briefs

(U-Wire) Lawrence, Kan. – Shannon just wants her passport back.

She became a victim… (U-Wire) Lawrence, Kan. – Shannon just wants her passport back.

She became a victim of identity fraud when a thief stole her wallet, containing her credit card, driver’s license and passport.

College students like Shannon are vulnerable to identity fraud and even worse, identity theft. Identity fraud involves the theft and use of someone’s personal information. Identity theft happens when someone illegally poses as someone else by obtaining information such as a driver’s license number or social security number.

Todd Davis, CEO of LifeLock, an identity theft protection agency, said identity theft had been the fastest growing crime in America the past seven years. It can be a simple process for thieves. If someone gets another person’s social security card, that person can use it to get credit cards, take out a loan or even buy a house.

Davis said there were two easy ways to prevent the crime.

He said to file for fraud alerts with a credit bureau such as Equifax or TransUnion. These companies keep track of the transactions someone makes. Anytime a person makes a drastic change with their credit, such as applying for a new card or making a large purchase, the credit bureau contacts that person to make sure identity fraud has not occurred.

Secondly, he said to opt out of pre-approved credit card offers that often come in the mail. Students can do that by dialing 888-5-OPT-OUT.

Davis said every student should take those easy steps, especially because people could easily obtain social security numbers. He said students often gave the numbers to doctors, schools and employers. Identity thieves know this and can hack into that information.

“It sounds crazy,” Davis said, “but it’s already out there. I’ll even give you my own social security number, 451-55-5462, because I want people to understand their info is out there.”

-Mark Dent, University Daily Kansan

(U-WIRE) Lincoln, Neb. — Some people might have thought the Educational Testing Service was playing a cruel joke last year when it announced it would be completely re-vamping the current General Record Exam then canceled the changes at the last minute. But the testing service is at it again — for good this time.

“[Educational Testing Service] announced they were going to cancel that overhaul because they were concerned about the convenience for students,” said Jennifer Kedrowski, GRE program manager for KAPLAN.

Kedrowski said part of the original changes included reducing the number of dates and advisers available for testing.

“That wouldn’t be fair to the students,” she said.

The testing service told Kedrowski the group decided to gradually change the exam instead of making many changes at once. Starting in November, there will be new types of questions on the GRE. These questions are statistically more challenging for students and are a better measurement of what students have learned up to this point, she said.

“There are two new question types: numeric entry type for the math and text completion for the verbal,” she said.

She said the math section now involves numeric entry instead of the previous multiple-choice options.

“[Test takers] won’t have anything to guide them,” Kedrowski said.

The new verbal question — called text completion — is similar to the sentence-completion portion of the exam, but now multiple parts make for a larger question.

-Erika Hepburn, Daily Nebraskan

(U-WIRE) CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – The Suffolk Superior Court on Friday convicted former Boston College student Brianna Jones of aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon and possession of a dangerous weapon after stabbing and nearly killing a BC sophomore in February.

In a plea agreement with the District Attorney, Jones was sentenced to five years of supervised probation with 100 hours of community service per year.

The sentencing came after a seven-month investigation into the stabbing that rocked the BC campus and left the victim with a punctured lung. The presiding judge also required Jones to submit to random drug and alcohol screenings and to have no contact with the victim, the victim’s family or BC.

Witnesses stated that the stabbing occurred after an argument over laundry escalated out of control. The incident began when the victim had her clothes removed from a dorm dryer and replaced by Jones’ own load.

Upon returning to the laundry room, the victim removed Jones’ clothes and put her own load back in, after which Jones removed the victim’s clothes again, this time with a dose of bleach. Later that night, the two confronted each other and Jones stabbed the victim.

-The Heights (Boston College)

(U-WIRE) ANN ARBOR, Mich. – While students tend to blame bookstores for high textbook prices, industry insiders say it’s a much more complex issue.

Jeff Neel, a sales manager for McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., one of the leading book publishers in the country, said the textbook industry is in turmoil and in need of reform. He said that even publishers aren’t making very good profits, despite the high cost of textbooks.

“It’s such a complex issue that I don’t really know where you can assign blame,” Neel said.

Many people attempt to do just that, though. Students blame local bookstores for high prices, bookstores blame the rise of Internet retailers for poor sales and publishers blame the used book market for limiting the sales of new books.

Neel said students have contributed to price increases by utilizing the used textbook market and Internet to shop for the lowest prices, forcing publishers to raise prices to offset losses.

Students are willing to return their books for much less than publishers charge for new copies, meaning bookstores can charge close to wholesale for used books and make greater profits.

Campus bookstores usually mark up the price of new textbooks between 33 and 42 percent, Neel said.

Many in the textbook business say it will take time for the textbook industry to improve its profit margins.

Neel said he wouldn’t recommend investing in the textbook industry right now. McGraw-Hill, which posted 19.7 percent returns in 1999 and had profits of just 4.2 percent ($38.9 million) last year.

-Chris Herring, Michigan Daily (U. Michigan)

(U-WIRE) NEW YORK – The memorial ceremony to mark the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks will take place at a new location today because of ongoing construction at the ground zero site, according to The Associated Press.

The World Trade Center Memorial Ceremony and Remembrance will begin at 8:40 a.m., Sept. 11 at Zuccotti Park.

A series of statewide moments of silence will be held beginning at 8:46 a.m. – when the first plane struck the North Tower – and again at the moments when the plane hit the South Tower and when each of the buildings collapsed. Responders to the Sept. 11 attacks will then read the names of the 2,750 victims.

Visitors may still visit ground zero on Tuesday morning to pay their respects, but no official ceremony will take place on those grounds.

New York University freshman Stephanie Sciandra said the location of the ceremony shouldn’t affect the meaning of the experience.

“The memorial is about remembering people; it doesn’t matter where you are,” Sciandra said.

-Bhakti Kadiwar, Washington Square News (NYU)