Some of you might remember me as the (charmingly!) equivocating Jake who almost two years ago gave up the single-guy gig writing this column to get hitched to a woman known as Orange Blossoms, my longtime on-again, off-again girlfriend. I want to assure everyone that, even with a ring on my finger, I’m just as confused by love as I was when I was single. But I’m happy — and here are the reasons why:
The drama is over. And that’s a good thing. Because while we still have thorny issues …

In what appears to be a growing trend, displaced employees are turning to cybercrime using their corporate data access to steal, exploit and damage information networks, and may have cost businesses as much as $1 trillion globally according to a new study from McAfee and Purdue University’s Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security
Although insiders have always posed a threat to information security, the report warns that the global recession is putting vital information at greater risk than ever before.

The report, Unsecured Economies: Protecting Vital Information was …

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Despite her diligence, De La Cruz struggled to keep up.
“Tell me about the naked mole rats,” a tutor asked her Oct. 22, the day before a Life Science midterm.
“Ummm,” she replied, staring at her notebook. 
It was the second tutoring session De La Cruz attended. UCLA officials say she missed other opportunities: A student like her probably had been invited to a summer program, and there’s also an academic advancement program she could have joined, said Thomas Lifka, an associate vice chancellor.
Lifka became exasperated when told De La Cruz hadn’t heard …

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
But De La Cruz slapped a Bruins sticker on her backpack, rejected the other schools and got a $10-an-hour job at the local Boys & Girls Club. She canceled her cellphone plan, dropped any ideas of going to prom and began applying for scholarships. She was rejected time and again.
“She needs to be more realistic,” her mother said after De La Cruz learned she had failed to qualify for two scholarships. Her mother also declined to help pay for her education but offered to buy her a prom dress. She …

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A San Pedro girl’s undocumented status means no financial aid. Money is tight, classes are tough, and just getting to campus takes 2 1/2 hours.
Karina De La Cruz wakes up in the dark on her first day of classes at UCLA.  
Pushing herself off a two-seat couch in the living room of a San Pedro apartment this September morning, she tries not to wake a brother sleeping in a twin bed next to her, or another dozing with his wife and baby daughter in the bedroom. De La Cruz dresses quickly …