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Page 2 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, September 17, 1985 -
How to prevent checking woes
By MARY CHRIS JAKLEVIC
Maintaining a checking account is
hard enough without having to hastle
with unpredictable store policies or
seeing your checks stolen.
Taking a few simple steps can
~protect your checks from being used
fraudulently, and save you - and the
stores you patronize - time and
trouble, merchants say.
"THERE SHOULD BE a class in
high school on how a checking account
works," said a manager at Village
Corner market.
One problem students face is that
not all stores accept out-of-state or
jut-of-town checks, or checks with
non-local addresses printed on them.
Ulrich's, University Cellar and the
Michigan Union Bookstore all accept
o.-of-state checks as long as they
have addresses on them. "You have to
because so much of our business is
from out-of-state students," said
Ulrich's Store Manager Tom Musser.
STILL, SOME OTHER businesses
disfavor out-of-town checks. Diane
Brown, marketing coordinator for
First of America bank, advises again-
st putting out-of-state or even out-of-
town addresses on checks. "The more
local information the better. Even if
you don't use up all your checks in a
year and you move out of your dorm,
you can always cross out the address
and write the new one on the checks
that are left."
Starter checks, which are blank
checks without addresses, can cause
problems for students who must use
them while they wait for their check-
books to be imprinted.
A manager at Village Corner
market called them "horrible,"
because they don't offer any in-
formation about the owner; anyone
can use them with their own iden-
tification. She said she accepts blank
Harvard adds twitst
to fall ori'entation,
BOSTON (AP) - One giggling man before classes started Wed-
freshman was lowered into a sewer nesday.
tank yesterday while others signed up "It's an alternative to having them
for a tour of black history landmarks stalking around and just rooting," he
in field trips meant to give newcomers said.
checks if the checkbook includes a
signed card in the front of the check-
book with the signature of the owner,
but said that many times students
forget to sign the card, making
positive identification of the check-
book owner impossible.
GEORGE BOUKAS, manager of 9-
West shoe store in Briarwood Mall,
said he refuses blank checks for the
protection of both his store and
checkbook owners whose checks are
stolen. "The chances of a starter
check having been stolen are ten
times greater because there is no
name printed on it, so there is nothing
to stop someone other than the owner
from using it."
Ulrich's and the Michigan Union
bookstore accept blank checks only at
the beginning of the school year, when
most students have just opened up
checking accounts and have only the
starter checks.
University Cellar will accept blank
checks all year round, but, said
general manager Bruce Weinberg,
"We're a bit leary of them."
MUSSER SUGGESTED that
freshmen open their accounts when
they come to orientation so that per-
manent checks would be ready by the
time they arrive in the fall.
The most serious checking obstacle
is a stolen checkbook.
Detective George Gallas of the Ann
Arbor Police Department said a
common mistake is carrying all of
your financial information around
when it's not needed. Carrying a
Ready Teller card and its iden-
tification number in the same wallet
is an example.
ALSO, MANY STUDENTS leave
financial information lying around in
public areas, such as dormitories,
which can be used by others to obtain
false identification cards.
If a checkbook or banking machine
card is lost or stolen, it should be
reported immediately to the bank,
and then to the police, since most
thieves use the checks within three
days ofsthe time they were taken,
Gallas said.
Another problem cited by store
owners is that students write checks
to stores immediately after making a
deposit into their checking account. If
the deposit has not had time to clear,
often the check comes back to the
store marked "insufficient funds."
The store must send the check back
again after the deposit has had time to
clear.
UNTIL THAT HAPPENS, however,
the store may not let the student pay
by check. Each of the three
bookstores keeps a returned check
list, so that students whose checks
have not gone through are not allowed
to pay by check.
Jacobson's credit manager Linda
Albertzart said that for puchases
larger than $50 salespeople might call
the customer's bank to make sure the
account has sufficient funds to cover
the debt.
