Bill rescinding driver’s license fee increase rejected
Montgomery Advertiser – April 22
A House committee Wednesday voted down a bill that would rescind an increase in the driver’s license fee after several committee members expressed concerns about its possible impact on the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency budget. The House Public Safety and Homeland Security committee voted 9 to 1 to give the legislation, sponsored by Sen. Bill Holtzclaw, R-Madison, an unfavorable report. The move will likely kill the proposal for the session. “I think it’s a travesty a $12.7 million increase was instituted without the voice of the people,” Holtzclaw after the vote … ALEA is currently operating with 431 state troopers on the road, due in part to some law enforcement personnel from other agencies pulling state trooper shifts. The University of Alabama Center for Advanced Public Safety estimates that the state needs a minimum of 1,016 troopers to cary out public safety functions. Gov. Robert Bentley told legislators in a memo Tuesday that if they were to enact a General Fund budget without new revenues, an additional 99 state trooper positions would be cut, while ALEA would lose a total of 132 positions.
Moulton Advertiser – April 22
The Republic (Columbus, Ind.) – April 21
Once a field of self-taught hackers, cybersecurity education shifts to universities
Christian Science Monitor – April 22
For years, the best way to learn about your computer was to take a screwdriver it. That’s how Jon Miller learned cybersecurity: trial and error, advice from friends, and constant tinkering. In the 1980s and early 1990s, that’s how everyone else did it, too. Network security was self-taught in basements and bedrooms. And it worked pretty well. Without formal training, Mr. Miller worked his way into a role as vice president of strategy at the security firm Cylance. He’s lectured at colleges – without ever taking a class in one … Today he’s happy (well, happier). This year’s undergraduate catalog at the University of Alabama lists six classes mentioning “security” in the computer science department. In 2008 it listed zero.