UCLA: Goodbye Sheldon

Oh, Sheldon. How can I ever forget him? I was his next door neighbor. I interviewed him for a paper I wrote for an English class. I was one of the summer house managers when he lived at the house. His rent checks never went through, but we didn't notice until he ran away (to live at Powell Library) and we found the bounced checks hidden in his room! I believe he still has an outstanding balance of over $3000. Oh, the good old days... Go Baspell!

Link to article:
http://www.dailybruin.com/news/2007/jan/30/man-36-allegedly-posed-as-stud/ (-ent)

Man, 36, allegedly posed as student

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

After allegedly posing as a UCLA student for at least two years, Sheldon Ross, 36, was arrested on Dec. 31, 2006 for burglary and illegally accessing university computers and will be tried on Thursday for identity fraud, university officials said.

Karen Gentilucci, a university police detective, said this is the third time UCPD officers have arrested Ross on these charges. The first was on July 29, 2006 and the second on Dec. 22 of the same year. She also noted that at the time of Ross’s first arrest, he had an outstanding felony warrant in Alameda County for grand-theft credit card fraud.

Ross could not be reached for comment Monday.

In the past years, Ross has infiltrated UCLA life: He wrote an article for the Bruin Standard and a submission to the Daily Bruin Viewpoint section, played rugby, and was elected editor of Nommo, an African American newsmagazine.

Mike O’Connor, operations manager for the UCLA Student Media Center, said Ross had been breaking into the Student Media offices for years and that Ross’ arrest over winter break is a continuation of what he described as long-term behavior.

“He comes in (to the Student Media Office) just before the doors lock, he hides, he waits for everyone to leave, and then roams around for the weekend. He’s been doing this for years,” O’Connor said.

O’Connor plans to testify at Ross’s trial on Thursday about what he has seen on the security cameras, which includes Ross “poking around” the Student Media Office, usually between midnight and 3 a.m., he said. O’Connor said he believes Ross stole a door from the office, along with a hard-drive and some money out of the desks. Though Ross is not visible on security tapes actually stealing the items, O’Connor said Ross is the only person visible on the tapes that evening.

He also said there were cups of urine all over the office the last time Ross was arrested and removed.

“When a person stays in the office all weekend and doesn’t leave ... it has to go somewhere,” O’Connor said.

O’Connor also said Ross had a “friendly” relationship with many people in the office several years ago.

“He sounds intelligent, he’s very polite ... just probably not altogether there,” he said.

Ross never received a paycheck as editor of Nommo, O’Connor said.

“He was never really considered an editor. It became apparent that he wasn’t really a student,” he said.

Chet Cohen, corporate loss prevention manager for Associated Students UCLA, said Ross was advised after his previous arrests not to come back to UCLA, and that he was taken back to jail after he was spotted again.

Ross also lived at the Alpha Gamma Omega fraternity house two years ago.

Eddie Looper, the fraternity’s president and a former Daily Bruin copy editor, said AGO does not require its residents to be enrolled at UCLA and would not know whether Ross was actually a student.

Brian Aspell, a fourth-year biochemistry student, roomed with Ross during the summer of 2005.

Ross would stay in his room all day, downloading podcasts and other Internet files, Aspell said.

O’Connor said prior to Ross’ most recent arrest, Student Media officials began noticing an unusually high traffic of movie- and file-downloading on the IP addresses of certain work stations where Ross liked to work.

“A week later, we realized – it’s obviously Sheldon again,” he said.

Aspell said the fraternity found items of Ross’ that he found unsettling, such as equipment to pick locks and a book about changing one’s name in California.

“It’s just pretty disturbing that I was his roommate,” he said.

African Courier #3: On the Other Side of Academia

Jambo!

I know I said the third newsletter was coming soon. And that was already two weeks ago. But you see, in Africa (and perhaps in your country, too) "soon" can mean anything between a few minutes to a few years, especially in restaurants, as I found out the hard way.

Anyhow, here are some of the things that have happened since my last update:

· At the end of August, we had a pastor's conference at BCEA Kenya. About 200 African pastors attended the conference. I attended some of the sessions and learned some good lessons on the Bible, many of which I never knew. I also got to learn some of the Fundamentalist perspective of Christianity. Lots of good stuff. The main speaker was Dr. Jeffery Khoo from Far Eastern Bible College (Singapore).

· Beginning of September, we opened the new Bible college in Arusha, Tanzania. Day after the opening ceremony, I went with Dr. Gary Johnson to a local church surrounded by a thick forest of banana trees. I got to share of my testimony, and Dr. Johnson preached. At the end of service three ladies came to Christ! The amazing thing was that these ladies had been going to church for at least 10 years, and had never before prayed to receive Christ! Praise God for giving us such an amazing opportunity to serve Him.

· A lot of my money was stolen at a hotel in Tanzania. It was a big mistake to leave my pouch in my hotel room. Probably while I was eating dinner, a hotel worker unlocked the door and took the money from the pouch, leaving the room as if no one had entered. I didn’t realize until I was back in Nairobi that my money was gone. So I actually don’t know for certain when or where the money was stolen.