Boukas said, "A retailer accepts
your check on good faith, on the
assumption that that's your account
and you have sufficient funds in it."
THOUGH BOUKAS said he has
relatively minor problems with
student checks, he said that checking
fraud by professionals is a danger.
Boukas said that last November a
team of professionals working in one
afternoon under six different names
wrote $29,000 worth of bad checks in
Briarwood mall, including his own
store.
9-West accepts checks if the
customer has his driver's license and
is not listed with Compucheck, a firm
which lists the names of persons who
have written three or more bad
checks in the past month.
9-West does all it can to make cer-
tain that both the customer and his
check are legitimate. If a customer
does not have a picture ID, a 9-West
salesperson will check a customer's
signature. 9-West will ask for ad-
ditional ID from people whose
signature or appearance varies from
that on their ID card.
BOUKAS HAS received bad checks
from students at the end of the school
year and from graduating seniors who
are about to leave town. He reports
bad checks to the police department
and sends a collection agency after
the offenders.
The most common roadblock for
student checkbook writers is the
easiest to eliminate - forgetting to
bring identification.
Musser said, "We feel bad about
turning a student away, but he's got
to have the proper ID. That's all it
takes forus.'
to Harvard University a new view of a
new world.
The odd introduction to college life
was organized by Burris Young
associate dean of freshman at Har-
vard, when he realized that because of
the Jewish holidays, he had a few
more days than usual to orient fresh-
"We want them to open their
eyes," said Young, "I've talked to
seniors who have never even been on
a subway."
Young packed 500 freshmen into
boats yesterday for a tour of
Georges Island, a Civil War fort in
Boston Harbor.
IN BRIEF
COMPILED FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS AND
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL REPORTS
Shawn Moore murder suspect
arraigned amid death threats
HOWELL, Mich. - The suspect in the kidnap-slaying of a 13-year-old
boy stood silent yesterday at a brief jailhouse arraignment held under
tight security prompted by death threats against him.
Ronald Lloyd Bailey, 26, of Livonia, Mich., who has a history of sex of-
fenses involving boys, eluded police for four days after being released
under "limited surveillance." With his father at his side holding an arm
around him, Bailey remained mute yesterday when District Court Judge
Mike Merritt asked for a plea to charges of kidnapping and murdering
Shawn Moore, 13.
The judge delayed entering a plea pending competency and criminal
responsibility evaluations to be held at the state's Ypsilanti facility.
Prosecutor Frank Delvero requested the examinations.
Britain ousts six more Soviets
LONDON - Britain ordered six more Soviets out of the country yester-
day in an escalating series of expulsions of purported spies which has
plunged Anglo-Soviet relations to one of the lowest points since World
War II.
The government accused two Soviet diplomats, two embassy clerks, a
trade representative and a journalist of spying and ordered them to leave
Britain by Oct. 7. Foreign Secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe said the move
was designed "to uphold Britain's national security."
The government also cut the permitted level of Soviet official personnel
in Britain from 211 to 205.
The Soviet Embassy in London quickly accused Britain in a statement
of a "provocative and vindictive action of an unfriendly nature and said it
was "totally unjustified on any grounds whatsoever."
It added that "the entire responsibility for the consequences of this ac-
tion rests with the British Side."
Smoking hurts U.S. economy
WASHINGTON - Disease and lost productivity due to smoking are
costing the United States some $65 billion a year - more than $2 for every
pack of cigarettes consumed - according to a new congressional study
released yesterday.
The new estimate from the Office of Technology Assessment, Congress'
scientific advisory body, is substantially higher than past calculations of
the costs of smoking reflected in increased medical bills, premature
death and time lost from work.
Our economy is losing more than $10 million an hour because of the
smoking habit," said Rep. Fortney Stark (D-Calif.), who requested the
study. "This study confirms air suspicion that smoking is not only a
deadly habit, but a costly one for the federal health care budget."
