Cyberstalking: A Phenomenon with Growing Risk and Psychological Repercussion in a World that runs on the Internet

Of the 3.4 victims of stalking in the United States each year, one in four admit to being cyberstalked. In a world where the use and prevalence of technology is increasing, so is the amount and threat of Cyberstalking. There is no universally accepted definition for cyberstalking, but for this purpose it can be defined as the repeated use of some sort of technology(s) to threaten
 and/or harass an individual. For example, threatening facebook messages and frightening e-mails.
Anyone can be a Cyberstalker and anyone can be a Victim

Just as there is no one definition of cyberstalking, the same can go for cyberstalkers. Cyberstalkers can range from random individuals waiting to prey on vulnerable online strangers to corporate cyber stalkers in which companies will harass groups in hopes of some sort of financial gain. Celebrities are often hot targets of cyberstalking. Top Model Kourtney Reppert battled with a man sending her emails threatening to kill her. Actress Patricia Arquette also deleted her facebook after feeling threatened by several of the supposed “fans” adding her on Facebook.

Celebrities are not the only people being Cyberstalked. University of Maryland student, Hedeya Mizrahi, feels as though she is being cyberstalked. The bouncer of a popular College Park Bar, Terrapin’s Turf, added her on facebook and has been liking several of her pictures. Hedeya is confused as to how the bouncer even found her on facebook in the first place and now feels uncomfortable going to the bar for the chances she may run into him.

Saudi Arabian Native, Mary MacDonald also faces cyber harassment from overseas. Several of MacDonald’s neighbors were extremely jealous of her financial affluence and ability to come to America and study overseas. From the Library at Colorado University-Boulder, Mary oftentimes recieves threatening messages from her childhood friend and neighbor Malook. MacDonald does not feel physically threatened by Malook as they are “separated by an ocean,” but admits that certain messages are mentally traumatizing. Malook has sent messages saying things as disgusting and graphic as “The next time I see you I am going to cut off your boobs.” When asked if she does anything about these messages she simply shrugs and says no. She has tried reporting them on Facebook in the past, but nothing ever happens. Her reasoning for not doing anything is because she does not think it will go anywhere and she would prefer to have it affect her life as little as possible.

Just one Cyberstalker can lead to a lifetime of Repercussions

Gail Chmela a student at Loyola University Maryland has been the victim of a Cyberstalker for just over three years. The stalking all stemmed from a harmless facebook friend request in 2012, Chmela’s junior year of high school. The add came from a girl who attended Chmela’s rival high school in the same town. The two had several mutual friends, were the same age, and lived in the same town, thus, she felt no real threat in accepting the friend request. Following multiple facebook messages and other attempts at cyber interaction, Gail began to feel uncomfortable about this entire situation. She still felt no real threat because the girl was a high school student just like herself. Three years and several attempts at filing a restraining order later, Gail Chmela is still being cyberstalked by the same young woman. Chmela has since been forced to delete her facebook and can only send emails through certain secure servers. Gail’s parents have tried bringing this case to court but there is not enough evidence and support on her side to create any type of strong defence. Gail’s best friend and boyfriend now constantly receive messages from the girl asking questions about Gail from several and her facebook’s aliases.    

The Aftermath of Cyberstalking can be more detrimental than the Stalking Itself and result in seriously psychological trauma

It is very likely that a cyberstalker will never come into personal contact with their victims. Although this sounds like good news, the aftermath of cyberstalking can be extremely detrimental to a person’s success in the future. Cyberstalking has effects on mental and physical health, work, school, and a person’s social life.

Common effects on physical health include fatigue, sexual dysfunction, and very commonly and increase in drug and alcohol intake which can result in even worse health issues. Victims of cyberstalking can develop post-traumatic stress disorders and often times will blame themselves and feel guilty and embarrassed about what happened. Victims also tend to notice a drop in their grades or even drop out of school. It is extremely difficult for victims to trust people after traumatic events like this therefore, they find it very difficult to make new friends and find romantic partners. This trauma also sometimes results in loosing life-long friendships.

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Preventing Cyberstalking can be as Easy as Not Sharing Personal Information on the Web

Do NOT share personal information on the internet. We are all eager to share what fancy restaurant were eating at for our friends birthday and post pictures from the party we went to the other night, but is it really worth it? Sharing your location on any social media, even if you have private settings, is basically asking to be found by a stalker. A Facebook status or Tweet that reveals that you are home alone or lost makes you vulnerable to all the wrong people. The easiest way to prevent a cyber stalker is to simply keep private information private. Private information includes your whereabouts, who you are with, and what you are doing.

