Scott McClurg/DN
FORMER PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE Bob Dole signs an autograph for
Kathleen McCallister of Omaha before speaking at the Nebraska
Republican Party’s St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast on Tuesday morning at
Embassy Suites in Omaha.
Bob Dole stops
for St. Patrick’s
Day breakfast
DOLE from page 1
resent the Republican party and the
principles it has.
It is especially important, Dole
said, for the Republican Party to
reach out to young party members.
“All of these young people are
looking to us for leadership,” he said.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
students Ryan Shuck and Peter
McClellan traveled from Lincoln to
the breakfast because of Dole’s
national prominence but said the
small-scale breakfast made Dole
more approachable.
“I really appreciated his humor,”
said McClellan, a junior mechanical
engineering major.
Dole said a Republican would be
in the White House and the GOP
would be the majority in Congress
by 2000.
And when Republicans choose
their next candidate for president, the
nomination process will be a “red hot
contest,” Dole said.
“We want to be the majority
across America.”
. „ wSTl
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Officials: Scams usually
sound too good to be true
SCAMS from page 7
national foundation to receive a scholar
ship,” or “You’re a finalist” in a contest
you never entered.
In fact, hotline operators for the
National Fraud Information Center at
(800) 876-7060 said all scholarship
companies are frauds, no matter what
guarantees they offer or how good they
sound.
“All the scholarship information
you need can be found in the ‘College
Blue Book' in your library,” one opera
tor said.
Love Library has the book in its ref
erence department.
Daniel Helfrnan, a consultant to the
National Consumers League, said in
1997 scholarship scams ranked No. 17
out of the top 50 national scams based
on the number of people affected and
money lost.
“These scams just prey on vulnera
ble people, and students are quite vul
nerable,” he said. “The primary (schol
arship) resource for students should be
their school’s financial aid office.”
In 1997, Meacham said, the Lincoln
Better Business Bureau had 54 callers
ask about scholarship offers.
“We’ve had very few complaints,”
Meacham said. “We can usually talk
(the caller) out of responding to (the
offer).”
According to the Better Business
Bureau, new and increasingly popular
scams are the work-at-home scams,
which offer to pay victims top dollar for
simple tasks such as stuffing envelopes
or assembling jewelry at home.
After roofing and siding contrac
tors, work-at-home scams received the
third-highest number of inquiry calls at
Better Business Bureaus nationwide.
in lyy/, the Lincoln Better
Business Bureau reported 954 inquiries
into work-at-home business opportuni
ties. Meacham said most people rely on
common sense and question such get
rich-quick schemes.
“Why would a company want to pay
you 50 cents per stuffed envelope when
they have machines to do it for free, and
50 times faster?” he said.
Scams can come in many other
shapes and forms. The Better Business
Bureau and other consumer watchdog
organizations warn people to stay away
from several scam-indicating scenarios,
including:
■ a “cop” asking your help in a
police investigation.
■ someone offering to sell you a
winning lottery ticket.
■ someone asking you to share in
found money.
The following phrases also accom
pany many scams:
■ “Cash.” If you are asked for a
large sum of money, ask yourself why
cash would be necessary.
■ “Don’t talk to anyone.” A good
businessman will advise you to consult
friends or family before getting in on a
deal.
■ “Get rich quick” or “something
for nothing.” No matter how tempting it
sounds, making money is never this
easy.
Above all, trust your instincts,
Meacham and other consumer watch
dogs said. If it sounds too good to be
true, then it more than likely is.
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