I
"1
uo
BOOKSTORE
13th & Kincaid
Mon-Fn 8 15-5 30
Sat 10 00-5 30
Sinn Boom NMS1I
Suoptos —I mi
I
-J
N
i One day film developing service
/
CEDAR HEALTH SPA
Announcing New Hours
8 Wfeirlpo*!
SI OFF
«j mf mmr u ttli tkij *d
117 Monroe
-a
V,
MARCH AND RALLY
Saturday,
Nov. 7
Assemble: 11 a m. 12th & Hilyard
Endorsed by the following faculty:
Vat Burnt. Sociology*
William Cadbury, Film Studies
Edwin Coleman, English
Steve Deutsch. Lerc
Robert Jackson, Romance Languages
Ben Johnson, Sociology
David Milton, Sociology
Cheyney Ryan. Philosophy
Ellen Setter. Film Studies
Al Szymanski, Sociology
Nat Telch, English
David Wellman, Sociology
Richard Young, Psychology
Don Van Houten, Sociology
Alan Wolfe, Chinese & Japanese
Dave Curtand, Romance Languages
Raymond Bim. History
TJk. Brady, Jr., History
Roger Chickering, History
Joseph Esherick, History
Jack Maddex, History
R.G. Lang, History
George Sheridan, History
FIGHT BACK
Against the Reagan Cuts
I_r
$
buncino checks
§ ome Eugene businesses aren't
bouncing back from the effects of a poor
economy but more and more of their
customers checks are
A new state law which allows victims to
collect greater sums from the bad check
writer went into effect Monday and may help
alleviate the problem
In September alone the Eugene Police
Department handled more than $20,000
worth of bad checks says Detective Tom
Hooker of the EPD s fraud detail
The fraud detai; a two-man operation
comprised of Hooker and Detective D A
Norenberg has statistics for almost 700 bad
checks totaling more than $158 000 that have
been passed since January Norenberg says
he expects those statistics to top $225 000 by
the end of the year
Four years ago when Norenberg began
working the fraud detail for the police
department he says those yearly figures
added up to about $65 000
Norenberg and Hooker estimate that
their statistics represent only 20-25 percent
of the bad checks passed in Eugene
Their detail has only enough time and
manpower to take cases in which the check
writer passed bad checks totaling S200 or
more The remainder of reported bad checks
are kept on file until the $200 amount is
reached Hooke' says
The merchants are realiy getting
taken he says
Somehmes the merchants eat bad
cnecks rather than go through the hassles of
reporting them Hooker says However those
stores don't pay the tab he says
John Q Citizen pays it "
A ^ough Norenberg says the poor
economy has something to do with it
Hooker hesitates to blame ai' bad check
writing on the economy
Paper crime — ft s increasing he says
People are finding out how easy it is
Bad check writing has a snowballing
effect on people. Hooker says They 'll write
one or two here, one or two there our
telephone starts to ring and sooner or later
they hit that ($200) mark "
The culprits are mostly amateurs —
"people trying to make a fast buck, trying to
beat the system," he says Those people
write bad checks for items such as athletic or
stereo equipment, clothing jewelry
groceries or travel fares - luxuries Hooker
calls the items
"They usually get caught
Often, when they do get caught they re
surprised at the severity of the
consequences. Hooker says
Passing bad checks is a Class A
misdemeanor, carrying a maximum one-year
jail sentence and or a $1 000 fine Hooker
says
The Eugene Police Department fraud
detail has an arrest record of approximately
77 percent Norenberg says Of that number
about 50 percent are prosecuted in court
He attributes the high percentages
mainly to easy access to hard evidence — the
bad checks themselves
In a recent case at the University, a
student took three checks from her sorority
sister and purchased clothing with them.
