Privacy and Security

Every September 11th, I watch the 0th episode of the third season of the political drama The West Wing. I call this episode, titled “Isaac and Ishmael”, the 0th episode because it doesn’t fit into The West Wing canon. The episode was written and produced in less than two weeks in September of 2001 in direct response to the terrorist attacks on my home state of New York. Fans of the show generally ignore the episode, and it is often dismissed as writer Aaron Sorkin’s sentimental nature translating into across-the-board preachy television. I think it’s good writing, and at the time (and still today) serves as a reminder of who and what the real enemies are in the war on terrorism.

One of my favorite scenes from the episode involves one of the more typically liberal and idealistic characters speaking out in favor of extreme measures taken by intelligence agencies. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find a clip of it to embed from Youtube, but the point of the monologue is that, historically, Americans haven’t enjoyed relative safety because there have been no terrorists until now; Americans have been safe because intelligence and national defense agencies have taken measures such as these to protect the American people.

The FBI wants to acquire knowledge about the shooter’s contacts and help their investigation to keep Americans safe. However, their only way to do this is to get Apple to help them break into the shooter’s phone, which sets a dangerous precedent. If Apple helps with a backdoor into one phone, then they have opened the floodgates for future cases in which the FBI will simply request backdoor access from Apple for other smaller infractions. And so now it becomes a public debate on the extent we want to let the FBI use extreme measures in the name of our protection.

There is another scene from the episode that always sticks with me. One of the characters quotes Benjamin Franklin: “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” This quote recalls the very nature of our country and the reason for its founding, and it highlights why I largely side with Apple in this case. If Apple were to give the FBI a backdoor into a phone, even just temporarily, it would be selling liberty for safety. We would no longer be assured of our privacy, and there are no assurances for our safety, either. Ultimately, the San Bernardino case is a pivotal opportunity for public debate over safety and privacy, but I find myself siding pretty squarely with Apple and privacy.

Reflection: Project 2

My group (myself, Emily Claps, and Lucinda Krahl) wrote a guide to the interview process. The guide reflected the thoughts and observations of three students who made it through the process and will be gainfully employed after graduation.

I think the most important part of our guide is the ‘Networking’ section. This section highlights and stresses the importance of using connections made in a variety of ways as a way to ease the process. This is something I really wish I had known earlier; if I’d known that my future internship and full-time job would each come about as the result of a connection I had made, I would have spent more time making connections!

The best advice I received actually had little to do with the interview process itself. I spent a lot of time worrying about my resume, and studying for interviews, and keeping up with coursework, and it put me under a lot of stress. A close friend noticed that I seemed overtired and overworked, and passed on the following advice:

You can spend as much time as you like worrying about what you think you’re supposed to worry about, but the interview process is a mental game. Take care of your sleep patterns, your diet, and your exercise habits, and the rest will fall into place.

As a result of this advice, my life got noticeably less stressful when I stopped worrying about my resume and started making sure I got enough sleep.

I do not think that colleges need to change curricula in response to a changing marketplace. A huge advantage of a four-year university over a trade school is the opportunity to diversify learning and focus on the education of the self instead of simply learning the same thing as everyone else. In fact, if Notre Dame were to change anything (which I don’t think it should) it should allow for a more diversified education to allow students to broaden their experiences. Extracurriculars and side projects come from places outside the standard curriculum, and they make a large difference in the  job interview process. I think the current CS program does a good job of teaching essentials and specialties while still allowing students to develop outside the classroom.

Burnout Shmurnout

I’m of two minds about burnout as presented in the articles read for class this week.

One the one hand, I do give a lot of merit to Marissa Mayer’s claim in the CNBC article. “Burnout is about resentment. It’s about knowing what matters to you so much that if you don’t get it that you’re resentful,” she states. I do believe that burnout is about resentment – or more specifically, I believe that burnout is about the disconnect between what your job entails vs. what you had hoped your job would entail.

A lot of this comes from personal experience. I’ve faced burnout multiple times, at jobs and in school. I’m not sure if it compares to the articles and their descriptions of burnout felt by experienced professionals, but I’d be surprised if it was drastically different. Any time I’ve experienced burnout, it was as a result of resentment for whatever I was doing at the time. I’ve dropped two classes due to burnout (both of them on the last possible day… ouch!) and I’ve rejected an offer of employment due to burnout from an internship at the company. One of the classes was a research experience that turned out to be far less fulfilling and more gruntwork than expected. The internship was a work experience that went more or less the same way. Fortunately, none of these actions had serious consequences – I’m not going to have any trouble graduating, and I didn’t want to work at that company anyway. But it’s not hard to imagine a situation where burnout could give me serious problems in my career.

So I do give some credence to Marissa Mayer’s definition of burnout. It’s important to do work that’s fulfilling and in line with what you actually want to do, and burnout comes when there’s a disconnect in this part of your professional life.

BUT, I don’t think that this is the only cause of burnout. And I certainly do not believe Mayer’s assertion that burnout isn’t a function of sleep, food, and exercise. I’m positive that your non-work life affects the extent and pervasiveness of burnout. Diet, exercise, and the proper amount of sleep are fantastic tools to mitigate the effects of burnout (exercise especially – I have spent many hours in the Keough Hall cardio room at about 3 AM to get through especially tough weeks.) And having a decent life outside work can keep burnout from starting at all. I spent a lot of the summer with my internship throwing myself into my hobbies – I saw a lot of live music and played a lot of strategy games. However, toward the end of the summer when there were fewer concerts to go to, the burnout really began to set in as my life outside work became less fulfilling.

On the whole, as someone who puts a lot of importance on mental health, I think it is important to avoid burnout at all costs. Fortunately, I think burnout can be kept at bay by finding work that fulfills you or taking care of your body and soul.