U.VA. STUDENTS WORK WITH BUSINESSES TO ESTABLISH TRUST

	ÒWe see our mission as students-helping-students maintain a
sense of trust among merchants.  Students with out-of-town checks
have a privilege at U.Va. that exists in few other places,Ó said
Steve Schaeffer, organizer of the first forum between area
businesses and University of Virginia students and administrators.

	The MerchantsÕ Forum will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, Nov.
18, in the RotundaÕs Dome Room at U.Va.

	Organized exclusively by students, the event will give
business representatives a chance to discuss factors associated with
students writing and cashing checks.  Included in the discussion
will be how the Bad Check Committee, a part of the Honor Committee
that acts as a liaison between merchants and students, handles
reports of checks returned for insufficient funds.

	After receiving bad check reports, the committee asks
students to repay merchants.  The committee can recommend
non-academic suspension for students who fail to repay bounced
checks or those who consistently use bad checks.  Last year the
committee received reports on approximately 550 checks returned for
insufficient funds.

	Student organizers hope merchants will use the forum to
describe how they would like the Bad Check Committee to enhance its
service to businesses.  First organized in 1923, the Bad Check
Committee is comprised of elected student representatives from each
school and support officers who communicate frequently with
merchants.

	For more information, contact the Bad Check Committee at
(804) 924-3452; Curtis Montgomery, chair of the Bad Check Committee,
at (804) 971-8006; or Schaeffer at (804) 296-6474.

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November 10, 1994