Target: College - Free Forum May 3, 2010

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is hosting a free forum for parents, school personnel, and community leaders to support and encourage academic success of students in grades 6-12. This forum will be held on May 3, 2010 at the Sci-Quest Hands-On Science Center located at 102-D Wynn Drive, Huntsville, AL 35805. The scheduled times are 6:00 - 6:30 PM for the Presentation and 6:30 - 7:00 PM for questions and answers. The topic for this meeting will be "Resources for Academic Success: Finding a College and Paying for College".

Parents, teachers, counselors (grades 6-12), and community leaders are invited to attend this free forum.

For additional information, contact educationaloutreach@mda.mil.

New $100 Bill Design

The United States Treasury Department unveiled the new design for the $100 bill which is scheduled for circulation in 2011. There are several new security features added to the new bill. The Treasury Department has an interesting website explaining the new features. A short video highlights the differences. Visit http://www.newmoney.gov/newmoney/Splashpage.aspx for information on the new $100 bill.

Youth Week Activities - Get in the Savings Game

National Credit Union Youth Week is taking place this week. This year's theme is "Get in the Savings Game" which is an excellent message for our youth today. North Alabama Educators Credit Union had a variety of deals and opportunities during the week to encourage savings by our current and potential youth members.

CU-Succeed Club members, ages 13-18, can open a new share draft account and receive the first box of checks free, first debit card free, no monthly fees, no minimum balances, and receive a $5.00 Sonic Card.

Any new youth members opening a new account during this week will receive $10 towards their new account. This is a good time to open that child's account!

Youth members opening a Certificate of Deposit (CD) for a reduced minimum of $300.00 during the week will receive an additional 15-basis points over the current posted rate AND also receive a $5.00 Sonic Card.

GRAND PRIZE DRAWING: Youth members may enter once each day for the Grand Prize drawing of $50.00 cash to be given away at the Main Office, Sparkman Branch, Athens Branch, and Madison Branch.

Students ages 10 and older, bring your last report card with A's and B's into the office during the week of April 19-23 and we will deposit $5.00 into your account.

Complimentary refreshments will be served on Monday & Friday of this week at the Main Office, Sparkman Branch, Athens Branch, and Madison Branch.

We will end the celebration on Friday afternoon from 3:00-4:30 PM at the Main office location on Whitesburg Drive with games & prizes for the Kirby Kangaroo Club members and a free NAECU T-Shirt for CU-Succeed Club members. SPECIAL GUEST HOMER FROM THE HUNTSVILLE STARS WILL BE AT THE MAIN OFFICE FROM 3:00-4:30 PM ON FRIDAY, APRIL 23RD!

Visit http://www.naecu.org/newsandtips.html for additional details on other youth week activities during the week. A flyer and $10.00 referral coupon are also available.

Annoying Coworkers Survey

Our Vice-President of Administration came across these categories of "annoying coworkers" based upon a national human resource study.

A great coworker can help you look forward to going to work each day. An annoying coworker, on the other hand, can make you want to hide under the covers. A large survey by the staffing firm Ranstad USA asked employees what their biggest office peeves were. It turns out they all involved coworkers. Annoying ones.

Do you recognize any of the top six most annoying coworker types?

The Psst-er: Gossipers were the number one pet peeve in the survey. While some people like to hear juicy tidbits about the boss or their colleagues, too much gossip can undermine the spirit of the workplace. Plus you're always wondering when the Psst-er will make you the topic du jour.

The Broken Clock: These coworkers stink at time management. They're routinely late for everything, including work. They tend to spend too much time on emails, take long lunches, and then scramble to get others to help them meet their deadlines, which, for some reason, they keep missing.

Mold Guy: Coworkers who mess up communal spaces were third on the list of workplace pet peeves. Their month-old leftovers sport a thick layer of fur in the company fridge. Every office seems to have at least one who stinks up shared spaces.

