To our Readers: The campus will be closed SJSU CHORALIERS Monday in observance of Labor Day. Heard around the world The Spartan Daily will publish its next issue NEWS 3 on Wednesday. SERVING SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1934 SPART N DAILY VOLUME 121, NUMBER 3 VVWW THESPARTANDAILY COM FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 2003 Hard time makes for hard seats Engineering Some SJSUfurnsture made Some students don't mind the origin programs of their classroom furniture. in correctionalfacilittes "I don't have a problem with that. People are working on their own. It gives them something to do," said Athar By laShong King Haviz, a senior digital media major. rank top 10 Daily Staff Writer "As long as there isn't cocaine hidden in the chairs, I have no objection," said As students ease into their desks, Laura Ackerman, a senior creative arts most are unaware of what is some- major. in West times stamped under the seat: However, Terry Christensen, a profes- "Correctional Industries, Folsom." sor in political science, had some reser- By Wendy Lopez Because it is in the correctional facilities vations. of California that much of the campus' "I would prefer that the furniture Were Daily Senior Staff Writer furniture is made. made by well-paid skilled workers who "They are? Really?" said Leizl Joy had some piord of a career in what U.S. News and World Report Pagtaconan, a freshman majoring in they're doing, Christensen said. "I'd ranked San Jose State University's business and advertising. rather it come from good union manu- computer engineering program sec- Shane Caberto said he had no,s, prob lems facturers rather than sort of, well, what is ond in the nation among public believing the chairs in the r rooms this, slave labor?" schools in the West. were produced in a correctional facility. Other issues with the prison industry In individual rankings, SJSU's "They were really poorly made and program involve its high cost. industrial and manufacturing pro- uncomfortable," Caberto said. "It's not like we're getting the best gram tied for fifth place with Cal Poly California penal code 2807 has since price, but we have to follow policy" Pomona, University of Michigan and 1983 required state facilities and agen- Hood said. University of Wisconsin, according to cies universities included to buy their VVith diminishing budgets throughout the survey. goods from prison California, the uni- "These rankings are indicative that industries before get- versities are still we're doing good," said Professor ting them from the required to pur- Sigurd Meldal, chairperson of the private sector. "I'd rather it come chase from the department of computer engineering. Almost everything prison authority, Departmental schools were ranked purchased on cam- from good union even though they based on the responses that depart- pus, from janitorial might be able to ment deans and senior professors gave supplies to furniture, get a better deal in a questionnaire asking computer comes from prison manufacturers rather from private sell- programming information, Meldal industry factories ers elsewhere. said. across California, than sort of well, "They're more Meldal said that while Cal Poly San according to expensive than Luis Obispo ranked first, each cam- Procurement what is this, any vendors we pus has its own atmosphere. Services buyer can use, but price At SJSU, a large majority of stu- Roxanne Hood. is not an issue dents are part-time attendees who "We have a lot of slave labor?" here. It doesn't work while attending dasses to sup- furniture vendors get to be art issue," port their families and to pay for who call up and say Terry Christensen, Hood said school and still try to "make ends 'we want to provide SJSU political science "We try to keep meet," Meldal said. furniture for you.' I them competitive, The dual lifestyle that SJSU stu- have to tell them we professor but there are a dents bring to campus is part of the have to go to PIA number of factors commuting environment, he said. (Prison Industry involved when Mustangs, on the other hand, view Authority) first," Hood said. you have inmates working in a pro- themselves as students taking on a "The dorm room furnishings, the gram," Losco said in response to the full-time job, Meldal said. beds, the desks, the chairs, the drawers, price issue. "There are a lot of security Professors at the school try to teach that all PIA furniture," Hood said. factors involved that raise the cost of matriculated SJSU students that The Prison Industry Authority is a doing business." attending college is like working at a state agency that provides work for Still, Losco believes the program will job. inmates in various service, manufactur- pay