Stark, chairman of the health subcommittee of the tax-writing House
Ways and Means Committee, is pushing legislation to keep the cigarette
tax at its current 16 cents per pack instead of allowing it to revert to eight
cents a pack as scheduled at the end of this month. Stark's bill would
earmark part of the revenue to help pay for federal health care
programs.
Sweden re-elects socialist;
Communists gain influence
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Prime Minister Olof Palme has won re-
election in a general election, but results yesterday showed that his party
lost parlimentary seats and will be more dependent on support from the
small Communist Party.
"We've won the victory for the welfare state," the 58-year-old Social
Democrat said after votes were counted in the Sunday general election,
the country's first since 1982.
Palme, who will be serving his fourth term as prime minister, had
depicted the campaign as a battle to protect social welfare programs
from cuts which he said his non-socialist opponents would make if they
won power.
First elected prime minister in 1969, Palme served the two terms, one
of them for four years - parliamentary terms now run for three years -
before being defeated in 1976. He was re-elected in 1979 after four non-
socialist governments made up of varying combinations of the three op-
position parties.
Ulf Adelsohn, whose Conservative Party has not elected a prime
minister since 1928, said Swedes faced a "cold shower" for the next three
years under Palme, "but they've chosen it themselves." Adelsohn had
been figured as the new prime minister if Palme had lost.
Two killed in new outbreak
of violence in South Africa
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Two black men were fatally shot
a mob doused another man with gasoline and tried to set him on fire in a
new outbreak of unrest in a black township near Johannesburg, police
said yesterday.
As the violence flared, parents, doctors and plsychiatrists, concerned
about young people caught up in the year long wave of nationwide political
unrest, demanded the release of detained children and urged police to
stay away from black schools.
Police said a mob of blacks in the township of Tembisa attacked an am-
bulance and one passenger opened fire, killing two men, in overnight
violence reported yesterday..
Furtheredetails were not available and it was not clear whether the at-
tack was politically motivated. More than 700 blacks have died since last
September in racial unrest linked to protests against the white-minority
government and its policy of racial discrimination and segregation.
01 he ichigan Bat-IV
Vol XCVI- No. 9
The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967 X) is published Monday through
Friday during the Fall and Winter terms and Tuesday through Saturday
during the Spring and Summer terms by students at the University of
Michigan. Subscription rates: through April - $10.00 in Ann Arbor; $20.00
outside the city.
The Michigan Daily is a member of The Associated Press and Sub-
scribes to United Press International, Pacific News Service, Los Angeles
Times Syndicate, and College Press Service.
Today lto
U'in Octo
(Continued from Page 1)
where her 15 or so classmates and
professor carried on a discussion,
trying to look natural.
Later, the crew met the brown-
haired freshman for her jam-packed
chemistry lecture. Grace said the
large class would contrast well with
the smaller discussion class. Finally
they filmed Brown in her dorm room
and eating in the South Quad
cafeteria.
Brown was selected by the Today
show from a list of a dozen incoming
freshmen provided by the University.
The show's producers in New York
narrowed the list down to .five, and
chose Brown after interviewing each
one.
SEPTEMBER 16th to SEPTEMBER 20th
STATE STREET GIVEAWAY
feature
ber show
BROWN SAID when the Today show
called her for an interview in early
August, "I was in shock...It did
take a while for it to finally sink in."
Grace and a camera crew visited
Brown at her home in the Upper
Peninsula for a day a week before she
came to Ann Arbor to show the dif-
ference in her lifestyles. The crew
filmed Brown working at her summer
job as a receptionist, eating dinner
with her family, packing clothes to
get ready for school, and talking with
friends who stopped by to visit her.
The program's profile will contrast
Brown's expectations of the Univer-
sity with her actual experience here.
So far, she said, "It's pretty much
what I expected. I'm really enjoying
it."
