DOVE Center Seeks SGR's Help

TODAY IN ROTARY Prez Janet “pinned” new member Larry Kuehn while his sponsor Ray Robinson looked on.

Our program was presented by Adele Pincock, Community Advocacy Coordinator for the DOVE Center who shared some unsettling statistics relating to sexual assault / rape, domestic violence homicides and other violent crimes not only throughout the nation, but in our own community as well.  Adele noted, her organization needs more men involved in the activities relating to the mission of this crisis facility, including getting trained to speak to local organizations about this problem which saw 24 women with children housed at the facility.  More than 192 children were exposed to violence in the home.  According to the National Violent Crime Index, Utah is below the national average for incidences of all forms of domestic abuse except sexual assault and rape for which we are above the national average.  “Locally, calls to our domestic violence hotline are up this year and domestic violence is learned behavior so we are raising another generation of abusers unless we can teach them to handle their anger and frustration in healthier ways.”

How can SGR help?

·      -  more well-trained volunteers are needed for a variety of services needed to address shelter, advocacy or counseling

·      -  the DOVE Center needs to share its story to more groups in the community

·     -   there needs to be more men involved in the mission of the DOVE Center

·      -  hold a drive for donated goods and services for DOVE Center clients

·      -  fundraising is especially needed for emergency client assistance

·      -  donate online to the DOVE Center during the upcoming “Love UT/Give UT”

Bryan's Buddy Could Be the Next POTUS

Bryan Thiriot, a member of the Rotary Club of St. George and Executive Director of the Five County Association of Governments has friends in high places and routinely rubs shoulders with government officials in both Washington County and Washington DC.  

However, his relationship with Marco Rubio, Florida’s currently serving Republican senator and a likely presidential contender, began in childhood when he and Rubio were school chums and part of a group of children in Las Vegas who “ran around the neighborhood together.”

From left:  Marco Rubio, Bryan, Nathan and Bryce Thiriot

Thiriot, and others from the old neighborhood, recently caught up with Rubio at a Las Vegas book signing for “American Dreams,” the accomplished politician’s second book and where the old gang briefly discussed the possibility of Rubio’s future candidacy for the nation’s highest office.

“I’ll tell you this,” Thiriot said, “I think he’d be a phenomenal president of the United States of America 
and I think he’s ready for it.”

Identity Theft is Today's Topic

TODAY IN ROTARY the names of Roger Allred and Lori Wright were read as prospective new members of SGR.  There will be no meeting next week because of the Presidents Day holiday.

Jocelyn Waters spoke on the serious problem of identity theft which is now America’s fastest growing crime (half of which is perpetrated upon victims in the work place) because it is, according to our speaker, “more lucrative than drugs.”   Losses in the USA are in the trillions of dollars and YOU – the victim – are considered guilty until you are proven innocent.

Identity thieves can steal your pertinent information in a variety of ways including from your family and friends, through a data breech, “phishing” (the attempt to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details (and sometimes, indirectly, money) by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication), even dumpster diving.  “Skimming” is another way in which thieves can steal your identity.  A skimmer is a device designed to read and capture credit care data encoded in the card’s magnetic strip.

The area’s most likely to be affected are:

·               your drivers license

·               loss of finances

·               can result in criminal charges

·               tax returns sent to the thief through the fraudulent use of your Social Security number

·               medical (falsified records show you have several serious pre-existing conditions which make you ineligible for insurance coverage)

You can prevent it from happening but there are any things you can do to make identify theft more difficult for the perpetrators:

1.              Treat your personal information as if it is “loose cash”

2.              Read Privacy Policies on websites before you sign up

3.              Shred your mail “into confetti”

4.              Change your passwords on electronic devices frequently

5.              Don’t give out important information unless you made the call

6.              Shred old bills with account information and names

7.              Protect medical information (remove labels from prescription bottles)

8.              Your debit card is the least safe way to spend

9.              Be careful what you put in public announcements, including obituaries

10.          Limit what information you carry in your wallet or purse (such as Social Security and Medicare cards)

11.          Be careful what you say on social networking sites (plans to be out of town, for instance)

12.          Educate your children and grandchildren about giving out too much information

Thieves want your information so they can sell it – not once or twice .. but over and over again.  Clean-up is expensive, time consuming and can result in loss of employment, the need to hire an attorney and loss of your good reputation.

A recommended good website with more information is www.privacyrights.or

Lish Speaks on Criminal Justice

Jenny McDowell and Jim Coleman were honored with Paul Harris awards at today’s meeting.  This is Jenny’s 4^th PHF and Jim’s 5^th.  Congratulations and thanks to the generosity of these two dedicated Rotarians.

Dr. Paul (“Lish”) Harris, assistant professor in the Criminology Department for more than five years, gave a Rotary classification speech (of sorts) when he shared the interesting history of this “emphasis area” of study on the Dixie State University campus.  Noting, Criminal Justice is now a 4-year bachelors degree program, when it was coming on line “we did our research to avoid a duplication of what is being offered in this field at SUU.”  With a $1 million federal grant, DSU was able to establish the Cyber Crime Institute and is now able to offer a bachelors degree in the unique field of digital forensics which, this relatively new Rotarians states, “fills a nice niche in the state and which invited NO ‘constructive comments’” when it was put before the Board of Regents Review Committee. 

According to Lish, “ours is now the 6^th largest major on campus,” and with the support and expertise of an outstanding adjunct faculty of lawyers and law enforcement professionals, “we are have a growing number of minors in criminology and digital forensics … and our students are finding good placements in law enforcement, forensic psychology, juvenile and adult probation and other criminal justice areas because of the marketable skills our students have developed through their studies.”

Currently, the baccalaurette program has approximately 250 students enrolled with those studying for an associate degree numbering more than 50 students … “and there is a large and growing number of students minoring in criminal justice.”