for itself in the long run. Many engineering students, similar ing and agricultural industries through- "It's one of the sought-after jobs in the to that of students across campus, out California, according to Frank prison. It tends to pay better, and it come from families with little college Losco, chief of public affairs at the tends to build a little self-esteem. It education, Meldal said. Those attend- Prison Industry Authority. gives them an opportunity to help them- ing Cal Poly come from a line of fam- "We make a variety of different prod- selves," Losco said. ilies who have educational back- ucts, including clothing, furnishings, "It helps reduce violence because grounds, he said. detergent, flags," Losco said. inmates are busy working. They also Overall, the College of Engineering And, of course, license plates. reimburse victims of crime and pay a ranked 11th, according to U.S. News The Prison Industry Authority is part small wage," Losco said. and World Report. In this category, Photos by Autumn Cruz / Daily Staff Rose-Hulman Institute of t; of the department of corrections, but Losco later said "would you prefer an Above. A student walks in Sweeny they operate like a business, Losco said. inmate come out of prison without any Technology in Indiana, Harvey Hall Thursday, past a chair that was They do not receive state appropriations skills or an opportunity to work, or have Mudd College in Claremont, Calif made by California prison inmates. and have to make enough money to pay him come out with the hope of getting a and Cooper Union in New York placed first, second and third respec- Many San Jose State University chairs for themselves. job, and be gainfully employed and be a A "We try to make a small profit to part of society?" tively. and desks were made at correctional the organization going. We have to sell, Despite the politics, most students Deepa Vinaik, a general engineering facilities. and we can only sell to the state govern- would just like something better to sit on graduate student, said she likes the Goolia,liONAL ment and government organizations," than the hard wooden chairs that inhab- amount of flexibility in creating a Left: Under many of San Jose State I -risco said. it the classrooms of buildings on campus. master's program that covers a variety NOtISTnir%.Fason University's chairs a stamp or label Losco said the money made by the if they could make more comfortable of engineering subjects. "I can make my own program.. and can be found showing that they were is a good way of recycling funds ones there, I'd be fine with it," said sen- f7icfag, the crate. ior marketing major n,lre.i Vemerova. I can choose my own subjects," made in California State correctional Vinailt said. 0 facilities. The Silicon Valley and hands-on training has helped the school earn its current standing, Meldal said. Guest speakers from the valley have brought their knowledge and course teachings about industry to the school, he said. Sobig.F virus sends waves of bogus e-mails Tsega Gebreyonas, a computer engineering graduate student, said By Janine Stanhope services for SJSU, said the security They are still receiving waves of e- addresses to "spoof" the receiver and invaded, it is damaging when users that working in the high-tech indus- try to use their own filtering feature Daily Senior Staff Writer filter for the recent version of the mail messages as the virus kicks in propagate with infected, bogus try for the past five years has helped virus that attacked their IBM Lotus after the attachments are opened, attachments having names such as to stop the e-mail messages without him gain the needed skills to com- Notes e-mail system worked well. sending more return messages to "Wicked Screensaver" or "My also blocking their own domain or plete a master's program. The worldwide Sobig.F virus "The Sobig.F virus has been beat- unsuspecting victims. Detail" in the subject line. the domain of someone they do not "This is the best place to be," attacked San Jose State University's ing on us," Neal said. "It hasn't hurt "We ve recorded 17,000 incidents "It's ugly. Especially the first week want to delete. Gebreyonas said. "If you're interested campus computing e-mail system us that bad because of our filters and for Sobig.F since the virus of school," Kosak said. "This is a "If you delete a domain name, it in doing design, this is the best place." last week without any serious prob- virus protection." appeared," Neal said Wednesday. virus you can't block with an might help in eliminating spam," she Gebreyonas said that while engi- lems, but some colleges within the Neal said SJSU provides a cam- "That's about 5,000 times a day." antivirus protection on your comput- said advising caution.