"I KNEW the food wouldn't be
great, I knew it would be a lot of
work," she said. The academic
reputation of the University was in-
timidating, she said, but hasn't found
the workload too heavy despite 17
credit hours.
The Today show will profile a male
student at Brown University, Grace
said. Other taped pieces will focus on
the financial crunch facing students
and colleges, famous alumni from
both schools, what students do for fun,
the pros and cons of "megasports" at
the University, and glimpses of
general campus life.
As part of the campus life piece,
Grace and his crew went into the Un-
dergraduate Library and interviewed
two women. LSA junior Kara Bet-
tigole, who told Grace that her paren-
ts "would be surprised if they saw me
studying," is looking forward to the
show's airing. "I'm excited about it,"
she said. "I think it's going to
be really cool."
Bettigole, a member of the Alpha
Epsilon Phi sorority, told Grace
(jokingly, of course) that one of the
greatest problems of University life is
the "lack of male companionship."
World Premiere
First Big Screen Boardsailing Movie
IVIP
STEPS TO TAKE:
1. Pick up a "giveaway bag" (stuffed with mii
from any participating State Street Area s
restaurant.
2. Then ask any participating State Street Are
chant for a registration form to enter the drav
3. Stop by the Michigan Theatre Saturday, Sept
21st at 3 p.m. for the final drawing.
REGISTER NOW AT
ONE OF THESE LOCATION
Win a trip
to the,
Bahamasl.
IMAGINE YOURSELF AND YOUR CHOICE
COMPANION UNDER THE GRAND BAHAMA
ISLAND SUN... TURNING SPRING BREAK
INTO A TROPICAL ADVENTURE.
GAME RULES:
1.
2.
Student I.D. is required to register.
Registration may be in person or by mail to the
State Street Area Association, P.O. Box 4128, Ann
Arbor, MI 48106.
3. No purchase or other consideration is required to
enter.
4. Only one entry per person is permitted.
5. Prize drawing will be held at the Michigan Theatre
on September 21, 1985.
6. Entrants need not be present to win.
Editor in Chief..................NEIL CHASE
Opinion Page Editor ............ JOSEPH KRAUS
Managing Editors..........GEORGEA KOVANIS
JACKIE YOUNG
News Editor................THOMAS MILLER
Features Editor..............LAURIE DELATER
City Editor...............ANDREW ERIKSEN
Personnel Editor............. TRACEY MILLER
NEWS STAFF: Jody Becker, Laura Bischoff, Nancy
Driscoll, Carla Folz, Rachel Gottlieb, Sean Jackson,
David Klapman, Vibeke Laroi, Carrie Levine, Jerry
Markon, Eric Mattson, Amy Mindell, Kery Mura-
kami, Christy Reidel, Stacey Shonk, Katie Wilcox.
Magazine Editor ............. RANDALL STONE
Arts Editor .................CHRIS LAUER
Associate Arts Editors ............. JOHN LOGIE
Movies ..................... BYRON L. BULL
Records......................BETH FERTIG
Sports Editor..................TOM KEANEY
Associate Sports Editors ............. JOE EWING
BARB McQUADE
ADAM MARTIN
PHIL NUSSEL
STEVE WISE
SPORTS STAFF: Dave Aretha, Eda Benjakul, Mark
Borowsky, Emily Bridgham, David Broser, Debbie
deFrances, Joe Devyak, Rachel Goldman, Skip
Goodman, Joh Hartmann, Steve Herz, Rich Kaplan,
Mark Kovinsky, John Laherty, Scott Miller, Brad
Morgan, Jerry Muth, Adam Ochlis, Mike Redstone,
Scott Shaffer, Howard Solomon.
Business Manager .........DAWN WILLACKER
Sales Manager ............ MARY ANNE HOGAN
Assistant Sales Manager..............YUNA LEE
Marketing Manager ............CYNTHIA NIXON
Finance Manager ...............DAVID JELINEK
m