Stephanie Voorkamp, Director of Business Development for the Not for Sale Campaign. Voorkamp, who recently took over the Not For Sale Freedom store a couple months ago, endeavors to reform the consumer culture that contributes to the flourishing business of trafficking. The antithesis of slave-driven business models, Voorkamp’s Freedom Store is comprised of low-income artisans and rescued victims who supply the basic needs of the consumer, and provide a way of escape to those held bondage by the leading cause of human trafficking—poverty. Like Freeplay Energy’s social enterprise, Voorkamp’s global market models promote sustainability as it is utilized as a resource for further education and financial independence.

Entrepreneurship strategies to combat the multimillion-dollar business of human trafficking was also the forefront of abolitionist David Arkless, President of Corporate and Governmental Affairs, Manpower, Inc. “Gangs set up trafficking rings as a business,” Arkless explained. “The only way to stop them is to cut off supply and demand situations.” Arkless’s current objective is to change human resource policies, and to create a code of conduct for employees of worldwide suppliers, as stated in his Athens’s Declaration. The Athens’s Declaration forbids employees from hiring prostitutes on business trips, and requires the company to check supply chains. Arkless’s vision for global strength relies on research, data, surveillance, verification, communication but most importantly, individuals to raise their “viral voices” in bringing redemption and freedom to the slaves.

Resources:
European Journal on Human Trafficking
Not For Sale Campaign Investigator Academy
How to Identify Trafficking

A Department for the Students

Posted on 11. Oct, 2009 by Cristina Alba in Feature

Student Services is a place behind Graff, sandwiched in between records, the staircase and the candle. It is a nice office like any other on campus, yet a little more maze-like in finding. Yet, what differs in this office and the others is the business that is conducted there. One hears the name student services thrown around every once in a while, and their seal of poster approval is on most papers taped to windows.

So what really does student services do? Well for one, their director is Dr. Lisa Bissel Paulson. In addition according to their section on PUC’s website, which, much like their office, is wedged somewhere in all the links, “Student Services is the gateway to a wide variety of services, opportunities, and information offered to students across campus,” but that’s about all the information you’ll get.

Also, every single page of the perhaps outdated student handbook is posted in PDF format for easy access. According to the handbook, the bookstore is open on Sundays; sadly this late book buyer discovered that the bookstore was not open this previous Sunday. In addition I looked for the Chinese Student Association club sign up at lunch and did not find it, along with the missing CSA, the African club, Hawaiian club, Game club and Investment clubs are also, well, just not even heard of much anymore.

Along with outdated club information, the process for forming a club is well, just absent from all the pages. The only information included is under the section titled “Right to Assemble,” it states, “Students are free to Organize and join associations…consistent with …policies of the college. Each organization will present…a nominee for faculty advisor.” For anyone that has tried to form a club, when they go to the office, they are directed to a set of paperwork they need to fill out and the process begins.

However vague some of the information regarding student services is, although omitted from the website, the truth is they do provide clubs with use of campus facilities free of charge and work in conjunction with the TLC, Café and Residence Halls and various other departments to improve student life here on campus. We wanted to bring information to the students about organizations on campus that can be of help to them in their social and academic pursuits.

We tried to get a hold of the VP of Student services, Dr. Paulson,but she was not available for interview and due to scheduling has yet to answer some of our questions about Student Services. Until then the questions raised about the missing clubs, how to possibly revive them and what else exactly student services does will have to wait. So if you’ve got any questions about school policy good luck finding it in your handbook, if that doesn’t work then an RA, Dean, Academic Advisor, or  professor will have to suffice.

Clubbing it Up

Posted on 11. Oct, 2009 by Various in Feature

There are many clubs that meet here on campus that offer a wide variety of student-lead activities and provide its members with the opportunity to belong to a group of people with similar interests and backgrounds. Here are some profiles of select clubs (aka: clubs that responded to us) and their answers to questions that we posed.

