4 U. THE NATIONAL COLLEGE NEWSPAPER News Features APRIL 1988 Video revolution hits college admissions 4 By Carol Vinzant The Daily Pennsylvanian U. of Pennsylvania "I wish to go to Penn. I covet Penn ... I have to go to Penn," wrote one student applying for next year's freshman class. Heightened anxiety over tougher admission standards, coupled with a new question on the University's ap- plication, has caused a dramatic in- crease in supplemental material sent to the University, according to admissions officials. "I have so much stuff I'm keeping it outside my office now," said Associate Admissions Dean Daniel Lundquist. Admissions Officer Christoph Gut- tentag, who is keeping submissions in his office, said it is filled with mounds of photos, videos and collages. "I keep this stuff around because I think it's wise not to forget how much this means to these people and that they're individuals," Guttentag said. Audio and visual tapes comprise most of the submissions; and Guttentag esti- mated that the entire office received 130 video tapes. The videos feature students acting in plays and monologues, and performing in athletics. A tour of a student's house, a how-to-juggle guide, and an Indian dance were also among this year's pre- sentations. The tapes, like other types of submis- sions, are scrutinized by the regional officer, who notes the additional mate- rial in his report to the admissions com- mittee. The admissions office occa- sionally sends the projects to experts in the music, art or design departments for evaluation, Guttentag said, and he has also brought a few "exceptional" tapes to the admissions committee itself. At the end of the process, the admis- sions office will review highlights and clips from all the videos at a party, because some students are not finan- cially able to produce visually competi- tive material. But, since other non- financially taxing projects are also accepted, he said the committee will continue to encourage the movies. About 10-15 percent of the applicants from Guttentag's northeast region sent 4 in extra material this year, which is a slightly higher percentage than for other regions. The supplemental materials will not be used against the student unless they are offensive, Guttentag said. Lundquist said that he expects to be swamped by the neurotic excesses of U. of Pennsylvania Admissions Officer some applicants, adding that the flow of Christoph Guttentag and his submissions. materials to his office will increase as a function of the anxiety that mounts as touted as the First Annual Admissions the decision date comes up. Office Film Festival. Brown U.'s admis- "They might be better off writing an sions committee has a similar ritual. essay if they're going to send in a dopey Lundquist said that accepting the collage or a stupid video," Lundquist videotapes creates an ethical dilemma said. Ex-ID forger knows tricks of trade, busts fake ID holders as bouncer -- STUDENT AT&T OPINION POLL Who will you support in the presidential election? Who do you think will win? To give you an opportunity to express your opinions on important campus issues that affect your life, the AT&T STUDENT OPINION POLL will appear in each issue of U. The National College Newspaper. CALL 1-800-662-5511 Watch for the results of this month's poll in u SHOULD FOREIGN TEACHING ASSISTANTS BE REQUIRED TO PASS ENGLISH ORAL PROFICIENCY TESTS? YES 97% NO3% By Phil Davis The Alligator U. of Florida Stephan Rogers, U. of Florida (UF) engineering junior, asks more people for their driver's licenses every night than most police officers do in a week. He isn't a cop, but if you want to get into the Purple Porpoise Oyster Pub for a cold beer, he's the law. Out of the thousands of licenses he's seen in six months as a bouncer, Rogers has seen more than 100 fake IDs. At least, that's how many he's caught. Rogers knows all the tricks of the trade because he used to make them. First Rogers holds anID over a flash- light. "They (the numbers) are put in crooked sometimes," Rogers said, "and the light shines through the cuts in the license." Cutting up the birthdate with a razor is one of the most common ways to alter an ID, but it's also one of the crudest. "The good ones are the out-of-state ones," Rogers said, since most doormen don't know what other licenses look like. Bob (not his real name), a UF fresh- man, said he has been making fake IDs that way for four years. The first one he made was a black-and-white version of an Alabama ID card. "It was really bad," Bob said, but it did work for a short time. Another popular method is to borrow a real driver's license from a friend or relative. But that's not foolproof either. Rogers compares the photo on each license to the person giving it to him. If the match isn't quite right, he compares the height. He has trouble, however, spotting licenses borrowed from brothers and sisters, so sometimes he gives a quick quiz: "Hey, man, what's your sign?" Or he asks that person's buddy, "What's your friend's name?" "If I'm not really sure I have them sign," Rogers said. Reproducing a signa- ture is hardto do without constant prac- tice, Rogers said. Rogers has the most trouble spotting fake IDs when the information is false but the picture is legitimate. Bob's second fake ID was a color copy of an older friend's license with his own pic- ture pasted over it. Although this fake was more convinc- ing, one problem was the backing, which on a valid license has fine blue print. Fake IDs usually have their fake fronts glued to an original license, but bouncers can spot these too. "One guy showed me a Maryland ID," Rogers said. "It had a Florida back on it." Not all fake IDs are shoddily made or easily caught. Sometimes the photo will be legitimate, the physical description will fit and the signature will be in the holder's handwriting. Everything on the license will be correct-except the birthdate. 4 Daniel Krasno, a former UF student, made and sold near-perfect fake IDs un- til he was caught last year. Alachua County sheriff's detective Paul Bryan showed a giant license "board" made up to look like a Florida driver's license. Krasno would cut out letters and paste up whatever name, address and birth- date his customer wanted, Bryan said. The customer would sign the license with a large magic marker. After carefully positioning the cus- tomer, Krasno photographed the "license" with a Polaroid camera and then glued the photo to the back of the customer's real license and laminated it. Fake IDs like these are detectable only through a computer check or a real- ly close look. Rogers said the "boards" have flaws, particularly in the photo. "One big flaw is the upper chest and head-there is too much showing." The biggest giveaway is the fine print. The fakes' fine print is illegible and the state seal is not as detailed as the seal on a valid license. There's only one foolproof way to de- tect a fake, and bouncers like Rogers don't have access to it. It's a computer that state officials and police officers use to identify residents by their driv-4 er's license number. Fake IDs have fake numbers, so the computer could detect them.