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Union bounces check fee
by Jane Owens
The proposed 25-cent check cashing fee which the
Nebraska Union Board planned to institute effective
July 1, will be reconsidered according to board
president Mary Cannon.
Addressing the Council on Student Lite (L,bt)
Thursday Cannon termed the board's original plan to
charge 25 cents on checks cashed at the Union "very
rudimentary. We (board members) have got a lot of
questions (concerning the check cashing fee) and are
still in the process of refining our policy."
Cannon said the board was "working with some
messed up figures" when it decided to assess the
25-cent charge. Further study will be necessary to
determine if the proposed fee should be changed, she
explained.
Board members agree that the Union should
continue to offer a check-cashing service. However, a
fee should be charged for the service, Cannon said.
'The Board now must decide how much the
Regents meeting
Despite the regents' expressed intention to
discuss a proposal to allow alcohol in campus
living units, that proposal isn't scheduled or
discussion at their meeting this Saturday
morning at the University of Nebraska Medical
Center's Eppley Science Hall in Omaha.
A proposal to allow alcohol in on campus
University-approved student housing was
tabl ed until April at the board's March
meeting. .
The regents could add the measure to their
agenda after a Friday night meeting with the
Intercampus Student Advisory Committee but
reportedly plan to wait until May and discuss
the proposal with other student policy
decisions, including expanded visiiduun
privileges and student: tees.
service charge should be and minimum and maximum
amounts for checks, she said.
"We feel that the Union has an obligation to
handle check cashing," said Al Bennett, Nebraska
Union director. "But we also need to consider the
cost of offering this (check cashing) service in relation
to the educational programs the Union offers
Bennett said that unless a service charge for check
cashing is instituted, funds for Union programs, such
as Talks and Topics, might be cut back.
"The cost (to the Union) of offering a check
cashing service is a rip off on other services the Union
offers " Harry Canon, CSL members and director of
student development services. "Check cashing is a
convenience for those who use it, and I see no reason
why they (users) shouldn't pay a service charge.
The fee was instituted because of the hirst
National Bank's decision to start charging a fee for
cashing such a large volume of checks, Cannon said.
Bennett said, the Union cashed over S1 million
worth of checks last fiscal year. The bank would
charge $3,000 to $5,000 annually to continue the
service, he said.
Besides covering the bank costs for cashing checks,
Bennett said the service charge would help pay the
$10 000 to $14,000 spent annually in wages for
union employees who operate the service and some
other costs.
A portion of the revenue collected would be used
to collect insufficient fund checks, he said. However,
only $400 in bad checks was received by the Union
last fiscal year, resulting in an actual collection cost
of about $800 Bennett said.
The Union Baord announced earlier this week that
it was considering a $50,000 investment over the next
year in the Union check cashing operation. The cash
on hand account used for check cashing purposes
would be increased from $7,000 to more than
$20,000, it said. , ,
Board members plan to report back to CbL next
Thursday, after further studying cnec wbim.y
V
I
photo by Gail Folda
Nebraska Union Director Al Bennett...if
check cashing remains free of charge, other
programs might suffer.
POlneother business, CSL charged its subcommittee
on student organizations to study and report .back .in
two weeks on policy regarding student activities held
at facilities "governed in part by discriminatory
PraTheecharge resulted from an inquiry which cited
the ROTC Military Ball held at the Lincoln Elks Uub.
The club does not allow black members.
privileges ana siuuem. ices. -
"McTcoopeTllinYhis show and himself
.... ... fm o Maoir Christian tour." he says, tryit
by Jim Gray
The worst part of an Alice Cooper news
conference is the waiting. ( . . .,
While sitting and anticipating Alices arrival, its
natural to speculate about wnat s going iu nd"-
What will it be this time-feather boa or boa
constrictor? Guillotine or garrote? Killer or Schools
Out? ......
But it's none of those. Instead its Alice in nib
other role-the Warner Brothers PR man hyping his
latest album, his next rock show and mostly nm.suu.
Somehow appropriately, the conrerence is n m.
Holiday Inn. in the midst of tractor and truck
dealerships and grain elevators. Next door at the
Starlite Motel, McCook riign cnooi
"Welcome McCook" on the marquee. At tne noiiaay
Inn, Alice rates a "Welcome am uuesis . inuin "
not'exactly been over taken with Alice hysteria.
The motel itself is the usual Monday inn-jii.
and semiplush. ("It's the only place we can get m
Cooper says. "Richard Speck could get in at the
Holiday Inn. ) .
The conference room is decorated in ru-nu-yu.w
rr.i.. fiu,rfi,. m.th m.-u-lp nannlina. Even the setup is
stereotyped-a table at the front, (white tablecloth), a
bar at the back with a smiling umu i ...... ......
(HOLIDAY INN, BEV, her plastic tag reads).
And in between sit two rows oi nus ....-
by representatives of the local news media.
Enter Alice, fashionably late. Druuni ."
playing baseball (baseband, wenn ....
almost-too-sedate black and white knit shirt and
polka-dot pants. And white cowboy doois. mmi
turns on the synthetic electricity and the devastating
humor. The media people put down their
scotch-and-waters and pick up their pencils.
Thp first volley of questions is tiiimi. uuu
Humane Society get on your back?" "What do you
think about busts at concerts?" "Do you plan to
make a movie?"
A i ; , e fields the questions in
IBM-vice-president-sytle. "I don't really mistieat
animals." "I suggest people don't smoke in front oi
police." "We plan to remake HeUapopm and i nt
Maltese Falcon,"
He slips on one: "What happened in Chicago' .
referring to a disastrous concert where overzealous
fans were injured. But he redeems himself: "My job is
to entertain. What the audience does is its business.'
His act's selling. Alice slips in some clever, cute
n,.mrrl lin.. Oh it's not his old act-the
uiuiJiuy.a i." .........
venomous viper has died with its profit margin. I he
new act is Billion Dollar Babies, and Alice now plays
the rich rock star through his show ana tsuipnsu,
latest LP. .
And the PR man image fits right m. No more
perversion offstage. Alice is, well, just a hell of a nice
guy now. "Onstage it's all an act-Alice is really an
OK guy, really he is, Florence."
Computer-programmed jokes. "No, I m not Eddie
Haskell " "The snake is well-fed-he gets my groupies
when I'm done." "See this bruise? I got it by falling
off the money we made last night." "My nose is so
long that when I turn sideways people think I m a
zipper."
Fascinating personal insights:
-Alice drinks a case of beer a day;
-he likes baseball;
-He thinks his plane will crash during this tour;
I'm nn Manin Christian tour," he says, "trying to
get people to spend money decadently.
Enter, on cue, Flo and Eddie, Alice's supporting
cast They are loud and boisterous, cute and plump.
And they are funny. Flo has a pink garden flamingo
on his army helmet. Eddie looks like a chubby Fidel
Castro With Alice, they make a lot oi jones, uo i-vi
routines, get the ball rolling. Flo and Eddie used to be
in the Turtles. It is funny, but a little shallow.
The media people run out of questions. Alice &
Co. get bored and crush potato chips on the table.
Then they quit, with a "See you later."
Alice gets up, politely signs autographs, leaves and
the party ends. Left are a pile of empty glasses,
dropped peanuts and forgotten notes-the remains of
any of a hundred of business meetings held there
before.
H .;
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photo by Tfd Kirk
Flo (left), Alice and Eddie...new conference comedy team.