Students who lose their ID cards could find that strangers are using their meal points to buy dinner or their LionCash to do laundry. The people who handle ID cards on a daily basis are taking precautions to make sure this does not become a frequent occurrence. Employees at the Union Street restaurants in the HUB-Robeson Center are trained to make sure the ID belongs to the person in front of them to prevent meal point theft.
"We're protecting everybody," David Gingher, said Union Street's associate director of food services.
Jody Swarmer, Union Street employee, said that while not every ID can be checked, employees do their best to check the cards. If a worker notices that a person and a card do not match, the card will be confiscated unless the ID's owner is within eyesight. If the card's owner is not present, the card will be returned to the ID office, 103 HUB-Robeson Center, for the owner to claim it. Swarmer switched IDs with a co-worker and went through the registers on Tuesday as a sort of a "check" on the system. Both register workers caught the ID switches, she said.
Sometimes students' faces change so much throughout their time at Penn State that employees have trouble matching the face with the ID, Union Street employee Lynn Myers said.
Cards can be used for five years or replaced for a $15 fee at the ID+ office. Myers suggested that new IDs be issued every year. The up-to-date cards would make it easier for employees to see that the card belongs to the student, he said. If an ID card is lost or stolen, students can deactivate their card by calling Penn State Police at 863-1111. They also can call the ID+ office at 865-7590 or toll free at (888) LION-ID-0. Using another student's ID can have severe consequences. A misplaced ID should not be taken lightly, said Penn State Police Supervisor Clifford Lutz.
Because there have been cases of cards returned with missing food points or missing LionCash, "people should think of (the ID card) as money," he said. Theft of an ID card is a criminal offense. Under Pennsylvania state law, the theft of an ID card is considered access device fraud. The minimum charge is a misdemeanor of the second degree. If the card is used for another crime, such as entering a building, the charge becomes a felony. An ID card theft can also be dealt with through the Office of Judicial Affairs because it violates the university's code of conduct.
While there are not many of these types of cases, the theft of an ID card is a serious offense, said Barbara Copland, associate director of Judicial Affairs. Depending on the extent of the misuse, the crime can possibly go on a student's permanent record.
If the university's code of conduct is violated to an extreme level, it may lead to the student's suspension from the university, she said.
ID theft is one crime that concerns the ID+ office, but the office can also help with other inquiries. One of the ID+ office's services is to provide a history of each time an ID card is swiped. The system keeps track of when and where an ID card was used to enter a dorm or at which dining commons a student used meal points.
While this is not necessarily used to track a lost card, it is beneficial if a parent has not heard from a son or daughter and is concerned about him or her, said Bruce Walker, ID+ office administrative supervisor.
