Student Spotlight

Arielle Parker, Marketing Intern

We are excited to announce Nick Guelda as our Student Spotlight of the Month!

Name: Nicholas Guelda

Major: Mechanical Engineering

What Is A Peer Educator: A peer educator is someone who works closely with Academic Prep Program instructors to develop course syllabi, create innovative assignments, provide course instruction and facilitation, and work with students both one-on-one and in small groups.

Hometown: Louisville, KY

Clubs/ Extra Curricular: Pi Tau Sigma Honors Society

Hobbies: Painting and Cooking

Favorite Food: Greasy cheeseburger

Music: Bluegrass/folk

Favorite Movie: Anchorman

Pet: None

Favorite Restaurant: Ramsey’s

Color: Blue

Holiday: Christmas

Best Place Traveled To: Chicago

What Would You Do If You Had A Million Dollars: Buy a yacht?

Why UK: Beautiful campus and close to home

Favorite Class At UK: Thermodynamics

Favorite Place To Study: The quiet study in Young Library

Favorite Teacher: Dr. Poole

Advice To Others At UK: “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” –Albert 

Einstein

Life After College: Hopefully moving to a big city and working as an engineer.

Why Does He Like Working As A Peer Educator: I love to have one-on-one interaction with students every week.  We are able to get to know each student, which is unique. 

While You're Away: Keep Your Home Safe and Running Smoothly Over Breaks

Alex Newby, Marketing Intern

Nicole Brown, Marketing Intern

As the semester winds to a close and students head home for the holidays, many leave their houses or apartment unattended for long periods of time, putting their house in danger. Not only are houses more likely to be broken into when they appear empty, but the possibilities of winter weather and general upkeep issues put homes at risk.

Officer Alan Saylor of the University of Kentucky Police Department (UKPD) said that houses on or near campus might even be at more risk during the holidays than other homes in Lexington.  “Students leave at a certain time and they return at a certain time over Christmas Break and people that are looking to break into homes or steal things know that your house is going to be empty” said Saylor. It’s very timely and very predictable,”

Even if you are in town over the holidays, take extra precautions. Just because you’re home doesn’t mean something can’t happen while you’re away during the afternoon.

To help keep your house safe from intruders and other dangers this holiday break, we’ve compiled a list of ways to help look out for your home and belongings while you’re gone!

• Take everything home that you wouldn’t be able to replace. Grandma’s antique pearls, the watch your dad gave you, or any of the other things that have sentimental value and would be hard to replace shouldn’t be left alone.
• If you’ll only be gone for a few nights, leave a TV flickering near a window. If you’ll be gone the entire break, buy some light timers to turn your lights on and off occasionally. Either option will help make it look like someone from your house is coming and going. Don’t leave easy-to-steal things out: cash, iPods, laptops, jars full of coins, anything that would be easy to grab and go with should be hidden or taken home.
• Consider purchasing renter’s insurance or checking with your parents to see if your apartment/house and the belongings in it are covered under their plan.
• Don’t publicize or post on Facebook or Twitter when you’re leaving or when you’ll be returning. Even though your page might be private, there are still people that could take advantage of that information.
• Stop your mail and newspaper delivery. An overflowing mailbox shows that someone hasn’t been home for a few days.
• Double check that you’ve locked all the windows and doors and taken any spare keys inside.
• Hide your ride by bringing in your bike or parking your car off the street.

If you suspect a problem or notice any suspicious activity, call the Lexington Police Department at 859) 258-3600 or UKPD at #UKPD (8573), free from any cell phone.

Another part of protecting your home while you’re away is keeping it running smoothly. Proper planning and cleaning will keep your house in better shape and help keep the bills down. Try these tips:

• Leave the heat on! Set your thermostat to no lower than 60 degrees to keep the pipes from freezing.
• Rid your pantry and fridge of any perishables that would expire while you are gone.
• Take out any trash and recycling.
• Make sure to remove any clothing from the washer and dryer.
• Insulate doors and windows to keep the potential cold out. An easy way to do this is to roll up a towel and place it along the seam.
• Unplug any appliances to save energy.

In the Clouds: What Information Storage is All About

Eric Weinberg, PhD., Academic Tecnology Coordinator 

Five years ago, when someone began talking about clouds we assumed they were talking about the weather. This is no longer the case. Often, when people talk about clouds today they are referring to the practice of storing information off-site on a distant computer. Whether it is pictures, email, documents or music, our personal files increasingly exist somewhere else.   It may seem like an abstract concept, but many of use the cloud whether we know it or not. Some of the most ubiquities cloud storage services are Apple’s iCloud, Google Documents and Dropbox, but others exist. Both Amazon and Facebook are integrating cloud storage into their services. Simply upload a photo or email an attachment and you are in the cloud. In all cases, we are storing personal information on computers that are owned by these companies.

What does this mean?  First, our documents are not being stored in some mythical land in the sky. They reside in giant data-centers located in temperate climates, and many are run by self-sustaining power systems.  Inside these centers, there are thousands of racks of computers and giant fans that are constantly recycling the air.  These centers are tremendously efficient, and help reduce global energy usage. Most of these places are extremely secure, and have disaster contingency plans.  These are all positives. Another benefit is that we can access our information no matter where we are.  This means I can get my photos on my phone, tablet, or on my friends laptop. Another advantage is that backing up to the cloud is often seamless. Once you setup the cloud, your documents are automatically uploaded when you have an internet connection.

Besides these positives, there are also drawbacks to storing our lives in locations far away. First, our data is subject to seizure request by federal authorities, and companies can be forced to comply with requests.  Second, we are constantly using network bandwidth when viewing and editing documents.  Although this is not a major problem for most of us, as we use the internet for more and more services, cloud storage may affect such things as TV and telephone.   It is also forcing cell phone companies to increase their bandwidth and costs of cell phone contracts.  Moreover, large video files are still too large for cloud storage.

Consumers’ most significant worry is security.   Data security has always been a concern of consumers.   This is the reason why many of us have passwords on our computers.  We have, however, usually been comforted by the physical security of our front doors.    Cloud computing complicates this.   Although data-centers are secure, they rely on passwords and encryption for access and our information travels across the internet quite frequently.

The drawbacks of this system were made very public a few months back when technology blogger Matt Honan’s personal files were erased from Apple’s iCloud by hackers. Gone were a year of his personal photos and many other files.  Most disturbingly, the hack was accomplished through simple deduction. The hackers used the users’ personal information to reset account passwords and then logged in and deleted the blogger’s accounts.  This is no longer possible.   The applicable companies have since tightened their security and there have been no such incidents since. Still, hackers are always searching for a way to circumvent security.

What does this mean for us? Most importantly, do not use cloud storage as the only location you store important personal files. Back up documents occasionally to a home computer or external hard drive.  If you are really paranoid, you can also put this hard drive in a fireproof safe. Secondly, do not use easy-to-guess passwords.  Hackers have programs that are good guessers so do not give them an easy way in. Also use different passwords for your accounts. Don’t let someone into all of your accounts by guessing one password. In short, use the cloud, but stay grounded.