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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 29, 1974)
J 4 M , lincoln, nebraska vol. 98, no. 4 r atew ay oank d By Randy Gordon The vice president of Lincoln's Gateway Bank. Wednesday defended the use of a 25 cent check cashing charge as necessary to compensate the bank for the service. The bank established a branch in the south end of the Nebraska Union at the start of this semester, it charges 25 cents to cash a check for persons not holding an account. with the bank. Vice president Merlin Minderman said, "As a bank, we need to provide the service of cashing checks. But in turn, I think we need to be paid for it." He compared the charge to a small interest on a loan. "The bank is actually loaning' money, because it takes one or two days for the funds to cover the checks to reach our bank and become working capital again." He said the charge reflects the cost to the bank of offering check cashing. Minderman said over 400 checks were cashed by the campus branch Monday, the first day of classes. t', . .- J." -. ' 1 A 25 cent check cashing charge m3da Its debut with the Gateway Bank In the Nebraska Union, Monday, - , efends service charge Union director Al Bennett said the bank is justified in charging 25 cents for th cheek cashing service. "Our assessment is that the charge is very fair, considering the cost of operating the service," he said. Bennett said the Union would have charged 15 cents for cashing a check this year if the bank had not been established. But he said the actual cost of the service would have required a 22 cent per check charge, and that the Union fought that before the Council on Student Life (CSL) last fall. According to Bennett, the Union was losing $8,000 a year by charging 10 cents a check for part of last year. , "I believe we opened up some new services for students rather than restricting our service, it is convenient and is able to conduct all types of bank transactions. The unpalatable part is that it costs money, but what doesn't he asked. Bennett said the bank is able to cash an unlimited number of checks because it has the cash on hand to back them. He said it can also cash university payroll checks, which the Union was prevented from doing by state law. Ron Sindelar, one of eight students on the Union Board last spring, called the bank issue an ideological question. "i don't think the Union or the university should give a normal access of the campus to a private business," he said. Sindelar nrid'ihe-ltoion Board cpsnt 45 minutes debating th concept of having a bank at its April meeting.-Ha said board members assumed the check cashing wouid be free. Bennett's proposal to accept the. bank was approved 11 to 0. "I would rather see the Union break even by charging 25 cents for check cashing than have a private business profiting," he said. He said the bank is enticing students to open an account by charging those who don't have accounts for cashing checks. Minderman said the main reason for the bank's interest in the campus site was to expand the area it serves. "it allowed us to expand our services in a new market area," he said, "W chose it because of its location and the large university population." The Union will still cash checks to tho nearest dollar when a student makes a. burchase. Bennett said the Union msv-s WlCHipi tu oci up a tK!l IU WCUiJi u maximum $2 personal check for use in tho game room and the vending machine area. He said, the service cost $14,000 last year, : $600 to $800 of that to cover bad checks. The1 remainder went to salaries and other expenses, such as renting an armored car as often as three times a day to carry checks tO' the bank to exchange for cash, v The Union had $9,000 in cash reserved for; cashing checks, $7,000 at City Campus and the rest at the East Campus Union. . s "We were setting the top limit for which a check could be written at $25 and still running out of cash at 2 or 3 o'clock in the afternoon," Bennett said. "We simply were not capable of becoming a bank." He said the only major complaints against the bank were those by about 25 students who used that space as a study center list year. Bennett said the bank's charter will be reviewed and may be renegotiated every fiscal year, which begins July 1. He said the NU Board of Regents could terminate the bank's lease for unscrupulous conduct but believes the chance of that occurring is n!L "if they price themselves too high, tho bank will be driving its own coffin nails, it will fail of its own weight If Its a rip-off. There is nothing naive about students, and Gateway knows that," he said. - &einett said Gateway Bmk Is rtfifliig the space for $15,000 annually. H 'said the bank's bid was approved by1 ths Beard' of Regents in June. Gateway was the only, qualified bidder because state law prevents a bank from having more than two teller offices detached from the main bank. 'The other applicants ail were disqualified oil that ground. , The Regents approved the concept of having & bank in the Union at their May meeting. Bennett said it was recommended to the Regents by the Union Board, then Comptroller Wiiliam Ebcrle, Ken Bader, vlca chancellor of student affairs, and Miles Tommeraasen, vice chancellor of business and financial affairs. The bank spend $20,000 remodeling and furnishing the space. Changes in funding propose by A5UN by Linn Silhasek Three UNL organizations pre sently funded by student fees will need funding from other sources next year if an ASUN executive report is adopted by tho NU Board of Regents. The report, presented at Wed nesday night's A 3UN ocficuw moot ing, was .undertaken after the Regents' approval in May to fund the following organizations through student fees: the Place ment Office, Flights and Study Toiurs, the Overseas Opportunity Center, New Sudent Orientation and the UNL Alumni Association. At that time the Regents increased student fees by $10, from $51.50 to SG1 .50 a semester. ' Wednesday's report contained recommendations for alternative methods of funding the Placement Office, Flinht3 and Study Tours and the Overseas Opportunity Center (OOC). This and a later report on the other two organiza tions will bo presented to tho regents at their Sept. 7 meeting on LUNL's 1975-70 budget. In their report, ASUN executives recommended state tax dollars as possible funding for the Placement Office. According to ASUN president Ron Clingenpeel, the "placement of fice 13 a misnomer as the office provides services such as couseling and administering of various tests, in addition to helping graduating W W V W I I I Jv"" , Quoting from the College Place ment Council's 1971 report, ASUN executives said In their report "colleges and universities help prepare Individuals for some kind of responsible work and have an obligation to help them find their place. Why should the placement office be treated any differently In , priorities or budgets than, say, the English department?" According to tho report, an ASUN conducted survey of methods of funding job placement offices in 68 major public universities broughnt 'responses, all describing methods, of funding different from UNL's. 'Of univerrH!: "eftronding, 30 had "offices funded by fax dollars, six of those by a combination of tax dollars, tuition or registration fees paid the office, according to report statistics. Regarding OOC and Flights and Study Tours, the report recom , mended the organizations be fund ed temporarily through student fees until a better method of funding can be found. Other recommendations included estab lishing an ad hoc committee to study the possibility of an Interna tional Center at UNL, combining OOC andFlights and Study Tours and to study other organizations IllblUUIIiy 1 1 W Wl 1(111" Office and International House. The committee would continue to examine funding of the two organi ASUN Senate pa ssed a The resolution regarding a previous report on campus bookstores. That resoiutin provides for establishing an advisory board to the University Bookstore to assist in tis operation. t The senate also approved nom inations of students . to serve as SUN representatives to the Coun-: oil on Student Life (CSL) a.id the Fees Allocation Board. Now CSL members aroJeanstte Masck, a, UNL. senior, and Chip Lcwo, a junior. ' Dob Coo, a senior, and Marguerite Boslaugh, a junior, wore approved as ASUN repre sentatives to the Fees Allocation Board. , L.; ,.; -- -Si
