Identity Theft Topic of Business Symposium at Penn College

Identity theft, the No. 1 consumer-fraud crime in the nation each of the past three years, is the timely topic of a business symposium to be offered Thursday, March 27, at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

The symposium, titled "The Frightening Reality of Identity Theft," will feature a panel discussion involving professional experts and staff and students from the College. It will be moderated by Walter J. Landen, an attorney and professor of legal studies at Penn College.

The School of Business and Computer Technologies at Penn College is sponsoring the program, which will be offered from 7 to 9 p.m. at Penn's Inn on the second floor of the Bush Campus Center. The event is free and open to the public.

To begin the evening, audience members will have an opportunity to participate in a quiz "Am I at Risk for Identity Theft?" developed by Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.

The panel discussion will follow. Panel members include Chris Miller, chief of the Penn College Police; Shawn M. Schreck, vice president, compliance and security, Citizens and Northern Bank; Shawn M. Major of Williamsport, a student in the Computer Information Technology-Internetworking Application Development major; Amy R. Dougherty of Jersey Shore, a student in the Legal Assistant/Paralegal Studies major; and Jesse R. Viani of Wellsville, a student in the Business Administration-Management Information Systems major.

Miller will address the status of identity theft in Lycoming County. He graduated from the Pennsylvania State Police Academy in 1981 and served 13 years as a patrolman and seven years as chief of police for Montoursville Borough before being named chief of police at Penn College in January 2002. He has worked as a criminal investigator on cases involving theft, fraud, homicide, arson and accident reconstruction.

Schreck will discuss the scope of identity theft as a regional, national and international problem. A graduate of Franklin & Marshall College, Schreck serves as a teacher for the American Institute of Banking and is a Bank Administration Institute-designated Certified Risk Professional with training in fraud prevention and security management. He has 19 years of banking experience, including compliance and security, and he's a member of the Pennsylvania Bankers Security/Fraud Committee.

Major is a Dean's List student and is involved with Student Government Association and Phi Beta Lambda. He is a graduate of the College Leadership Advancement Series and has served on College Judicial and Curriculum Committees. He also works as a systems intern at Liberty Mutual's Mid-Atlantic Regional Office. He plans to attend graduate school and become an information systems manager. Major has researched the topic "The Computer Scientist Looks at Identity Theft: Suggestions for Preventing Our Identity from Being Stolen."

Dougherty is a Dean's List student, involved with the Legal Assistant Association, the Lycoming County Paralegal Association, the National Federation of Paralegals, and the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. She is an intern at the law firm of Lepley, Engelman & Yaw, and she is working to obtain certification as a private investigator. Dougherty also is an emergency medical technician, working at Williamsport Hospital. She plans to attend law school. Dougherty has researched the topic "What Can We, the Consumer or Individual, Do to Protect Our Identity?"

Viani, a Dean's List student, is serving his second term as president of the Student Government Association. He has earned the College's most prestigious scholarship, the Presidential Scholarship, and has served as a Student Ambassador. Viani also works as an information systems associate at the Pennsylvania Association of School Principals. He plans to pursue a career in information systems management. Viani has researched the topic "What Can the Business Community Do to Prevent Identity Theft?"

The symposium will conclude with a question-and-answer session. For more information, contact the School of Business and Computer Technologies at Penn College at (570) 327-4517.