News in Brief
Penn State Intercom......January 17, 2002

'Knowledge' looks at identity theft

Identity theft will be the topic of the next edition of "To the Best of My Knowledge," President Graham B. Spanier's monthly call-in show airing at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 22, on WPSU-FM and WPSX-TV.

Joining Spanier will be Cathy Bowen, a consumer issues specialist at the University, and Kathleen Kimball, director of computer and network security for the University. Participating by phone from California will be attorney Mari Frank, author of Victim to Victor and developer of The Identity-Theft Survival Kit.

Listeners with questions or comments are encouraged to call (800) 543-8242 during the one-hour broadcast. Internet users worldwide will be able to link to sound and pictures from the program at http://www.wpsu.psu.edu/ttbomk/; and they will be able to contact the president during the program via e-mail to response@psu.edu.

Open house

University Libraries' Open House/Orientation will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 23, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Jan. 24 and 25, at the entrances to Pattee and Paterno Libraries on the University Park campus.

For information, call (814) 865-9257 or check the Web at http://www.libraries.psu.edu/crsweb/instruction/ip/open_house.htm.

Achieving Women
nominations sought

The Commission for Women is seeking to recognize women who have achieved and excelled at Penn State and in their communities. Women selected for the award will be honored at the Commission for Women's annual banquet on March 18 at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel on the University Park campus.

The commission is asking for nominations of achieving women from the following categories: faculty; staff (exempt and nonexempt); administrative; technical service; locations outside University Park; and students, both graduate and undergraduate.

Nominations should be submitted to: Annemarie Mountz, co-chair, Outreach Committee, Achieving Women of Penn State nominations, 312 Old Main, University Park, PA 16802. For information, e-mail AMountz@psu.edu. For a nomination form, call the commission office at (814) 865-1683 or visit the Web at http://www.lions.psu.edu/cfw/. Award criteria and more information are available at the site. Submissions are due no later than Feb. 18.

Doctoral Support Award Competition

The eBusiness Research Center is seeking applications for its second annual e-Business Doctoral Support Award Competition.

Up to three candidates in accredited doctoral programs will receive dissertation support awards totaling $25,000.

Doctoral candidates should submit an abstract of their research not to exceed five double-spaced pages, along with a current vita and a vita of their dissertation adviser no later than March 15. The abstract should address the potential importance of their work to e-business, its theoretical contributions, the research methodology, and the amount and kind of support requested.

Proposals will be judged by an academic panel consisting of representatives of the eBRC and qualified faculty members from Penn State and other universities. Finalists will be notified by April 10.

For information, call Arvind Rangaswamy at (814) 865-1907 or e-mail
arvindr@psu.edu. More information is online at http://www.ebrc.psu.edu.

Library access seminars

One-hour introductory seminars on LIAS, the Library Information Access System, including the Libraries' online catalog are scheduled through March 25. These sessions teach how to access books, magazines, government documents and other materials; how to use LIAS from home; and more.

Seminars will be held in Gateway Commons Instructional Lab, 104 Pattee Library, University Park. Registration is required. Call (814) 865-9257 or e-mail signup@psulias.psu.edu.

Times for all seminars vary. Check http://www.libraries.psu.edu/crsweb/instruction/ip/LIAS_seminars.htm for a complete listing.

Nomination deadline extended

The due date for many of the nomination forms for the 2002 Alumni Recognition Awards has been extended until April 30.

The Awards Committee of Alumni Council decided that since the awards are not presented until the fall, and to better accommodate entries for the Outstanding National Service Week award, the original Feb. 1 date should be extended. Awards include: Volunteer of the Year Award, Recent Alumnus/Alumna Award and the Philip Philip Mitchell Alumni Service Award.

The date for all affiliate group award nominations also has been extended through April 30. Awards include: Chapter Achievement Awards, Alumni Achievement Society Awards, Affiliate Program Group Achievement Award, Alumni Interest Group Achievement Award, P.R.I.D.E. Achievement Award and the Outstanding National Service Week Project Award.

For information, call (800) 548-5466, option 4, e-mail alumni_recognition@psu.edu or visit http://www.alumni.psu.edu/awards.

Information from CAC

-- Kerberos recommended for Eudora users

The Center for Academic Computing (CAC) strongly recommends that those who use the Eudora e-mail client on either a Windows or Macintosh platform use Kerberos to safeguard their Penn State Access Account userid and password. The Kerberos network authentication protocol, developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, uses strong cryptography to make it possible for a client to prove its identity to a server (and vice versa) across an insecure network connection.

After a client and server have used Kerberos to confirm their identities, they also can encrypt all of their communications to ensure privacy and security.

Individuals can obtain a Kerberos plug-in for Eudora e-mail via the CACPAC CD, a collection of free software for faculty, staff, and students.

For information on CACPAC and Kerberos, check the CAC Internet Access Guide on the Web at http://cac.psu.edu/internet/ and click on the Software: CACPAC link. Information on this topic also is available in the article, "CAC Initiates Security Measures for Password Protection" at http://cac.psu.edu/news/securitymeasure.html.

-- Access Account storage space available

The Center for Academic Computing (CAC) now provides all Access Account holders with Penn State Access Account Storage Space (PASS) when they activate a Penn State Electronic Mail (e-mail) account, set up a Personal Web space account or enroll in a course that uses the CAC UNIX Cluster Lab computers.

Account holders will receive 50 Megabytes of file space for free. Although many account services are free, some require a nominal fee. More information about accounts, allocations and fees can be found via the CAC Computer Accounts Web site at http://cac.psu.edu/accounts/.

The PASS Gateway allows computer users to quickly access and copy files to their PASS without an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) client. For more information, see https://www.work.psu.edu/pass/ and http://cac.psu.edu/ait/storagespace.html on the Web.

Conflict of interest

The bylaws of the University Board of Trustees require that the following be published at least once annually:

Disclosure of potential conflict of interest by employees of the University: Employees of the University shall exercise the utmost good faith in all transactions touching upon their duties to the University and its property. In their dealings with and on behalf of the University, they shall be held to a strict rule of honest and fair dealings between themselves and the University. They shall not use their positions, or knowledge gained therefrom, in such a way that a conflict of interest might arise between the interest of the University and that of the individual. Employees shall disclose to the administrative head of the college or other unit in which they are employed, or other appropriate superior officer, any potential conflict of interest of which they are aware before a contract or transaction is consummated.

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