Nathan WilsonEditor In Chief

Do you have a hard time remembering your computer passwords or creating a pass-word secure enough to protect your information?

Then look no further than LastPass, a computer pass-word management system.

LCC staff Scott Skowronek highlighted the benefits of LastPass during a monthly Tech Snippet in TLC 224 Oct. 2.

“I have a password for at least 85 different sites and ser-vices on the internet,” Skow-ronek said.

“Now if you don’t have a password management sys-tem, that means you probably can’t physically remember 85 different login combinations.”

LastPass eliminates that problem by using a master password to remember a us-er’s credentials and automati-cally log them in at approved sites such as Facebook, Twitter or online banking sites.

LastPass is free to download at lastpass.com for Windows, Mac and Linux. The mobile

phone version (LastPass Pre-mium) costs $12 a year.

LastPass is compatible with In-ternet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera and Sa-fari.

Users don’t have to worry about LastPass installing any pesky toolbars on their brows-ers, and their information won’t be sold online.

“This works across web-

sites,” Skowronek said. “You can use this at bankofamerica.com. You can use this with your credit union. Anywhere where you’re entering creden-tials and a password, you can

use LastPass.”According to Skowronek,

the difficult part is importing all the credentials to LastPass.

If LastPass sounds too com-plicated, there are other op-tions for securing one’s infor-mation and creating stronger passwords.

“There is no downside to going up to a maximum char-acter length,” Skowronek said. “It just makes it harder for someone to guess your pass-word.”

Skowronek recommended using as many characters as possible and using symbols when creating a password.

Other tips for creating a se-cure password include using numbers in the middle of a password instead of at the be-ginning or the end.

LastPass also features an op-tion to generate a secure pass-word using special characters, numbers and lowercase and uppercase letters.

All the decryption happens on the individual’s computer so the user’s information is never shared with the creators of LastPass, he said.

Oct. 14-27, 2013www.lcc.edu/lookout

NEWS3

Nathan WilsonEditor in Chief

LCC’s American Marketing Association (AMA) will present the seventh annual Business Eti-quette Dinner in the Kellogg Cen-ter at Michigan State University Wednesday, Nov. 20.

Taking place from 5 to 9 p.m., the event is designed to equip stu-dents with professional skills for dining etiquette and networking.

“The Etiquette Dinner is a chance for students to come and network with local businesses,” said Zach Basler, the LCC-AMA vice president of professional de-velopment.

Shelly Davis Mielock, the founder and president of Mieshel Image Consulting, will guide the students through a proper dining experience.

According to LCC-AMA Vice President Brent Bos, the etiquette portion will be followed by a key-note speech by Jeffrey Benson, the CEO of Case Credit Union.

“(Benson) will be talking about success in general and how net-

working plays a large part in that,” Bos said. “You will need to purchase tickets ahead of time (for the event). We will not be selling them at the door.”

According to Bos, tickets will be available for $20 at the LCC Hole in the Hall on the first floor of the Gannon Building or at Case Credit Union’s local branch.

“This year, we’re trying to em-phasize the quality of the event,” Bos said. “This is an event that gets bigger and better every year. It’s a hands-on etiquette dinner with zero stress. It’s a chance to go in, learn how to network with individuals, and practice your eti-quette dinner.”

Bos said reception for past Eti-quette Dinners have been over-whelming and everyone enjoys the format.

“The success of the event speaks for itself,” Basler said. “Two years ago, we probably had 125 people come. Last year, we had 160 … This year, we’ve booked the big-gest room that they’ve got in the Kellogg Center. We’re hoping to have more than 200 attendees.”

Chelsea AllenFreelance Writer

LCC’s High School Completion Diploma Ini-tiative (HSCDI) Program has been in existence for eight years and always has room for more stu-dents.

The program is de-signed to help students who are in need of com-pleting high school and earning their diploma. Not only are the students earning high school credit but college credit as well.

According to Kelli Hat-field, the director of HSC-DI, there are 34 students currently enrolled in this fall’s program.

“We hope to expand the capacity of the program and get more students interested in enrolling for the program,” Hatfield said.

There are some require-ments that need to be satisfied in order to be eli-gible for the program. For example, a student must be between the ages of 16 and 19 years old.

One must also be en-rolled or able to re-enroll in an Ingham or Eaton County High School. Lastly, one must have completed at least half of the required high school credits needed to gradu-ate.

According to Hatfield, HSCDI is cost-free for stu-dents. It provides books

for the courses the stu-dents are taking and gives vouchers for attendance. The voucher includes earning money for food at Gibson’s Bookstore as well as money for park-ing.

An event called “My Life. My Diploma” will be held Friday, Oct. 18, which will provide more infor-mation about the program and what it consists of.

The event will be held in Dart Auditorium at LCC’s Main Campus from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

It will include a panel consisting of current and previous students from the program. There will be a video followed by lunch and a prize give-away to those who attend the event.

Informational meetings for spring 2014 enroll-

ment in HSDCI will run during the entire month of October.

The next meeting will be held at the “My Di-ploma. My Life” event, following meetings on Wednesdays Oct. 23 from 1 to 2 p.m. and Oct. 30 from 4 to 5 p.m.

“This is a very small family atmosphere and we emphasize that more students get enrolled to earn their diploma while building an LCC tran-script at the same time,” Hatfield said.

“By the time they re-ceive their diploma, they are halfway to an associ-ate’s degree.”

For more information, visit www.lcc.edu/hsdci or call (517) 483-9707. To register for one of the ses-sions, visit www.lcc.edu/getmydiploma

Secure your information with LastPass

AMA promotes etiquette

High schoolers get help

Photo by Nathan Wilson

Graphic courtesy of LCC’s American Marketing Association

Photo by Suzanna Powers

LCC staff member Scott Skowronek uses an interactive board Oct. 2 to demonstrate the benefits of LastPass, a computer password management systems.

LCC’s American Marketing Association will hold the seventh annual Etiquette Dinner in the Kellogg Center Wednesday, Nov. 20.

Jasmine Ford, a student from LCC’s High School Com-pletion Diploma Initiative, works in class Sept. 25.