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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 19, 1999)
' he Battalion GGIELIFE Page 3 • Tuesday, October 19, 1999 DELI Removing the wool \tudents learn hard way about being scammed by unethical business, individuals E»K- ~T r \(\y . ■ >r. Edi BY MELISSA PANTANO The Battalion ast week two Madisonville women were arrested in connection with an Internet scam affecting peo- Iple across the country. The scam was simple; the men posted an online auction for Beanie Babies and puter parts. The victims were told to send money to a rented post ice box in College Station but they never saw the pis they purchased. [Scams such as. this occur every day in the peaceful ibble of College Station. Students who work hard for it money usually are targeted, and some are not even are they are being scammed. Elizabeth McNeill, a senior agriculture econom- major, said sometimes people take advantage of |hers’ kindness. I was eating at a restaurant,” McNeill said. “The er filled out the tip part of the charge slip and tipped iself $10.” McNeill said that in the future, she will be more cfreful with her money. J “I feel like I have to keep all my receipts and check them with my credit-card statement to make sure I'm getting ripped off,” she said. Society vote Parti' ECIALS irmation 35 ’set in Editor taphics Editor linion Editor ' Editor impus Editor Editor a Producer Ichison, KimberHd k, Cody Wages S iPlierson; Gabrieli IP Beats iJefttyS* Eric Andraos, Bret iinaPadron, Betti V I Siidhara, Kyle it# : Jason Bennytof. lover, Headier Burt lAmanda Palm, ton, ilark, Laura M 151 tut Pibfations, a 1-264?; E-mail: Mellrf* lattalioa M route tsciwiriictajly^ iatWe^SSIwJ?®® Mon.drWIIlt, GRAPHICS BY ROBERT HYNECEK/The Bahai.ion Rick Powell, a students’ attorney with Student Conflict Resolution Services in the Department of Student Life, said he gets scam complaints every day from students. “I have heard it all,” he said. “Students get scammed by dentists, automobile dealers, landlords, people sell ing dogs, Internet scams, travel packages, etc.” Powell said there are ways students can protect them selves from scams. “The most important thing is to find out exactly who you are dealing with,” he said. “The easiest way to do that is to contact the Better Business Bureau and find out what kind of complaints have been made against the company. Another way is to find people who have used their services and talk to them.” Powell said students should thoroughly read every document they sign. “Contracts get students in a lot of trouble,” Powell said. “Make sure you read the whole thing before you sign anything.” Powell said that when students are trying to find out about potential landlords, they should talk to people who are current residents to find out about the practices of the residence’s owner. “Don’t be afraid to bang on doors,” Powell said. “Find out if the maintenance staff gets the job done. Look in the lease agreement for the return of your de posit. A lot of students only get a percentage of their money back and can’t do anything about it because it was in the lease.” Tiffany Winkles, a junior poultry science major, said she learned that a good deal is not always what it seems. “I bought a discount card from a salon in Bryan from someone who came to my door,” Winkles said. “It cost like $40 for 15 services, which sounded like a good deal at the time.” Winkles said she got into trouble because she did not take the time to read the fine print. “The salesman didn’t say that the certificate was only good for 60 days,” Winkles said. “But we turned him in, and he got arrested. The thing that made me mad is that we were giving him our credit-card numbers without even thinking twice. I’m not as trusting now with peo ple who come to my door.” Lisa Cantu, a senior nutritional sciences major, said she got scammed by people who approach most A&M students. “This guy said he was selling magazines to help raise money for a scholarship,” Cantu said. “I wrote ■: S -■ »>.:■ him a check [and] the check cleared, but I never got my magazines.” Cantu said that because of this incident, she now is more careful with people who come to her door. “It really made me mad,” Cantu said. “I’m not as naive with my money now.” Pdwell said the Department of Student Life offers con flict resolution and mediation at no charge to students who find themselves in these situations. D HMtwmW dip mcomt IS. “The mediation services try to resolve the conflict through a neutral party without getting the courts in volved,” he said. He said there is legislation that has been enacted to help protect students from scams. “One of the defenses a student has against being scammed is the deceptive trade practices act,” Pow ell said. “The act covers specific areas but can also be used broadly to recover damages from the scam.” All’s fair in t hi o war of lovo ffiiiSh HJfwiTTrnrrnrSJ in addacia/ion uutlt omi^bytes com It's my Web. h' m p/ie^enti a FREE ADVANCE SCREENING IMBBmk inmwiwIUB. DOffiSMf POMES nWMmam MAIMWIW n MWil IHLIffl "H aitt b iiAiiw si Biff mm mou MWfflltoAII BRlMlifflA ML mm JOIBSMHIMSIKAWW® iWiNSAffifflflANO ^ Mkc*»>» ft* hmi*.* >o« fft Rum mm]misowr aiimii wmmiis ,imm ■ : mm;m< I JINK.MB niaiG - MKESUMfwmiiniW Vt_ACX JKWZSMOWT nttJKS oorviiMO oonrobeef? 22? k rtm >***x*+ vtmxtAiittwi ..v. **.»•-<< TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY @ Rudder Theatre 8 PM Wednesday, October 20 FREE ADMISSION* while passes last INFO?: call SPO 845-1515 http://films.tamu.edu * Passes available at Rudder Theatre Box Ofice or lobby. Passes required. Seating is limited and not guaranteed. Please arrive early. Presented in association with MSC Film Society. cdio- btf.... -A THE LOISJGiEF*. NETWORK EVENT THEATER® ©1999 Warner Bros. All Rights Reserved Chat live on-line '' members of the cast of the film on [finl^by tGSbCOm.. Wed. at 10:30 PM ET It's mv Web.