Opinion 5 Elliott Mallen: The truth
behind the ubiquitous Nalgene
Arts 9 Happily ever after: The
Daily sizes up "Shrek 2" One-hundred-thirteen years ofeditorilfreedom
Monday, May 24, 2004
Summer Weekly
www.michigandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan m Vol. CXIII, No. 143 @2004 The Michigan Daily
Lirhtning strikes twice
Student reports glitch in
Wolverine Access to 'U'
By Ashley Ding".
Daily News Editor
When LSA junior Jon Oberheide used Wolver-
ine Access to view his fall class schedule May 16,
he wasn't expecting to stumble across the Univer-
sity's official student record database.
Inside the database, Oberheide, a Computer
Science major, searched for his name and was
able to access personal information including his
social security number, University identification
number and address.
After discovering the glitch in the system,
Oberheide said he contacted an
Electrical Engineering and "It took a
Computer Science professor
and the Michigan Engineering CliCkS ani
Software and Hardware student
group for support. secret co
"When I contacted them I
didn't tell them how to get to
it," Oberheide said.
"It's just crazy because it was-
n't hard to get to at all. It took about five clicks and
required no secret code at all,"he added.
After discussing the incident with the MESH
group, he contacted the University's Information
Technology Central Services, who corrected the
problem in less than 24 hours. But on Thursday,
the Office of the Registrar sent a campus-wide e-
mail in which it reported that the information
may have been accessible since Feb. 9, when the
new Wolverine Access interface was launched.
"We want to emphasize, of course, that we
don't think anyone besides the individual who
notified us of the vulnerability has accessed this
data inappropriately. We were doing what we
tb
d
thought was the responsible thing by sending the
message," said Linda Green, communications
coordinator for Michigan Administrative Infor-
mation Services.
Although Oberheide easily accessed the infor-
mation, he said he did not use prior computer
knowledge to obtain entry to the database. Uni-
versity spokeswoman Julie Peterson said because
of the difficulty in finding the database, it is
unlikely it was accessed in an inappropriate way.
"First of all, this was not a space on the web
where anyone anywhere in the globe could get
to. You have to be an authorized user of Wolver-
ine Access, so that right
bOut five there narrows it down to
students and some staff
required no who can get into it,"
le atall Peterson said.
Peterson added that the
--Jon Oberheide student used the Safari
LSA junior web browser for Macin-
tosh operating systems
whereas most students
use Internet Explorer and would not be able to
gain access through Internet Explorer.
Although the database contains other sensitive
information such as transcripts, Peterson said the
University is confident that these records were
not harmed.
"This vulnerability did not allow anybody to
change or alter records. We're quite certain
that no records were changed or altered in any
way," she said.
In addition to all current students and all
incoming freshmen whose personal informa-
tion could have been accessed, a number of
See GLITCH, Page 2
Lightning strikes above Burton Tower early Friday morning. Thunderstorms were coupled with
tornado warnings in Washtenaw County throughout the late night and early morning hours. By
Friday night, winds reached 95 m.p.h.
LGBT groups hold intefaith
conference on homosexuality
By Shreya Sengupta
*For the Daily
Dickens wrote, "It was the best of times, it was
the worst of times."
Kay Whitlock, a lesbian activist and author,
likened the quote to the condition of lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender rights in
today's society during her opening speech at
this weekend's "Together in Faith: Journey
into Inclusiveness" conference.
"We are teetering on a sharp, thin edge
between catastrophe and a beautiful out-
come," Whitlock said.
The conference, held on Eastern Michigan
University's campus, was the first interfaith and
multiracial event concerning LGBT rights and
issues held in Michigan.
"This conference will be a venue for dis-
cussing the intersections of multi-oppressions,
such as racism and sexism. It will bring forth
multiple issues concerning the LGBT commu-
nity and our society," said Michael Gibson-
Faith, who coordinated the event.
The two-day conference began with a multi-
faith service on Friday and continued with a
series of workshops and speeches on Saturday.
Active members of the LGBT community,
including Christian minister Mel White, Hindu
See LGBT, Page 2