Amidst the danger in making a social life public, people are still incredibly tempted by it. In todays society you can make someone think you are cool simply by posting all the wonderful activities you are participating in on Facebook and Instagram. This interesting phenomenon perplexes many, yet the teenage and young adult population thrive from it.

If the threat of cyber stalking is not deterring from your desire to post your life on the web, there a few key pieces of information that should be kept private, even if it lead to the demize of your social life.

A home address should never be revealed. Whether its because you are inviting people to a party or hosting a fundraiser at your home, your address should never be open to the public. Spread awareness of your address by sending private messages to only those invited or attending. Bottom line, the less people that have the exact coordinates to find you, the better.

Cyber Stalking is a Criminal Offense in the United States of America.

If someone is convicted of Cyber Stalking, their punishment can range from a restraining order, to probation, to jail time. There is a lack of interest in cyber crime in the United States, leaving many of its cases to be dealt with by state legislation. While some states have specific laws pertaining to cyber stalking, several state’s have broad laws that could potentially include cyber stalking. Because of the large breadth of these laws and openness, if cyber stalkers find the right lawyers it is easy for them to find loop holes within the laws and never be convicted.

Chmela’s family has tried to bring her stalker Karmijit to court several times, but simply can not get the case to trial because she has found out every way to maintain her innocence within the law. Chmela is just one of the many people who go through life without having their Cyberstalker put to justice.

Because of this, organizations such a WHOA (Working to Halt Online Abuse,) are working hard to promote the need for tougher legislation against cyber stalking. Members of WHOA do not only lobby their beliefs in Washington DC, they also travel around educating lawyers and judges on what exactly cyber stalking is and how serious of a crime it is. Volunteers do this in hopes of minimizing the growth of cyberstalking as well as help victims learn how to cope and move on from the traumatic experience, which is believed to be much easier with the knowledge the perpetrator is not only paying for what they did, but knowing they do not have the ability to do it again.

This problem is exactly why Mary MacDonald does nothing about Malook in Saudia Arabia. Trying to make the harassment into a court case would wind up in an international scandal. The money, time, and stress of all this is scarier to MacDonald than the disgusting, graphic messages she receives pretty regularly.

If you are being harassed, tell the stalker to STOP.

If you are a victim of cyberstalking, do not hide or be afraid to seek help.The first thing one should do when being harassed by someone online is to very clearly tell them to stop. Should one need to prove their unwillingness to engage in what the stalker was trying to do their needs to be concrete evidence.

Everything should be saved. Save all pictures, e-mails, text messages, voicemails. Whatever the stalker is sending you can be used against them. Sometimes deleting a message seems like the easiest way to cope with it, but it is important that all this be saved.
Not all cases of cyber stalking are worth the cost of lawyers and the court. The main goal is that the harasser stops trying to contact you. Find satisfaction in knowing that you are no longer a victim rather and focus on your well being prior to the incident rather than wasting energy on what is happening to the perpetrator.

Never be nervous or afraid to seek help. You are not alone and there are people not only willing but glad to help, no matter the situation.

Quiz 11 Question 1

Quiz 11 Question 2

Quiz 11

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Practice Interview

Scientist Vedran Lekic Uses $875,000.00 Grant to Research Our Earth's Inner Structure

In recognition of his efforts to integrate computer science and geological studies, Lekic joined the ranks of 17 other early career U.S. scientists and engineers who were awarded a Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering last week. Lekic is now one of five alumni faculty members who have received the award while at this university, and he will be given access to unrestricted funds of $875,000 over a five-year period to support his extensive research on Earth’s inner structure.

As a doctoral student at the University of California, Berkley, Lekic formulated higher-resolution images of the Earth’s mantle structure, stemming from his creation of a global seismic velocity model. Not only is the model able to give geologists a better understanding of plate tectonics, but it also helps explain the movement of continental plates and their evolution, Lekic said.

Lekic Explains His Work With Ground Vibrations and Seismic Waves

Now that a large fund has been granted to his work, he hopes to spend more time plotting the seismic information in graphs and models so that he may better understand the Earth, Lekic said. Nearly 2 million data lines fill the screen of Vedran Lekic’s computer every day, each representing seismic waves that are detected from of the more than 1,700 seismic stations around the U.S. Lekic’s research is based on ground vibration recordings, which he and his students use to detect the scattering of seismic waves across the North American tectonic plate. 

