By Niccole Ledbetter
By Niccole Ledbetter
During this past school year, one of my old high school friends went through Tiger Talk to drop me out of all my classes. We registered at Riverside Community College together so our student identification numbers are exactly the same except the last number which differs only by one. In spring 2004 my geology instructor brought to my attention that I dropped myself out of his class. When I went to admissions to reinstate my class they told me that I had dropped all my classes, when I had not. They said that it was a glitch on Tiger Talk. All went well until fall 2004 when it happened again. I guess I got someone who knew what they were doing in Admissions, because he told me that it was impossible for it to be a glitch on Tiger Talk. After they dug a little further they told me that I had dropped all my classes at nine a.m. Lucky me, I was in class so my instructor vouched for me. They discovered that my friend from high school was responsible. So here is my first piece of advice to any one reading this thinking of doing the same, Admissions keeps phone records; they will find out it is you. And if they can’t, the case goes to the police and they definitely will. So this friend was brought into the Dean of Students’ office to undergo punishment. Of course someone vindictive enough to do this is not going to confess, so for insurance, they brought in the police chief. And here is where I have my problem: her punishment. They made her write me a letter of apology. I had to stress out two semesters in a row because of dropped classes and she got away with just writing a note. There should be a one time offense, no tolerance policy of academic probation, school related community service or suspension. Identity theft is a misdemeanor and she never got the appropriate punishment. If I knew how to change this policy on identity theft, I would do it. The person responsible deserves to get in trouble and the other deserves closure. So here is the last of my advice: never give your student I.D. to anyone, not even your friends. They could ruin your academic career in one phone call. Trust me, it is not worth it. I hope that this does not happen to anyone because it is a serious pain in the behind. And to all those reading this, pass it on and maybe you will help stop another case of identity theft.