UCLA students, staff reverify initial mixed response to multifactor authentication

Some students and faculty said they think multifactor authentication is still an inconvenience a year after its implementation, while others said they appreciate the extra security it has provided.

Multifactor authentication requires students and faculty who are logging into their UCLA accounts on websites such as MyUCLA to provide two forms of identification. All students were required to enroll in multifactor authentication April 2018 following a major cyberattack on a UCLA administration server.

UCLA Information Technology Services representatives said they understand multifactor authentication is inconvenient but that they think the security it provides outweighs the costs.

David Shaw, the interim director of the UCLA IT Services’ information security office, said in an email statement that multifactor authentication is necessary to protect students’ data.

“Prior to multifactor authentication solutions, passwords were the most common protection for access to systems,” Shaw said. “Over the years, hackers have developed sophisticated tools which are capable of guessing most passwords up to 15 characters in length within a matter of days.”

Junghoo Cho, a professor of computer science, said he thinks multifactor authentication is necessary but that most schools that use it only require their students provide secondary identification to log into their accounts about once a month. UCLA students have to use multifactor authentication several times per day or every time they log in.

“I don’t know why UCLA decided to deviate from the norm that most of the other services and other universities use, which is allowing us to designate a machine for us, as a trusted machine, so we have to (reverify) once a month as opposed to several times a day,” Cho said.

He said other universities, including Harvard University, Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have also implemented multifactor authentication, but they allow students to designate trusted devices to cut down on the number of times they have to use it.

Cho said the inconvenience of the current multifactor authentication system deters students and faculty from using MyUCLA regularly, which he said defeats the purpose of the added security.

“Because it’s so difficult to use any of these UCLA services, I tend to not use them,” Cho said. “That is not good for anyone, actually.”

Students had differing views about multifactor authentication. Some said the security it offers makes the extra time it takes worthwhile.

Ellen Si, a first-year biochemistry student, said she thinks multifactor authentication ensures account safety and that the Duo Mobile app makes the login requirement more convenient.

“It makes people aware that you are supposed to be taking steps toward safety since most people don’t change their passwords for a very long time,” she said. “I haven’t for a few years.”

Ben Negose, a fourth-year environmental science student, said he had heard about other large hacks in recent years, so he appreciates the reasoning behind the administration’s implementation of multifactor authentication.

“I see the the purpose for multifactor,” he said. “Also, I know Apple has a similar service they offer if one requests to do it, so I’ve been doing it on there as well.”

Negose said his Duo Mobile app has generally worked smoothly but added he has had trouble reverifying his account on a new phone.

Other students said multifactor authentication is often an annoyance.

Manvel Yelanyan, a first-year chemical engineering student, said his app occasionally malfunctions, forcing him to restart his phone.

Yelanyan said he liked the extra level of security provided by multifactor authentication, but that he finds it inconvenient to have to reverify his identity every time he logs into MyUCLA on a different device.

“If you want to check something really quick on your phone, I want to be quick,” Yelanyan said. “But then you have to switch apps and then go into the Duo app and click on the authentication thing.”

Shibhon Shepard, a second-year biology student, said she thinks multifactor authentication has been a hassle.

“I personally don’t see the point because I just want to do my homework,” she said.

Lisa Jones, director of customer support services in UCLA IT Services, said in an email statement that after a full year, Bruin OnLine has gradually seen a decline in student requests for help with multifactor authentication.

“After a year or so of implementation at UCLA, and as more people see other commercial systems offering multi-factor authentication, Bruins have a better understanding and acceptance of these systems and how to use them,” she said.

ResLife event aims to raise mental health awareness in black student community

This post was updated May 13 at 3:20 p.m.

Students performed spoken-word poetry to discuss the intersection of racial identity and mental health at an event Wednesday night.

