Monday, February 1, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 3
Two members keep sorority chapter alive
By Jamie Knodel
Kansan staff writer
Two KU students will do all the planning, calling and networking of an entire organization until Sigma Gamma Rho sorority increases its membership.
Shyra McGee, Wichita junior, and Aketia Thompson, Salina junior, are now the only KU chapter members of the national sorority.
Sigma Gamma Rho officially was reactivated Nov. 13, 1998.
"It is hard with just the two of us, but we are finding it a pleasant challenge." McGee said.
McGee and Thompson worked with chapters from Kansas State University and a Kansas City graduate chapter to bring back the KU chapter.
McGee said that it was not hard to reactivate the KU chapter, which is part of the National Pan-Hellenic Council. She said that the two received help from national and local levels.
Before November, the last time new members joined the group was in 1989. McGee said the sorority became inactive in 1992 when all of its the members graduated.
"Other than some paperwork, we just had to start showing up to meetings and say, 'Hello, we're here,' she said.
McGee said that it was important for new members to become involved with the group so it could survive.
"We are encouraging new members to join because we don't want to the chapter to go with us when we graduate." McGee said.
Adrian Franks, National Pan-Hellenic Council president and Manchester, Mo., senior, said the reactivation of this chapter was beneficial to KU students because it gave them
a wider selection of sororities.
Before Sigma Gamma Rho's reactivation, Franks said that there were only four National Pan-Hellenic Council sororities represented at the University.
McGee said that she wanted to bring back the KU chapter because of the value the national sorority placed on community service and its commitment to the chapter's motto, "greater service, greater progress."
For a chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho to remain active it must participate in two community service activities each month. McGee said.
"Students are interested in affecting their communities positively," she said. "Sigma Gamma Rho enables that."
Franks said that because there were only two members in the group, Sigma Gamma Rho members had to work harder than other National Pan-Hellenic Council organizations.
"They've done a great job getting their name out there," Franks said. "They've had to incorporate themselves with other organizations for their projects."
McGee and Thompson have planned Sigma Gamma Rho activities throughout the semester.
McGee said that they had planned for a February Black Student Social in conjunction with Black History Month and a women's leadership conference on March 18.
Sigma Gamma Rho will have an informational meeting tomorrow at 6:30 pm at Alcove A in the Kansas Union.
McGee said that the minimum requirements to join Sigma Gamma Rho included having completed 12 hours at the University of Kansas, maintaining a 2.5 grade point average and having completed community service within the last year.
E-mail accounts vulnerable to password-stealing program
By Jennifer Roush
Kansan staff writer
University of Kansas students and faculty who have e-mail accounts may be vulnerable to an electronic attack.
"There are tons of programs like that out there," he said.
The NetBus program that is available on the Internet usually is slipped into games, Waxman said.
A program called NetBus has the capability to remotely control a computer and then steal passwords from people who use that computer to check their e-mail.
Craig Paul, systems support programmer for Academic Computing Services, said that ACS was aware of NetBus and programs like it.
Mickey Waxman, statistics consultant and programmer for ACS, said that NetBus was not available commercially, but programs like it were.
Programs similar to NetBus, such as PC Anywhere and Carbon Copy, are used in the professional world for remote administration and telephone technical support.
Waxman said that students who got software of any kind from online sources should be very careful.
Paul said the best way for students to protect themselves from programs like NetBus was to practice safe computing.
"Only download trustworthy software," he said. "And don't execute programs that people e-mail to you, unless you really trust that person a lot."
Paul said that anyone who thought his or her computer might have been infected with the NetBus program should contact Academic Computing
NETBUS FACTS
NetBus is not commercially available, although it can be downloaded from the Internet
- Programs similar to NetBus, such as PC Anywhere and Carbon
Copy, are available in stores. It is not illegal to own BitTorrent
It is not illegal to own Netbus or similar programs, but it is illegal to use the programs to "hack"
NetBus and similar programs can be detected with commercially available anti virus programs — make sure you have the latest version
- Hackers put NetBus into games,
"Whack-a-Mole" has been targeted heavily.
Don't download or execute any
Services and request anti-virus soft ware.
Don't download or execute a program from a person or site you don't trust personally.
Waxman said that the University had copyrighted anti-virus software for students who requested it. It is called Command Anti-Virus Software.
"It's the eternal chase," Paul said. "A hacker writes a program that's undetectable, and then it gets onto a computer where somebody finds it. Then administrators can alter their anti-virus programs to find the program."
He said that regardless of claims that NetBus and similar programs were undetectable, network administrators eventually would catch up with hackers.
Paul said that NetBus only could operate on computers with Intel chips that run Windows 95, 98 or NT.
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