Hooker says
"She s basically an honest girl he says
The opportunity was there but now there s
no way she can walk by that sorority with her
head up ”
Another case involved a mail worker who
allegedly stole checks from one of the
University residence halls mail rooms
Eugene police brought him back from Illinois
to face more than 40 charges That case is
being tried now Hooker says
I don't know how long he thought he
could get by with ft, but he didn t
Stories by Marian Green
Graphic by Max DeRungs
‘Now let me get this straight. You want to pay for $250 worth of
bubble yumm with this check from the Peoples Piggy Bank. ..
University traces
most bad checks
Bad check writing isn’t limited
to just businesses in Eugene —
the University business office
handles more than its share of
bad paper
While the Eugene Police
Department reports tens of
thousands of bad checks being
passed yearly in the city, the
University business affairs office
processes more than 1,000
returned checks a year, says
Mikal Hoffman, a business office
employee
The business office
successfully collects from most of
the students who pass bad paper
because students aren't allowed
to register the following term
unless they make good on any
unpaid funds, Hoffman says.
If the office can’t collect that
way, it has a couple of options.
One is taking the student to
small claims court.
“Small claims is very effective,”
says Donald Thomas, the office s
assistant business manager. He
says about three-fourths of the
cases taken to small claims court
are ruled in favor of the
University.
If the office still can't collect,
they may resort to a revision of a
state law that went into effect
Monday, allowing businesses and
victims to collect civil damages
from the check bouncer
Under the amendment, persons
convicted of negotiating bad
checks are “civilly liable” to the
injured party for an amount equal
to $100 or three time the check s
amount, not to exceed $500 more
than the check s value However,
the victim is required to make a
written demand 10 days prior to
taking action.
William Me Laughlin, director of
business affairs, says the
business office will use the new
amendment with discretion.
“We'll treat each case on its
own merits,” Me Laughlin says.
“We’re going to give them a
chance to make it right.”
The University business office
has received bad checks ranging
from 50 cents to $2,000, Hoffman
says. And although the office
levies a $7.50 charge on each
returned check, Hoffman says
that fine doesn't cover the
paperwork cost to process the
bad paper.
“It’s just a lot of extra work that
nobody really needs,” he says. It
takes one full-time person to
process the paperwork.
During the last fiscal year, 483
bad checks — or almost half —
came from the EMU Main Desk
alone, he says. Students can
cash checks at the Main Desk for
up to $10 by showing their
student identification card.
If a student's check is returned,
the Main Desk revokes the
student’s check-cashing
privileges for the remainder of the
fiscal year, or until the student
shows the Main Desk a letter from
his or her bank indicating a
mistake.
“A lot of times, it's a hassle
because a lot of times it isn’t their
(the students’) fault. But there’s
no other way we can do it,” says
Debby Martin, who works at the
Main Desk.
Thomas says students with
financial problems can obtain
short-term loans from the
University Financial Aid Office.
Ski Tahoe With Us!
-December 27 thru January 3
•Classic trip! 7 days/6 nights in Lake Tahoe. Beautiful Condominium
lodging (double occupancy), fine food (New York steaks, prime rib.
etc.), transportation and 5-days ski-lift tickets included in price!
•Classic skiing! Squaw Valley USA. Alpine Meadows. Northstar at
Tahoe. Homewood. Ski Incline. Lift tickets for all five areas included!
•Classic price! $495 Price includes transportation, lodging, food and
ski-lift tickets
Tour limited to 13 persons.
Reservations close Nov. 23.
• For more information, write:
Darren Berg Tours, Inc.
Skiing charter specialists
PO Box 11325
Eugene. OR 97401-3525
ICC * MC-144726
j V.
Dance This Weekend
at Duffy’s to
ROCK
BAND
280081 231
Due to contractual obligations, these four musicians
are forced to perform under the generic name,
Rock Band", for legal protection However, each
well-known member has payed his dues with the
Northwest s hottest touring rock'n'roll bands
Duffy’s
Corner 13th & Alder
174 East P* t oad way
342*33^6