Q. What is your club name?
A. Amnesty International
Q. Who is the president of your club?
A. Amy Bellinghousen
Q. If a celebrity were to join your club, who would it be?
A.  Nelson Mandela.
Q. How can I contact you and get more information?
A. aipuc@gmail.com, albellinghou@puc.edu
Q. What is your club name?
A. Asian Student Association (ASA)
Q. Who is the president of your club?
A. Carrie Lam
Q. If your club were in charge of the cafeteria menu for a day, what would it look like?
A. Fried Rice, Chow Mein, Wontons, Pad Thai, Broccoli Beef, Chicken Curry, Mee Goreng, real SUSHI, real Bibimbab, frozen yogurt, BOBA!!! >_<
Q. How can I contact you and get more information?
A. cjlam@puc.edu, asapuc@gmail.com

Q. What is your club name?
A. Biology Club
Q. Who is the president of your club?
A. Peter Han
Q. Why should I join your club?
A. “Because we’re better.”
Q. How can I contact this club and get more information?
A. “pshan@puc.edu”

Q. What is your club name?
A. KASA
Q. Who is the president of your club?
A. Jennifer Cho
Q. If your club could change one thing on campus, what would it be?
A. If I could change one thing on campus, it would be one of three
things: an option as to how much one’s caf card limit is, meat in the
caf, or no curfew.
Q. How can I contact you and get more information?
A. Jyecho@puc.edu

Q. What is your club name?
A. Pre-Med/Pre-Dent Club
Q. Who is the president of your club?
A. Rachelle Kim
Q. Why should I join this club?
A. You should join this club to be well informed on who you need to talk to, know what classes to take, get acquainted with other pre-professional students, and form a better idea of what to do to be on track for medical and dental school.
Q. How can I contact you and get more information?
A. rjkim@puc.edu

Q. What is your club name?
A. SAWA
Q. Who is the president of your club?
A. Sameh Bekhit
Q. Why should I join your club?
A. Because it includes everyone since it’s the only international club on campus, and through it, you can share your culture, and learn and experience other cultures in a fun way.
Q. How can I contact you and get more information?
A. srbekhit@puc.edu, (797) 965-7244

Q. What is your club name?
A. Students In Free Enterprise (more commonly referred to as SIFE)
Q. Who is the president of your club?
A. Steve Brooks
Q. If you could change one thing on campus, what would it be?
A. To help students understand credit cards and loans.
Q. How can I contact you and get more information?
A. email sifepuc@gmail.com, or check out our bulletin board on 2nd floor Irwin Hall

Other clubs:

-        Black Student Forum (Pres. Anthony Leslie)

-        Filipino Club (Pres. Jonathan Lee)

-        Film Club (N/A)

-        French Club (N/A)

-        Global Medical Brigade (Pres. Edna Hernandez)

-        Musical Arts Symposium

-        Parkour (Pres. Jason Robinson)

-        Polynesian Club(N/A)

-        Pre-Med/Pre-Dent (Pres. Rachelle Kim)

-        REVO(N/A)

-        SOL Club (N/A)

*N/A according to the official Student Services document listing clubs and officers for this year.  If we missed your club, we can add your responses and information on our website at any time.

The Adventist Advantage: President Heather Knight’s Debut

Posted on 24. Sep, 2009 by Peter Katz in Feature

Change has come to PUC, and it has a plan.

On the morning of September 15, Dr. Heather Knight, the new President of PUC, spoke for the first time to the faculty and staff. Knight, who holds a Ph. D. in English from Stanford, comes to PUC after eighteen years at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, followed by several years as provost of Andrews University.

Knight expressed her desire to make PUC into “the best Christian, liberal-arts college in California,” stating, “I believe that PUC is at an inflection point where we can choose to remain good, or we can choose to envision and enact greatness, and in bold innovative moves, make the leap from good to great.”

To make this change, Knight called upon the theoretical frameworks of business authorities such as Jim Collins and Peter Senge, ultimately coming to the conclusion that, in her words, for PUC to “survive and thrive in the new century,” it needs to capitalize on assets that make it unique. For Knight, that asset is what she called the “Adventist Advantage,” a series of seven facets which she identified as specific benefits of an Adventist education. These seven aspects fall into three basic categories: spiritual strength, personal health, and communal involvement.

