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