The performances were part of the second annual The Black and Blue Project: Mental Health Awareness Fair, an event hosted by UCLA Residential Life that aims to promote dialogue about mental health in the black student community. The event featured a resource fair tabled by mental health organizations, including UCLA Counseling and Psychological Services, the Campus Assault Resources and Education program, Peer Assistance and Wellness Support, Active Minds UCLA and the Queer Alliance.

Marieka Turner, a co-organizer of the event and ResLife’s health and well-being coordinator, said in an email statement ResLife developed the idea for the event when faculty and students gathered to discuss the day-to-day mental health issues that black students face and how to best support them during a Black and Blue mental health initiative in winter 2018.

Turner said in the statement ResLife held the event because it recognizes identity and culture can affect perceptions of mental health.

“We wanted to give students a space to reflect, share and establish access to services and touch points on our campus that match and validate their perceptions,” Turner said.

Chiamaka Nwadike, a third-year human biology and society student, performed a spoken-word poem that she created by generating sentences using key words from the movie “Moonlight,” with a computer code written by her classmate Ayush Lall, a fourth-year mathematics of computation student.

Nwadike said she used the movie “Moonlight” because it is a movie about queer love in the Black community, which she initially intended the poem to be about. However, the word generator picked up on darker themes within the script and ultimately created a poem about dark emotions that reflected her stressful experience with the quarter system.

Nwadike said she thinks it is important to hold events like Black and Blue to continue the conversation about Black mental health on campus.

“I’m especially passionate about advocating for mental health issues in the Black community because it’s not talked about a lot,” Nwadike said.

Several students from the black community on campus said they think creating a space for discussion about mental health is beneficial.

Alexandria Davis, incoming chair of the Afrikan Student Union and a political science and African American studies student, said she is happy that students are beginning to create a dialogue about the experiences that black students face in regard to mental health.

“I feel like with black students, stigma comes a lot from our families. A lot of black students in the community are also first-generation, so their parents have never experienced the college environment and the trials and tribulations you have to go through,” Davis said. “No one is really trying to talk it out.”

Nia McClinton, director and founder of the Black Performing Arts Collective and a third-year African American studies student, performed haikus about the resilience of black women and battling depression.

All three performers of the night were members of the BPAC.

Taylore Thomas, a third-year African American studies student, performed a spoken-word poem entitled “Bought and Paid For,” which focused on her journey of overcoming self-criticism and embracing self-love.

She said she hoped sharing her story through her performance would further open dialogue about mental health in the black community.

“I think mental health is something that is super relevant that many people suffer from but may not even know it, and so just talking about it in less confrontational spaces where art is present may just connect people in a different sense,” Thomas said.

Turner said ResLife plans to continue this event every year during Mental Health Awareness Month moving forward.

CPO charges student organizations for rental vans funded by student fees

This post was updated May 9 at 11:53 a.m.

A fleet of UCLA vehicles is funded by student fees, and students are required to pay to use them.

The Community Programs Office operates a fleet of hybrid vans that are accessible to CPO-affiliated community service projects and Student Initiated Outreach Center projects, as well as to students through the CPO’s partnership with UCLA BruinCar, according to a statement from CPO. Members of the UCLA Student Fee Advisory Committee, which advises the chancellor on how to spend student fees, said the CPO has requested over $120,000 this year to operate and expand its fleet.

However, student groups must pay a usage fee to access the vehicles. Student groups that provide services are eligible to apply for funds from the Undergraduate Students Association Council’s Community Activities Committee to cover the charges of the vans, according to the CAC’s program guidelines.

The CPO charges student groups for fleet management fees, maintenance service costs, repairs, cleaning and fuel, according to the email statement from the CPO.

In the 2018 to 2019 school year, CPO requested a total of $123,469 from SFAC to pay for student programming travel expenditures and hybrid vehicles for the CPO fleet. The CPO has requested funds from student fees for seven years to fund CPO student program travel expenditure.

Zak Fisher, a member of the SFAC and a graduate student in law, said he thinks CPO should not charge student groups for using the vehicles because it has already received funding from student fees for the past several years.