In conjunction with the National Science Foundation’s EarthScope Facility network, the data is collected from the 49 states and Puerto Rico and makes up about 3.8 million square miles, Lekic said. Lekic has already used the seismic information to investigate why and how the crust moves over the Earth’s mantle. 

The Pioneers of Neutrino Geoscience

As of now, the deepest any machine has been able to dig was about 12 kilometers into the Earth’s crust, a minuscle fracture of the roughly 6,730 kilometers it takes to get to the Earth’s core. Using the seismic information helps geologists see the shapes and sizes of the Earth’s layers. Other than his seismology research contributions, Lekic is also a forerunner in the new geological field of neutrino geoscience. 

“We are both interested in the energy that moves the tectonic plates and creates the magnetic shield around the planet,” geology professor William McDonough said. Neutrinos are a type of electrically neutral subatomic particle that are created during radioactive decay or some kinds of nuclear reactions. The particle, which was only discovered geologically in 2005 and physically detected for the first time last year, moves through every kind of object, McDonough said. 

An Attempt to Create an "Ultrasound" of the World

“What we do is comparable to how an ultrasound let’s us see through our bodies,” Lekic said. “But this lets us see through the Earth.” 

Lekic and McDonough are attempting to harness that energy to create another way to build a model of the Earth. From this data, Lekic is creating a map that will not only cover all 48 contiguous states, Alaska and Puerto Rico, but also dive deep into the Earth’s crust and core. 

“EarthScope is kind of like our Apollo mission, but not as costly,” Lekic said “The great thing about this fellowship is its flexibility to go chase a really good idea to wherever it leads,” said Orr, a Stanford University professor. “It is an incredibly valuable fund and gives the researchers an opportunity to take off with a good idea instead of waiting a year or more for federal money.” 

Lekic has received several other early career awards besides the Packard Fellowship.

It Is Time To Start Considering Job Opportunities Post-Graduation When Picking a College Major, And Engineering Should Be At The Top Of Everyone's List

Pick a Major Based on Job Opportunity AND Interest
Picking a college major can be an extremely difficult decision. One's college major is like their own personal key that will open certain doors to the rest of a students life. This key can open doors that lead to success or failure, financial stability or struggle. The best part about it is that every person gets to pick their own-- which also may be the worst part about it. How can a student make such a life-impacting decision as a teenager? Yes, it is possible to change majors, but a decision like this can be extremely expensive and time consuming. It is very common for students to choose a major because the field seems interesting, but that should not be the primary factor in considering majors. Over forty percent of college graduates simply cannot find jobs. Much of this struggle is due to the fact that there are simply not enough job slots open for everyone coming out of college. However, there are several specialized majors a new college student can explore that would give them a greater chance at finding a job and and finding financial success. The decision to major in these specialized fields is a hard one to make considering most of these paths have to do with engineering, the difficulty and workload is significantly higher than most popular college Majors.
Take the University of Maryland for example. Biology was the most popular major of the 2013 graduating class. Biology majors can acquire a wide array of jobs from being an allergist to a zoologist. This major ranks as one of the lowest-waging majors because though it may not be difficult to find a job, finding a full-time job with a decent salary can be extremely difficult. Criminology is the University of Maryland's second most popular major, a major also notorious for not having such a broad job horizon post graduation.

Majoring in Economics Guarantees a Higher Starting Salary
Psychology, Economics, and Political Science, are also extremely popular major choices for students graduating from the University of Maryland. Students who specialize in these fields of study statistically have a much brighter future ahead of them post graduation. All three of these degrees fall under the list of top ten majors that result in job offers. Just over sixty percent of Economics majors receive at least one job offer prior to graduation, with a starting salary of about fifty thousand dollars. That is just about five thousand dollars over the average starting salary for college graduates. 

Engineering Majors have the most to be Optimistic About 

Many of the highest paying jobs can be found in the field of engineering. This is mainly due to the amount of brain power and skill needed to complete tasks and make progress in the world of engineering. This surplus of money in the field of engineering can also be attributed to its lack of popularity. Most people who know people majoring in Physics find the work load, difficulty, and stress unappealing. Yes, college is four years of a blossoming social life and partying, but if one was willing to give some of that up to take on some extra homework, the benefits are well worth it.
The average starting salary for recent graduates seeking jobs is just about one hundred thousand dollars per year. Being able to reach this point of financial stability so early in one's career is extremely comforting, especially when living in a world where having a degree does not necessarily mean having a good job.