Berry College Uses Bio Technology

Berry College now uses biotechnology to protect its faculty and student’s personal information.

The technology is called Bio Password. It measures the rhythm of a person’s keystrokes. When faculty wants to access protected information they type a password. The software then looks for how the word is typed.

The Chief Information Officer at Berry College, Tim Farnham, said bio password is more reliable than other forms of biotechnology like hand scans or fingerprint systems.

“It turns out every person types differently. You could recognize who was sending teletypes in the 1860’s by their rhythm, and they’d know who it was. You can’t fake that,” said Farnham.

Normally, biotechnology is used for physical access to buildings like dorms. But protecting the database with it, is worth the investment, which is about $12,000 a year, said Farnham. To sort out a security breech would cost around $140,000, said officials.

Drought Affecting GA's Colleges and Universities

As the drought continues to worsen, Georgia’s colleges and universitites are taking drastic action to preserve their campuses.

Berry College, in Rome, is looking for water in a closed quarry on campus that ran off an under ground aquifer attached to the Oostanaula River. College officials say if the water quality is good and the aquifer refills continuously, Berry could have a new source of water, needed for its growing number students.

At the University of Georgia, outdoor watering is now completely restricted, which means no water for Sanford Stadium or campus lawns.

UGA spokesman, Tom Jackson, says the university may have to ask for an exception to the watering restrictions for its Botanical Gardens.

“It’s a collection that contains rare and endangered species. It’s like an art museum taking care of their paintings. It would be irresponsible to let that collection die to lack of water,” said Jackson.

And at Georgia Southern, a new irrigation system was recently added. It runs off recycled rain water that flows off roofs and parking lots, into ponds that pump the water over campus.