· I got infected by some round worms. Soon after I came back from Masai Land, I was having some periodic gastric (and gas) problems. I got a chance to go to Dr. Johnson’s clinic in Kitui one day and got myself checked for parasites. When we looked at my stool sample stained with iodine under the microscope, lo and behold, there were some fertilized ascaris eggs! (I think I got infected when I drank water from a boma in Lenkijape. They get water by digging the sand in a dried-up river) At Dr. Johnson’s clinic, I bought some mebendazole and ketrax (sp?) along with some medicine for my shoulder (I landed on my right shoulder in a bicycle accident in Lenkijape). All of it cost only Ksh50 (~$0.70). What a steal! Dr. Johnson invited me to spend some time at his clinic so that I can learn some tropical medicine. I’ll probably go sometime next year. I’m really looking forward to that.

· I've been teaching two English classes at BCEA. One is for foreigners (Sudanese, Congolese, etc.) who don't speak English very well, and the other is for mostly Kenyans who've finished up to secondary school (equivalent of high school). It's been a challenge especially teaching the "beginner" class, since English is a foreign language to them. Sometimes I use a bit of French that I learned in high school to teach them English (Congolese speak French). It’s been encouraging to see many of the students improve.

· I’ve been conducting the church English choir. The church at BCEA has two choirs: Kiswahili Choir and English Choir. Since Rev. Kim’s daughter (who plays piano for English choir) left for seminary in California, Eben (who conducts the choir) now plays the piano, and I’m conducting. It’s been really fun trying to teach them vocal techniques that I’ve been learning since 10 years ago. It’s so cool to see them improve. They’re starting to read the notes and are making a lot less mistakes than when they started. It’s a huge challenge though, because they are used to singing African music (and hymns in Kiswahili often have different tune than the original). Although we may never sound like UCLA Chorale, it’s a fruitful work.

· I  became a vegetarian. Ok, I’m just kidding. But I caught your attention, didn’t I? I’ve been cooking a lot since I have to prepare every meal myself. I just decided to cook only vegetables so I can eat a lot and not worry about getting fat (and being accused of causing starvation in Africa when I come back to the States). I’ve learned to cook a variety of dishes (thanks to the Internet). Mom, you’ll be proud when you sees all the pictures of the food that I cooked! Sometimes Mrs. Kim invites me over to her place for food, and once in a while the three “bachelors” (Richard, Eben, and I) do a potluck (other two are married, but their wives are out of the country). I eat a lot of meat then, so I can handle not eating meat often.

· I’m almost done with my medical school application. I finally finished writing the first draft of my personal statement, which was the last thing I had left to do. If you have some spare time and want to proof read/revise/butcher it, let me know and I’ll send you my latest draft. The deadline is October 15, so I need to finalize it very soon.

Ok, as a reward for those that read this far, I’ve finally posted some pictures online and you can see them here: http://picasaweb.google.com/doxadeo
Well, maybe not a reward since it was actually up three weeks ago, but if you don’t check my blog often, you probably haven’t seen it yet. Warning!: there are some pictures of dead animals (chicken and goat)! Just don’t click on the thumbnail if you see it. Feel free to leave some comments on the pictures! I might upload some more pics depending on your feedback.

Finally, some prayer requests. Please pray for:

· my medicals school application. I’m applying quite late (close to deadline), and it’s a disadvantage with schools that have rolling admission (which is most of the non-top-tier schools). Even after submitting this application, there’s still a lot more to do (secondary apps for each school, interviews, getting letters of recommendation, etc.). I really need God’s guidance on this matter.

· my health. I think all the parasites are gone now (except for mosquitoes... but they don’t have malaria in Nairobi). I haven’t had much stomach problem since I took the medicine other than when I used some really old kimchi water for cooking. I haven’t slept much the last couple days trying to finish my med school apps. So please pray that I can manage my health more carefully.

· my English classes. I don’t take the responsibility of teaching English lightly, especially when I’m teaching the future pastors and evangelists. Please pray that God will give me patience and wisdom to teach effectively.

· the library catalogue project. This is my biggest project that I need to finish before I go back to the US. I’ve figured out how to use the program, but I haven’t had much chance to enter the information of books on the computer. Please pray that I can work efficiently and that I’ll be able to finish the task I’m given.

· midterms. No, I’m not taking any midterms (thank God). Remember I’m on the other side of academia now. In fact I’m making midterms (ugh!). The students are taking the midterms next week. Some students have been doing very poorly that they were asked to leave (also because they couldn’t pay school fees). So please pray for the students.

· the faculty of BCEA. Recently we’ve had some trouble with one of the faculties in BCEA Tanzania. He had been AWOL for three weeks, causing burden on other faculties there. The students in Tanzania are doing wonderfully, but it seems that we don’t have enough teachers. Also pray for the faculty in BCEA Kenya. Rev. Kim is always working very hard even though his health conditions has not been at its best for a while.

· the ministries in Masai Land. Please continue to pray for both Kiluani and Lenkijape. We’ve finally resolved some land issues in Kiluani, but a lot of work needs to be done to mend the relation between the secondary school and the clinic/church. Last Sunday, 9 of our church members visited the church in Lenkijape for some one-day mission. I don’t know the details yet, but keep them in your prayers (especially if you’ve been there. Hey there, London Team!)

· whatever I forgot or didn’t mention that needs prayer. There’s always a lot to pray for here in Africa. Please remember us!

Thanks for taking the time to read the news letter! I would love to hear what’s been going on in your life if you care to share them. Best wishes to those who have stared going to school!

God Bless,
SunMin
http://doxadeo.blogspot.com

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