The Whiffy Wonder: You can smell these coworkers wafting about from the other end of the office. They just wear too much perfume or cologne. Some have an obsession with Obsession. Others feel the need to douse themselves with Old Spice. And hiding in your cubicle won't make the overpowering smell go away.

The Cracker: Crackers are loud. They crack loud jokes, they crack their knuckles, they crackle their chewing gum, they clank spoons in coffee cups like they're calling the cows to come in from the fields. People who work near crackers can find themselves ready to crack.

The Tapper: Tappers are generally quieter than Crackers. But that doesn't make them any less annoying when they're tap-tap-tapping on their personal communication devices during meetings. It's distracting, rude, and yes, just plain annoying!

Fishing for a Cure Bass Tournament

North Alabama Educators Credit Union is one of the sponsors for an upcoming "Fish for a Cure" Bass Tournament to be held on May 22, 2010.

Details and an entry form are available by clicking HERE.

Proceeds from the event will benefit the credit union's primary fundraising effort, the Breast Cancer Awareness Fund. Our employees continue to develop new ideas and events to help raise money for Breast Cancer Awareness.

Member and community support of these fundraiser events are very much appreciated! If you know an avid fisherman who enjoys these type of fishing tournaments, please let them know. They can enjoy themselves and help the community at the same time!

Account Verification by our Supervisory Committee

The Supervisory Committee is performing an Account Verification for the March 31, 2010 statement cycle. If any of the information on your statement is incorrect, please respond in writing to: Supervisory Committee, North Alabama Educators Credit Union, PO Box 380428, Birmingham, AL 35238-0428. PLEASE DO NOT send any address changes, loan payments, or deposits to this address. PLEASE NOTE that all e-statement members will also receive a mailed statement this statement cycle as part of this verification process.

An important part of this process is for us to verify that we have good addresses on our members. Do not be alarmed by this Account Verification process. All federally insured credit unions are required to perform an Account Verification on the membership at least once every two years. It is another step to help insure the safety of member funds against improper transactions and account takeovers. Members are encouraged to closely review their account statements EVERY statement period.

Five Signs "Census Taker" is a Crook

Good article from AZCentral.com.

Five signs 'census taker' is a crook.

PHOENIX (3/15/10)--The 2010 census officially gets under way this week--most forms arrive in mailboxes today through Wednesday. But expect con artists to exploit this once-every-10-years event by getting you to let your guard down and divulge personal information to impersonators (AZCentral.com March 3).

Legitimate census workers go door-to-door from the end of April to July to capture information from households that fail to mail back the form. Crooks know this and will attempt to collect information from you that's not required by the census--personal information that could lead to identity theft.

Take the census seriously, fill out the form, and mail it back. But don't get taken by impersonators with smooth tactics. Know the five signs that point to a census scam:

1. "Please verify your Social Security number." Legitimate census takers don't ask for this. In fact, there are just 10 simple questions on the form—that's it. And a question about your Social Security number isn't one of them.

2. "We need your credit union or bank account number." No, they don't. None of the census' 10 questions asks for financial data (MarketWatch.com Feb. 27). And the Census Bureau will never ask you for your PIN, passwords, or similar access information for credit cards or financial accounts.

3. "Please fill out your census form by replying to this e-mail or visiting this website." That's a sure sign it's a scam, because the Census Bureau never will contact you by e-mail or ask you to answer questions on a website.

4. "Of course I'm a census taker--you know about the census, right?" Legitimate census takers carry official badges and will give you the phone number of the local Census Bureau office so you can verify identities. To be safe, find your regional census office phone number at Census.gov/regions and call to verify identities.

5. "In cooperation with the census, we're asking for donations to a local charity." Legitimate census takers don't collect money for charities or political parties, according to the Census Bureau.

If you think you've been a victim of a census scam, contact your regional Census Bureau office immediately. Don't reply to suspicious e-mails or click on links within e-mails that portend to be from the Census Bureau. Instead, forward the e-mail or website URL to ITSO.Fraud.Reporting@census.gov. Then delete the message. The Census Bureau will investigate and notify you of its findings.