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ATMs can menace, frustrate users when not emitting cash
by Steven Wolcott Kansan staff writer
Kansan staff writer
University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, April 5, 1989
Automatic teller machines, or ATMs, are a boon to students who access them for extra cash while partying late at night or extending a shopping trip. The ATM can also be used to turn to frustration when an ATM is not working.
Boocher said many of the malfunctions were caused by customers who didn't correctly operate the ATMs. Other bank officials blamed malfunctions on customer abuse.
"Power surges, electrical storms, heat — any problem that can affect a computer can affect an ATM," said Lori Boogher, an assistant vice president of Lawrence National Bank, 647 Massachusetts St.
"If someone doesn't take their money fast enough from the machine, the machine has a safety function that locks the drawer," she said. "When you don't use the machine until we come out and unlock it."
Linda Stanton, manager of teller services for the First National Bank of Lawrence, 900 Massachusetts St., said vandalism was the most common problem the bank had with its ATMs.
"People abuse our machines." Stanton said. The ATM is a very delicate instrument, and if it fails, it's not easy to repair.
Stanton said keyboards on the machines had been broken by people banging on them.
"They get angry if their balance isn't sufficient." 'Stanton said.' If the machine isn't working, the people will be angry.
"When we're in the back servicing them, we've people come in and curse and hit the machines."
Boocher said ATMs rarely made monetary mistakes, but when they did they were easy to use.
"Even before you start a transaction the machine has recorded the card number, and the
machine keeps a record of whatever the customer tries to do. "Boogher said. "When the machines are balanced each day we can go through the transactions and find out where the mistake
Jean Milstead, senior vice president of Douglas County Bank, Ninth and Kentucky streets, said the bank's ATMs were programmed to test themselves periodically.
"If it detects something wrong, the machine would shut itself off and contact the monitoring people at Boatmans Bank in Kansas City to get it repaired." Milstead said.
Some students have experienced problems with ATMs "eating," or confiscating, their cards.
Boogher said banks could program ATMs to confiscate a card for several reasons.
"If a person had excessive overdrafts, for example," she said. "Or if the card has been reported stolen, we can tell the machine we want to use captured the next time someone tries to use it."
One safeguard against fraud is the personal identification number, or PIN, issued with each ATM card. After inserting your card in the ATM card reader, the PIN to identify himself to the ATM as the correct user.
Stanton said that if a card was bent or broken, or if the magnetic strip on the back was damaged, the card would not work.
"If you have someone else's card and try to use combinations of PINs to get in, the machine will recognize them."
Wait, is it "combinations of PINs to get in" or "combinations of PINs to get in"? It's "combinations of PINs to get in".
Let me re-read the whole thing.
"If you have someone else's card and try to use combinations of PINs to get in, the machine will recognize them."
Bank officials said robberies of late-night ATM users had not been a problem.
Milstead said the areas around Douglas County Bank's ATMs were well-lit and had video cameras
"We've not had a problem with robberies, but that was one of the reasons we went to a drive-up facility at our newest ATM," she said.
BELLEVILLE, Ill. — An international exchange program on the ins and outs of sweeping chimneys took place here before 22 visiting Swedes and their families in a contest to a national convention yesterday in San Diego.
U.S., Sweden swap sweep ideas
Belleville sweep Hugh Maine borrowed his neighbor's chimney as the Swedish sweeps and industry representatives learned to clean, American style.
The Swedes then gave the U.S. sweeps their version of cleaning out soot.
Person or cleaning out soak.
Sedish sweeps use feathery, stainless-steel
The Associated Press
Not just any frogs, mind you, but rare northern crawfish fish. The frogs were brought to the Baker Wetlands, just south of Lawrence, last weekend by some University of Kansas staff members who were studying the frogs and their habitat.
Maine said that the Swedish government allowed the master sweeps to wear its coat of arms — a distinction only shared by the nation's police — and that the company, the employee responsible for chimney-related fires.
chimneys," Maine said. "Instead of rods, they use ropes and weights to carry brushes down the flue."
Local environmental groups were concerned that the freeway would endanger the Baker Wetlands, the habitat where the frogs had been known to exist.
Lars-Gunnar Borjesson, vice president of the Swedish Master Sweep Association, said each region or city in Sweden had one master chimney sween.
Frogs returned to the county with KU help after 10 years
Bill Busy, a zoologist with the Kansas Biological Survey, was member of the group that captured the frogs on a prairie in Anderson County 55 miles south of Lawrence.
The frogs became a local issue a few years ago when discussion began about the city's planning and development.
by Max Evans Kansan staff writer
They're not exactly the swallows coming back to Capistrano, but some frogs are returning to Douglas County after a 10-year absence.
With the help of other chimney sweeps, journeymen and apprentices, the master chimney sweep is responsible for making sure all chimneys are inspected.
Bursay said old Douglas County records showed that the frogs, a threatened species in Kansas, once thrived in the Wetlands but had not been seen in the county for about 10 years.
Bushy said bringing the frogs back to the local habitat would not cause a decrease in the number of the critters that still existed in the neighboring counties south of Lawrence.
"There were hundreds of them at least," Busby said, speaking of last weekend's exploration.
"We have better equipment to brush and swee
The group brought back what Busy described as a small bucket of eggs, which were planted in the Wetlands. Officials hope the eggs will hatch within the next few days. They also brought back a small number of mature specimens.
However, there appears to be one problem with last weekend's hunt: the group had received backpacks of food and equipment at the Department of Wildlife and Parks to bring back 20 frogs. The group brought back nine, all males.
Busy said there was a good chance the group would go back to the prairie in Anderson County this weekend. This time they hope to bring back some females.
But all is not lost.
The Associated Press contributed information to this story.
BODY HEAT Male Dancers Thursday, April 6 from K.C. 8-10 p.m. (guys admitted at 10)
SAVANNA live Rock & Roll from K.C. 10-1:30 a.m
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McCollum Hall 2nd Annual Battle of the Bands April 29th
Looking for bands Contact: Kellie 864-6400 / Kim 864-6042