As might be expected, Knight placed a great deal of emphasis on the spiritual benefits of an Adventist education and the hand of the divine in PUC’s future. Her first facet was, perhaps predictably, “Having Christ as a personal savior,” which she felt provides a “sense of security and salvation [that] adds meaning and purpose to [the faculty’s] lives, to our students’ lives.” This purpose, she later discussed, is integrally entwined with the ability of an Adventist education to bestow upon the students a “moral and ethical compass.”

Regarding the personal benefits, Knight cited the health message, noting that “the world is very focused on health and wellness, and we can trumpet” the advantage that our own emphasis brings. She also pointed out the environmental health and stewardship of the earth she finds in the message of the Sabbath as yet another benefit of Adventist education, noting that as far as nature is concerned, PUC is the epitome of “Location, location, location.”

Communally, Knight vaunted Adventism’s commitment to generous service via social institutions like the Dorcas or simply neighbor to neighbor. Drawing on her previous experience in positions regarding diversity, Knight discussed the aspect of diversity. She noted that PUC is currently ranked first for ethnic diversity in its category, and affirmed that multiplicity, stating that diversity is a means of “embodying the way of the kingdom of God” by demonstrating that despite disparate origins, faith is the “glue” that keeps us together.

All of these aspects came together to form the final communal, personal, and spiritual facet, which is that of education, in which Adventist schools attempt to integrate faith and reason. While she noted that PUC is “good” in many of these ways, she also declared that “Good is the enemy of great.” It is her goal, by understanding that “Just as individuals must continue to grow and to renew themselves, so must organizations,” students at PUC might become “intentional learners, empowered through the mastery of intellectual and practical skills.”

While Knight was understandably light on specifics, given the nature of the occasion, she did make a point of insisting that her goal of helping PUC achieve greatness would involve a policy of “Not nearly maintaining the status quo,” but rather, creating, cultivating, and culminating “B-HATS: Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals.” Surmounting the challenges presented to a shifting institution, Knight maintained, requires a complete “turnaround.”

The structure of this turnaround Knight intends to bring is a simple sounding but realistically daunting three-tiered structure:

1) Restore financial health.

2) Create marketing programs and brand the revived institution.

3) Redefine the educational mission and culture.

Though her statements were broad, the intentions and inspiration behind them was brilliantly clear. A change of presidency is an indicator of change for any institution, and Knight intends to utilize the opportunities presented by a restructuring to take PUC toward more fully realizing the goals she outlined. Her speech was something between a sermon and a business presentation, invoking the communal ties she lauded while insisting on a need for a new direction.

What does this mean for the students of PUC? It is, as of yet, difficult to say. Knight certainly comes with a history of creating financial security, stability which PUC currently lacks, even with an happily surprising quantity of new freshmen. While Knight told the Weekly Calistogan over the summer that she had no comment regarding the Eco-village, it could be that part of both financial health and marketing would entail a go-ahead for Triad’s project. An emphasis on the fiscal and creating a viable market for PUC may in fact be a movement toward further outsourcing and increased importation of services and companies to the Angwin area and PUC’s means of recruiting.

As for the academics and culture, it may be even more impossible to gauge the implications of this shift. The desire to push forward presents the culture of PUC and Dr. Knight with a paradoxical quandary. Radical change inherently implies liberality and a departure from tradition, but collective change requires communal solidarity—and Adventism tends to be a community that holds tightly to its traditions. What makes this paradox perhaps even more complex when discussing PUC is that the culture of PUC has, as of late, tended to be one that prides itself on its collective liberality.

Exactly where all of this will lead is, as of now, obviously rather nebulous. With Dr. Knight at the helm, however, there will be change, it will at least initially have structure. She has her goals solidly in mind, and a plan to achieve them. We wish her the best of luck, and look forward to beginning the journey of her new presidency here at PUC.

Look for more information on Dr. Heather Knight and the beginning of her experience at PUC in later C² issues.