February 10 2003 By Becky Booth Caitlin Lutzer, one of three President’s Scholarship winners, address those present at the University of Northern British Columbia awards ceremony. Other recipients of the President’s Scholarship include Caitlin Birdsall and Kathryn Hall. second Try at AGM Goes Through (continued) continued from page 3 and Dental Insurance Program. Christine Cielsielski, the First Nations Representative, reported having sat on the selections committee for the First Nations co-ordinator. She has also volunteered at local pot lucks and the Kokanee V.I.P. parties. Johan Boyden, the Director of External Affairs, reported meeting with representatives from C.N.C., the University of Alberta, the University of Victoria, and Malaspina, and has fostered good relations with them. Johan has also been updating NUGSS’s harassment policy. Cathy Wood, the Director of Internal Affairs, has volun- teered for NUGSS sponsored events this year, as well as working with U.N.B.C.’s clubs. Nedinska MacEachern, NUGSS’s Ombudsperson, has been working extensively with the emergency aid pro- gram for students. Nedinska has advertised the availability of emergency aid applications via e-mail for increased anonymity, as well as worked on the food bank in conjunc- tion with PGPIRG. Carolynne Burkholder, the CASHS representative, has assisted Cathy with club organisation and worked at NUGSS events. Kristin Kulachkosky, the Womens’ Representative, has helped with events and sits on the Womens’ Centre Committee. Serena Hartl, the Associate Director of Campus Activities, sits on the Monetary Affairs Commission and the Campus Events Committee. She has also helped out with events. Associate Director of Campus Activities Damien Pirro assisted with NUGSS sponsored events as well. He sits on the Scholarship Committee, while also being responsible for the textbook buy/sell operation at the beginning of the semester. Barb Dalflyen, the Associate Director of Finance and Operations, has worked close- ly with Chris Reid throughout her term. She has worked on budgets, records, etc. She has also helped with events and helped conduct NUGSS sur- veys. All in all, AGM 2003 ran smoothly and efficiently. Each elected representative gave a quick and effective report of their activities this year. News Over The Edge Page 5 students Easy Target for Counterfeiters Bars common places bills are passed By Mike Oliveira, Ryersonian TORONTO (CUP) — It’s late Friday night and you're at a dark, smoky bar, winding down after a long week of school. You fight for the bar- tender’s attention, pay for a drink with a $20 bill, and quickly collect your change before slipping back into the crowd. You don’t know it yet, but that drink cost you a lot more than you realized. You've been passed a counter- feit $10 bill and have no recourse but to accept the loss, or face some very serious con- sequences if you try to pass it on. Fake $10 bills have become the note of choice for counter- feiters these days and students have become a primary target, experts Say. Denis SPP Bt P ; spokesman for the Bank of Canada, said students and clubgoers have become “easy marks” for counterfeiters * because the dark atmos- — phere and the crowded, hurried pace of transac- tions in bars, make it easier .. for fake money to be passed — undetected. “We’ve seen an increase in what we call ‘casu- al counterfeiting,’ (which is) people trying to pass just a few bills at a bar or a corner store,” Abbott said. “Bars are vulnerable because the light- ing is often not as good ... and people aren’t checking [a bill’s] security features like they need to. “And sometimes the bars aren’t vigilant enough in checking (either.)” It used to be that counterfeit money was mostly a problem for merchants. Businesses have been scammed so many times by fake $50 and $100 bills that they stopped accept- ing them and the notes nearly disappeared from circulation. But now, counterfeiters are adjusting their strategies by mainly copying small bills. The problem, Abbott said, is that most consumers don’t expect small bills to be coun- terfeit and assume only large bills get copied. “When someone counter- feits a low denomination like a $10 bill they think they can pass it because no one ... thinks anyone would try counterfeiting a ten. No one thinks to check it,” Abbott ‘said. “Counterfeiting is (a crime) of opportunity. Our review is that people are try- ing to pass counterfeit tens because they don’t think any- one’s going to check them.” In 2001, the $100 bill was the note si $ choice _ for counterfeiters but that’s changed dramatically, said RCMP Staff Sgt. Paul Marsh. The $10 bill emerged as the most popular bill to counter- feit last year, accounting for 55 per cent of all fakes police found; the $20 bill followed at a 25 per cent frequency. Although _— experts ~—s say Canadian currency is among the most high-tech in the world when it comes to anti- counterfeiting measures, it took only months for new fakes to begin making the rounds after the newly redesigned $10 bill was issued in early 2001. Now that the smaller fake bills are the most prominent on the street, students are more likely to get stuck with one. But for those victims thinking about trying to pass on a counterfeit bill, think again. “It’s a very dangerous game to play,” said Marsh. The max- imum penalty for passing a counterfeit note is up to 14 years in prison. “It’s a terrible risk to take,” added Abbott. “It’s a serious crime and not something the bank, police or the courts take lightly. It’s not something people should attempt to do.” Sgt. Robb Knapper of the Toronto Police said that if caught, the onus is on the individ- ual to prove they didn’t inten- tionally pass a counterfeit bill. He said victims of counterfeit- ing should immediately call police, who will pick up the bill, ask questions about how it was passed and start an investigation. “Normally we ask you to touch it as little as possible, so we can try to lift fingerprints and possibly get the person who originated the bill,” Knapper said. Police won't reimburse vic- tims for their fake bill, no one will, said Knapper. But there is one “rare case” in which resti- tution is possible. It’s unlikely but if a consumer can prove they received a counterfeit bill from the bank, a refund may be negotiated with the institu- tion. “It has happened. It’s a case where someone makes a deposit and it gets cycled back into the system. But it’s very, very rare,” Abbott said.