“If administrators want to make us fund a fleet of two $45,000 hybrid vans where we replaced two every year in addition to all the other fees associated with it, we shouldn’t charge the students a damn dime,” Fisher said.

Javier Rodriguez, a member of the SFAC and a graduate student in social welfare, said he has encountered resistance from other committee members when he and his colleagues raised concerns about conflicts of interest within the SFAC’s CPO subcommittee.

Fisher also said discussions about recurring funding requests from CPO are typically rushed because administrators say funds that have been allocated in years past deserve less scrutiny.

“The thing that administrators keep coming back to is, ‘Well we funded it before, it’s a continuing request,’” Fisher said. “Something we’ve been told is new requests deserve scrutiny that continuing requests don’t, and that’s problematic for me because I had nothing to do with the requests of the past three or four years.”

Rodriguez said he thinks requiring additional fees from student organizations makes the transportation fleet inaccessible to certain groups, and that University of California policy states resources bought with student fees should be broadly accessible to students.

Hector Gutierrez, the director of the Alumni Scholars Club’s external campus volunteers committee, said in an email statement he manages a student group that travels to different parts of LA for volunteer work but was not aware the CPO had a transportation fleet.

He said he thinks if the fleet receives funding from student fees, student groups carrying out volunteer projects should not be charged to use them.

“Most people that attend UCLA probably do not have access to a car, and it is a shame that our impact on our community is impeded by transportation issues,” Gutierrez said. “I think the school should support their students’ drive to better the community around them.”

Six UCLA tennis players receive Pac-12 conference honors

A number of Bruins received conference honors days after advancing to the second weekend of the NCAA championships.

UCLA men’s tennis and women’s tennis each had three members receive Pac-12 conference honors for the records they posted during the regular season.

From men’s tennis, senior Maxime Cressy and sophomore Keegan Smith were named the Pac-12 Doubles Team of the Year in addition to receiving individual honors, while freshman Govind Nanda was named to the All-Pac-12 Second Team.

Cressy and Smith’s selection as the best doubles duo in the Pac-12 marks the fourth consecutive year that UCLA has claimed the honor. The partnership holds a 16-0 dual-match record when playing as the No. 1 doubles team in the lineup this season and holds the No. 2 spot in the NCAA partnership rankings.

Cressy and Smith both were named to the All-Pac-12 First Team for their individual efforts. Cressy has a 14-3 record, typically playing at the No. 1 spot in the singles lineup – with Stanford’s No. 8-ranked Axel Geller being his highest-ranked opponent of the season. Smith has posted a 23-5 singles record this season and is currently on a 12-match winning streak.

Nanda has claimed 17 dual-match victories at No. 3 singles this season and won 11 of 12 matches from Feb. 23 to April 25. Nanda has played at the No. 2 doubles spot in the lineup with redshirt sophomore Connor Rapp.

On the women’s side, redshirt junior Jada Hart and freshman Elysia Bolton both earned All-Pac-12 First Team honors, marking the first time two Bruins made the team in the same season since 2014.

Hart and Bolton have tallied 28 doubles wins, including 12 of their last 13 matches. In singles, Hart went 9-1 from Feb. 24 to April 3 and holds a team-high 30 doubles victories.

Bolton – who was also named Pac-12 Newcomer of the Year – has notched a team-best 26 singles wins, including 10 against nationally ranked teams. Bolton is currently ranked No. 32 nationally and is likely to compete in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships in Orlando, Florida.

Senior Ayan Broomfield earned All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention and is 18-10 in singles matches on the season.

On Friday, women’s tennis will face Washington in the second round of the NCAA championship while men’s tennis will take on Baylor.

Women’s golf sophomore takes first at NCAA regionals, bringing team to third place

For the second straight year, sophomore Patty Tavatanakit emerged victorious at NCAA regionals.

UCLA women’s golf finished in third place at the NCAA East Lansing Regional after a second-round jump spearheaded by Tavatanakit sprung the Bruins into contention. Tavatanakit shot an 8-under 208 and finished alone in first place.

