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Volume 55 lssue 3
Local entertainer popular with UWG patrons
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Photo by Fre\a Cole
Dana Daniels, a veteran of the entertainment industry and an Elvis tribute performer,
hosts karaoke at Mellow Mushroom last Wednesday. Karaoke is a popular event among
UWG students.
Identity theft poses
serious threat to students
By Larry Peel
Staff Writer
larry@ioncinema.com
Some agree that
college days are the best
days of your life.
Like a kid in a candy
store, everything seems
to be there for you...until
someone steals your candy.
Identity theft is
serious, whether it is as
small as a Skittle or as
big as a record-breaking
Hershey’s Kiss.
The figures can be
chilling when you think
you are safe.
According to
the Federal Trade
Commission’s (FTC)
website, 29 percent of all
forms of identity theft in
Georgia were for the age
group 18 to 20.
This number was
higher than any other age
group, putting college
students the highest risk
for having their identities
stolen or tampered with.
According to the FTC,
7,918 people fell victim to
identity theft in the state of
Georgia in 2005, the last
year for which statistics
are available.
Credit card fraud is
the leading form of identity
theft in Georgia. Modem
identity thieves can utilize
your utility bills, school
registration forms, even
those “pre-approved”
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“The Student Voice at the University of West Georgia since 1934"
credit card offers that are
so casually tossed into the
trash can.
The simplest way for
a thief to pry into one’s
credit history is simply to
take those offers tossed
away, manually change the
address on the reply form
and return it.
While there iscertainly
a concern with internet
identity theft, students
should be aware that many
of the cases of identity theft
were equally committed by
dumpster divers, or those
close enough to the person
to know their information.
Most people become
angry and embarrassed
when they find they have
been victimized because
they did not think it could
happen to them.
Some may believe
that their information is
protected and that it may
be unnecessary to enlist in
fraud protection services.
FTC statistics show
that as much as 61 percent
of identity theft victims
never report the crime to
local law enforcement.
Georgia was ranked
ninth in the country in 2005
for reported identity thefts.
Considering the statistic
showing the amount that
goes completely unreported,
the actual numbers could be
staggering.
There have been
two recognized types of
www.thewestgeorgian.com
monetary identity theft:
fraud that occurs when
someone steals identifying
information to open new
accounts and fraud that
occurs when they access a
person’s current account to
make illegal charges.
The FTC has released
information of the most
recent online scam.
“It’s a scam called
‘phishing,’ and it involves
internet fraudsters who
send spam or pop-up
messages to try to get
people to give out their
personal information on
these sites,” states the FTC
website.
The FTC suggests
these tips to help students
avoid getting hooked by
a phishing scam, such
as avoid replying to e
mail message or pop
up ads asking for your
private information, use
anti-virus software and a
firewall, and review credit
card and bank account
statements as soon as you
receive them to check for
unauthorized charges.
If you get an email
asking for personal
inormation, forward this
spam that is ‘phishing’
for information to
spam@uce.gov.
You can leam other
ways to avoid email
scams and identity theft at
http://www.consumer.gov/
idtheft/scams. html.
By Frey a Cole
Guest Writer
Fcolel@my.westga.edu
Elvis is coming! Who wouldn't be
a little intrigued if one saw that sign on a
billboard?
That is exactly how Dana Daniels
felt, after driving down the road seeing it
every day for about a week.
He decided he would go check it out
and see what it was all about.
“It wasn’t at all what I'd expected.
An overweight man wearing a red spandex
bodysuit came out. He had glued on
rhinestones on the spandex, and he was
eating jelly doughnuts while singing,”
Daniels said.
From that day, Daniels decided
he wanted to get involved in the Elvis
impersonation business.
It’s not that Daniels wanted to work in
the Elvis business because an overweight
man was impersonating the ‘king of rock',
but it was the fact that not many people do
tribute shows for the man.
After that night, Daniel’s decided he
w anted to perform his own show s, but put
his own ideas and style in it.
Bom and raised in Santa Cruz.
California, Daniels grew up with a family
that owned a restaurant. Asa kid, he was
always at the restaurant and had to find
things to do to keep him busy.
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Photo by Josh Grubb
John Dayton, UWG Political Science Major from Peachtree City, Ga., scales the 40-foot
climbing wall in the Campus Center. Students must take a class before climbing this
wall. The climbing wall Is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
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Wednesday, August 30, 2006
A magician used to come to the
restaurant to provide entertainment for
the customers.
Daniels said, “the magician said he
would teach me anew trick every time
he came to the restaurant if I promised
not to tell the secret to the trick and that I
never do the same trick twice in front of
an audience.”
He kept his promise and every chance
he had, he would draw a crowd at the
restaurant performing the magic tricks.
“It was from this point on I knew 1
wanted to entertain people as a living,”
Daniels said.
Working in the entertainment
business since 1996, Daniels is not just an
Elvis tribute artist. He is also a mobile
DJ, wedding specialist and does karaoke
as well.
“I want to make it clear that my
Elvis shows are a tribute to him. 1 am
not an impersonator,” he said. He wants
people to know this because there is a
difference.
When Daniels performs, he puts his
own style in it. He gets to do his own
thing. An impersonator tries to copy
everything about Elvis Presley.
When asked how he practices before
one of his show s, Daniels replies, “I have
to perfect the talent. You're either your
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