The Daily Plan-it / Dean of Students Blog, Columbia J-school

Dear Public Safety Friends,

Identity theft has become one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States. The Federal Trade Commission estimates that as many as 9 million Americans have their identities stolen each year. Identity Theft is a crime in which an impostor obtains key pieces of personal identifying information such as Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers and uses them for their own personal gain. It can start with lost or stolen wallets, pilfered mail, a data breach, computer virus, phishing, a scam, or paper documents thrown out by you or a business (dumpster diving). This crime varies widely, and can include check fraud, credit card fraud, financial identity theft, criminal identity theft, governmental identity theft, and identity fraud.

Start the New Year right:

· Get a FREE annual credit report, www.annualcreditreport.com, check and review your credit report, report any discrepancies to the credit reporting agency. Put an alert on your credit if necessary.

· Stop pre-screen credit card offers coming to your home: www.optoutprescreen.com or call 1-888-5-OPTOUT.

· Stop tele-marketing calls: www.donotcall.gov

· Stop receiving unwanted catalogs and other telemarketing mail: www.dmachoice.org

· Shred your old credit card, bank statements, bills, etc. to avoid dumpster diving or someone going through your garbage to steal your personal information.

For more information on ID Theft or what to do if you are a victim? Please go to: www.ftc.gov Federal Trade Commission.

Click here for a short video on ID Theft www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/video/avoid-identity-theft-video.html

Please share this message with Students, Faculty, Staff, Family and Friends, the more people know the more we can “Take a Bite Out of Crime”

Happy New Year!

Thank You

Ricardo Morales

Manager Crime Prevention Programs
Crime Prevention Specialist
Columbia University
Department of Public Safety
212-854-8513
www.columbia.edu/cu/publicsafety

This Wednesday, December 17 from 12:00pm – 4:00pm, head to College Walk for three ways to spread a little cheer to neighbors in need this holiday season:

Bring your unwanted clothing and textiles to donate to Wearable Collections. They will accept: any used clean clothing, including shoes, hats, handbags, and belts; household items such as curtains, linens, and towels; and clean clothing or textiles in any condition. Your old, ripped jeans can be recycled into new pillow stuffing! Wearable Collections will distribute wearable items to people who need them, and recycle the unwearables, enabling them to raise money for charitable organizations.

Gently used winter coats will be collected to benefit New York Cares’ 20th Annual Coat Drive. The donated coats are distributed to thousands of men, women, and children in New York City who would otherwise go without this winter.

Non-perishable food items and toiletries (like shampoo, soap, shaving cream,
etc.) will be collected for donation to our neighbors at Broadway Community, Inc. (BCI) at 601 West 114th Street. Their mission is to provide emergency food, clothing, and shelter to those in need, as well as long-term support aimed at healing the body, mind, and spirit. BCI impacts the lives of hundreds of people with meals, showers, shelter, counseling, healing workshops, internships, and training.

If you’d like to support any or all of these great causes, please bring your donations to College Walk on Wednesday, December 17 from 12:00pm – 4:00pm.

Wishing you a happy, healthy, and warm holiday season. Brought to you by the Office of Environmental Stewardship, Housing Services, and Public Safety.

Want to help survivors of relationship and sexual violence? Want to help build Consent Culture on campus? Volunteer as a Peer Counselor/Advocate with the Rape Crisis/Anti-Violence Support Center.

*Be a Peer Counselor/Advocate at the Rape Crisis/Anti-Violence Support Center*

We are currently applications for Peer Counselor/Advocate volunteers. Graduate and undergraduate women are invited to volunteer to help survivors of sexual assault, abuse, and relationship violence as Peer Counselor/Advocates. Volunteers provide emotional support and crisis intervention services, as well as accompany survivors to the hospital, health services, the police, security, or other school officials as advocates.

Peer Counselor/Advocates receive training by professional psychologists, are certified as Rape Crisis Counselors by the State of New York, and gain valuable counseling experience. By offering support, accompaniment, and referrals to survivors and their supporters, you can make an incredible difference for many survivors in our community.

Applications for Peer Counselor/Advocates are currently being accepted. Training will be held on Fridays from 10-3, beginning on October 10th. You can download an application at www.health.columbia.edu. Or email Anna Tekippe at art2110 [AT] columbia.edu for more information.

The Rape Crisis/Anti-Violence Support Center is a program of SVPRP. Peer Counselors are available every night from 7-11pm, call 854-HELP. Peer Advocates are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, call 854-WALK.

From: Julia Kumari Drapkin

I wanted to forward the invitation to participate in CUPID* (Columbia University Partnership for International Development) to the general student body. Those interested in multi-disciplinary approaches to international development issues
should definitely come by for meetings or get involved in the activities in the works:)

Cheers, Julia
Julia Kumari Drapkin
juliekumari@yahoo.com
727-504-355

****
CUPID (Columbia University Partnership for International
Development) will be working on putting together its second annual large scale,
high-level academic conference highlighting multidisciplinary
perspectives on an international development issue (to be
determined) for this coming spring.

Last year’s conference on armed conflict and forced migration was
well received by all the participants, and we are looking forward
to improving upon it this year. Some possible topics for this
year’s conference include:HIV/AIDS, Poverty, Education, Gender
Parity, Access to Clean Water, etc.

Participation in the conference organization process will afford
lots of opportunities to meet and dialog with professors and
professionals, fellow students and administrators. If you are
interested in being part of the committee to bring this exciting venture to fruition, please contact Justine Chao at jc2470@columbia.edu.

Another opportunity for involvement with CUPID is the International
Development Project. The concept is to create a specific project in
the developing world, with research and implementation entirely student
run and led, focused on ensuring that all perspectives are included and
accounted for in addressing the developmental needs of the project, in order
to not replicate countless failed development projects of the past which
fail because of their short-sightedness and tunnel vision. If you are
interested in joining this committee please contact Susan Ilyin at
sai2102@columbia.edu, who will also be working with a team to
explore the possibilities of bringing this idea to reality.

* CUPID. We may have a cheesy name, but we do interesting things.