Rutgers hired Melissa author

While free on $100,000 bail, confessed author of the Melissa virus David Smith quietly worked for two months as a PC trouble-shooter for prestigious Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Smith quit his job Dec. 3, citing "personal reasons," according to a spokeswoman for The Rutgers University Foundation. He plead guilty last Thursday to creating the virus, which infected e-mail systems around the world in March.

``Now we know what [the personal reasons for quitting] were,'' the spokeswoman said.

Charged with knowingly unleashing the virus on more than a million computer networks and e-mail systems - resulting in $80 million in damage - Smith could draw a maximum sentence of five years in prison and $250,000 in fines. He remains free on bail pending his May 15 sentencing in federal court.

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