Tavatanakit shot four birdies in a row on day one, but finished the round in sixth with a 1-under 71. A 6-under 66 in the second round sent her to the top of the leaderboards, and another 1-under 71 in the final round clinched the victory.

“(Tavatanakit’s) a winner,” said coach Carrie Forsyth. “She’s hitting it like a pro right now. Kind of back to the (Tavatanakit) that we recruited, the (Tavatanakit) that we know is there and the (Tavatanakit) that we know we can win.”

Tavatanakit’s last win was at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate on Sept. 19 – UCLA’s first event of the fall season. Last year, she won four tournaments and tallied 10 top-20 finishes.

The Bruins finished the first round in seventh place, with only the top six teams set to move on to the NCAA championship.

“I basically just told them we haven’t played up to our abilities – it’s now or never,” Forsyth said. “If not now, when?”

But a seven-hour rain delay pushed back UCLA’s tee times Tuesday morning and the Bruins had to make two trips from the hotel to the course and back again while still recovering from jet lag.

“We were exhausted,” Forsyth said. “Once the afternoon came, and it was actually pretty good conditions, I think we were all kind of relieved by that.”

UCLA put together the second-best day two among the 18-team field, bumping it up to third place as the storms cleared the course.

“I personally believe that our team does not have any issues with (climbing back into the top six),” Tavatanakit said. “With how wet it was on the second day – we’re a pretty long-hitting team I think, so with the distance, we carry almost everything, … I don’t think it was that difficult for us to hit it a little far.”

Senior Beth Wu was tied for third place with a 2-under 70 in the first round, but finished tied for 11th with a 2-over 218.

Junior Clare Legaspi tied for 27th at 6-over 222, while junior Mariel Galdiano and freshman Phoebe Yue both finished outside the top 50.

“It was pretty straightforward,” Wu said. “(Tavatanakit) did really well, (Legaspi) did really well too, that’s what really got us back into the game.”

UCLA, Kentucky State, Arizona, Stanford, Illinois and Indiana will all advance to the NCAA Championship in Fayetteville, Arkansas, starting May 17.

Softball to bat for Pac-12 title and say goodbye to seniors in final season series

The last regular season series brings postseason implications as well as goodbyes for the Bruins.

No. 3 UCLA softball (45-3, 19-2 Pac-12) has a chance to claim the conference title against No. 6 Arizona (40-11, 17-4) this weekend – something it hasn’t done since 2009.

“One of our goals before the season was to win a Pac-12 title, and here we are,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez. “I think it’s a great way to finish (conference play) to play a high-level opponent, but it’s not really about the opponent. We have to finish strong and put ourselves in a position to be able to get ready for the postseason.”

The Bruins came out on top in all five of their matchups last year against the Wildcats.

UCLA swept Arizona in its regular season meeting in Tucson, Arizona. The two teams met again in the NCAA Super Regionals with a spot in the Women’s College World Series on the line. The Bruins beat the Wildcats 7-1 and then 3-2 to advance to their fourth straight World Series appearance.

This year, Arizona leads the Pac-12 in home runs with 92 and its 332 RBIs is tied for the best with Arizona State (30-18, 10-11). It also has the individual home run leader, Jessie Harper, who has 23 deep flies on the year.

Freshman pitcher Megan Faraimo – who was just named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and received All-Pac-12 First Team honors – said she understands what is at stake this weekend and is excited to get the job done.

“I totally respect their sticks, I know they’re a really strong hitting team,” Faraimo said. “I think if I just hit my spots and work well with my catcher, we’ll find success.”

The last home series of the regular season also means that it’s that time of year when UCLA honors its graduating seniors.

This year, there are seven seniors that will be recognized – utility Zoe Shaw, catchers Paige Halstead and Maddie Skibitzki, infielders Brianna Tautalafua and Taylor Pack, and outfielders Danae Blodgett and Stevie Wisz.

