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IROTEHMSL SJJSSEfiffl^lP®.® First copy free Volume 55 lssue 3 Local entertainer popular with UWG patrons I ~ t ■WBLv . jfIBBBBHHSBftj M v* Hi vi | f Ipt ? " *’“ ’SBg; 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” ®h£ Hast jL dtenrgSßn “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. Hangin'around! (it 1 * Jr wf L * Sfjfyjg % |t. k 4 III • •• *m HD few M i '• L - 1 - • &•• r j i 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. THE AGGKOUTfS MEMM® HMd 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. 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