Pack was also named to the All-Pac-12 First Team for the first time in her career. She is batting .392 with nine homers – both career highs – and her .725 slugging percentage is the team’s best.

This senior class has been to the Women’s College World Series three consecutive times, and Pack said this is by far the best team of her four years donning blue and gold.

“This season has gone really well – we’ve had a couple downs but it’s mainly been uphill,” Pack said. “In these past four years, I think that this is really our best shot to win and our team has really meshed well and everything is coming together for us at the right times, so I think we’re going to have a really great end of the season.”

A sweep or a series win by UCLA means it wins the Pac-12 for the 10th time in program history. The Bruins have either swept or won two out of three against every one of their conference opponents.

“To be in a position to win the Pac-12 title is a benefit and a bonus for the players to be recognized for everything they’ve done this year,” Inouye-Perez said. “We love and respect our Pac-12 and believe there is no better conference in the country, but for us the bigger picture is to be national champions.”

Baseball hits eight weeks atop national rankings with six top MLB Draft prospects

The top-ranked Bruins have the star power to back it up.

No. 1 UCLA baseball (38-8, 16-5 Pac-12) has six players ranked in Baseball America’s list of 2019 Top 400 MLB Draft Prospects, and all six are within the top 300.

Junior second baseman Chase Strumpf, junior first baseman Michael Toglia, junior right-hander Ryan Garcia, junior third baseman Ryan Kreidler, redshirt junior right-hander Jack Ralston and junior left fielder Jeremy Ydens made the cut at No. 35, No. 62, No. 116, No. 158, No. 209 and No. 295, respectively.

In addition, Toglia and Strumpf currently rank No. 39 and No. 40, respectively, among the top 100 in the MLB.com 2019 Prospect Watch.

According to MLB.com, Toglia boasts raw power on offense and is a plus defender with the athleticism to move to a corner outfield spot at the next level. Strumpf is described to be an early-round talent due to his consistent offensive production, excellent strike zone discipline and defensive reliability at second base.

Toglia leads the Bruins with 45 RBIs and has a team-high-tying nine home runs, while Strumpf has a team-high 35 walks and a team-high-tying 41 runs.

Strumpf and Toglia were named First-Team and Third-Team Preseason All-Americans, respectively.

Garcia missed the first three weeks of the season due to a flexor inflammation and made three appearances before his first start March 24. The junior holds a 1.29 ERA and 12.4 K/9 with a 6-0 record.

Kreidler has started every game for the Bruins and has seen his average dip below .300 only once since the season opener. Ralston has a 2.57 ERA and 8-0 record in his breakout season, and the Bruins have lost only one game out of his 12 starts.

Although he was named a Second-Team Preseason All-American, Ydens has been out since March 1 with a broken finger. Coach John Savage said there is a chance he will be back in the next few weeks.

“There’s for sure a chance,” Savage said. “He took batting practice (Tuesday). Things are looking up there.”

Despite the Bruins’ program-record eight consecutive weeks atop the national rankings, they do not possess a top-25 Draft prospect like some of their Pac-12 counterparts.

No. 12 Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman is MLB.com’s No. 1 prospect and is widely believed to be the first player that will be taken in the 2019 MLB Draft next month. California first baseman Andrew Vaughn – No. 3 – and Arizona State center fielder Hunter Bishop – No. 7 – also sit atop MLB.com’s rankings.

Six Bruin commits also cracked Baseball America’s list. Corbin Carroll, Evan Fitterer, Emanuel Dean, Adrian Chaidez, Michael Curialle and Joshua Hahn made the list at No. 6, No. 97, No. 150, No. 281, No. 282 and No. 309, respectively.

UCLA’s 2019 recruiting class is ranked No. 21 by Perfect Game. By comparison, the current Bruin squad is made up of recruiting classes ranked No. 16, No. 30, No. 27 and No. 18 from 2015 through 2018, respectively.

UCLA will travel to Pullman, Washington, to face Washington State in a three-game series starting Friday at 5:05 p.m.