Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 27, 1984)
Page lOF/The Battalion/Monday, August 27, 1984 Fiscal office changes check policy By Dolores Hajovsky Reporter The days of cashing checks for more than $25 are numbered. Be ginning August 17, fiscal depart ment cashiers will no longer cash personal or payroll checks. The check cashing service will be discontinued because there is not enough space to cash checks and dis burse financial aid, said Robert Smith, assistant vice president for fiscal affairs and controller. The first responsibility of the fis cal department is to meet the needs of the students receiving financial aid and making fee payments. Smith said. The fiscal department disburses millions in aid, loans, scholarships and fee payments a year, Smith said. There isn’t enough room to help stu dents when people are cashing per sonal and payroll checks. Smith said. The Coke Building was con structed in 1952 when Texas A&M had only 6,000 students. Now enroll ment is six times that number and the fiscal department can’t absorb the increase. Smith said. “Nobody likes to discuss their fi nancial needs in public,” Smith said. “When students dre elbow to elbow with all the other people cashing checks there isn’t any privacy.” The financial offices, now in the basement of the building, will be moved upstilirs with the cashiers. Smith said. This change will enable the students to receive their financial aid with less confusion since all the offices will be together, he said. Two on-campus options remain for students when they need money. The desk at the Memorial Student Center will continue to cash personal checks up to $25, and there are two automatic teller machines outside the MSC. The machines operate 24 hours a day allowing withdrawls up to $300 at a time, for those with MPact or Pulse cards. “Currently 50 percent of the stu dents have automatic teller cards,” Smith said. “They process about 20,000 transactions a month at the machines. The check cashing trend will soon be gone and someday there will only be the Automatic teller ma chines.” Smith said the mAchines are for all students with cards, not just those with accounts at local banks. He is hoping to soon get more machines placed at other main points on the campus, such As the Commons and Northgate. Book store prices equal By LINDA SANTINOCETO Reporter The student book stores in Col lege Station have their own policies and advertising techniques, but when it comes down to it their text book prices are about the same. Loupot’s, Rother’s, Texas Aggie, Texas A&M University (in the Me morial Student Center) and Unver- sity book stores set their prices according to the publisher’s list cata log, so their prices are competitive. At Loupot’s, Rother’s and Univer sity book stores students give their schedules to employees, who find their books. Dennis Rother, owner of Rother’s Book Store, said it is easier for the employees to get the books because they are familiar with the classes and books. Jol ByK Sheri Parchure of Loupot’s in Northgate said some stores occasion ally have lower prices because they don’t check the current catalog, but that’s unusual. Students select their own books from open stacks in the Texas Aggie and Texas A&M book stores, but in others clerks fill the or der by checking the courses on cus tomers’ schedules. Photo by Ruth Wedergren Reginald Flowers counts a batch of Economic textbooks at the MSC Bookstore before they are added to the stacks. Rosalyn Mauk, assistant textbook manager at the Texas A&M Book Store, said because the University re quires the store to stock every book professors need, there’s no way clerks could distribute the books. It would take too much time, she said. The books are arranged in al phabetical order along rows. In ad dition, a folder with the class listings and books required for each class is placed on top of each row. “The rows are clearly marked and there are employees to help students find their books,” Mauk said. “The staff selects the best used books and won’t force students to buy optional books,” he said. All the book stores allow students to return books for a full cash re fund if they have their receipts. Lou pot’s, Texas A&M and Rother’s book stores allow returns the first two weeks of school, but Texas Aggie and University book stores accept re turns only during the first week of classes. If the students don’t have their receipt, then 50 percent of the list price of the book is refunded. All the book stores agree that stu dents prefer used books over new. The average savings is about $20. “If students buy 10 used books and save $2 on each, that is a total savings of $20,” said University Book Store owner Martha Camp. The book stores buy used books from wholesalers, but there are never enough to go around, she said. All of the stores, except the Texas A&M Book Store, will be open the Sunday before classes begin. In ad dition, the book stores will be open until 10 p.m. Aug. 27 and 28. Yellow indicates fresh fruit Budget seminars helpi “We wouldn’t close until the st dents are gone; it doesn’t mat what time it is,” Parchure said. 1 busiest time for the book storesistift Some of th first Monday and Tuesday :[free, but unf ternoon of classes, she said. one of them. ■The cost t When it comes to buying bwliias never be back at the end of the semester,Mthe eighties i book store has its own policy. Iftljjvestment, esp book is being used again and iuhell-supporte fairly good condition, and if stojB “The whol isn’t overstocked, students get iilshifted from percent in cash of the list pricebfiBiance,” said the book stores. of Don’t Mis ptudent’s Gi Loupot’s and Rother’s offer a jm) Loans. “] cash price plus an additional 20[tiL r m. Many cent in trade. At Texas Aggie BodKedy,’ but i Store, students draw from a bos (jttny middle an additional bonus of 5 percemthe.” 20 percent in cash. HOver the The University Book Store isimhave support only store to buy back old editioiM college. The books. Rleage out try to improv “We’ll buy the discontinued boeliRg any extn for less than $1, if students sell tlitMed. with their good books," saidCauM| n the fall This is strictly for advertising reRn enrolled sons, to get students to use UnivsBe Corps < sity Book Store, she said. Baking for a Some book stores have sales iKeie unable t first week of classes to lurestudeiBwcGowan into the store. Loupot’s, RotkiB-diman ye; Texas Aggie and Univenity bodB physics d stores offer sales on such itemsiB hour, and calculators, t-shirts and back path da\ ($27 a n A branch store of Rotner’s & Corps. T opening Aug. 15 in Woodstoj® U( h, but at i Commerce Center on Harvey Roai nttn t, indue! laundry, was Tester and s ■ring, since his yearbook United Press International COLUMBUS, Ohio — If failure in the squeeze-thump-sniff school of picking fresh produce has sent you scurrying for refuge .to the canned fruit section of your supermarket, home economist Tere Linehan has a few tips. Linehan is the spokeswoman for the United Fresh Fruit and Vegeta ble Association. In helping consumers with the more nutritious fresh produce op tion, Linehan stands by one literally golden rule — a tinge of creamy yel low as a hallmark of ripeness in al most all fresh fruit. Everyone knows a good ripe ba nana is yellow, but did you realize amber colored grapes are generally sweeter than the more eye-appealing bright green variety? And do you know to look for a creamy or yellow ish-white rind on honeydew, and a raised, ivory-toned “netting” on can taloupe? Linehan also offers hints for choosing fruits without any clearly characteristic coloration. Sweet cher ries can range from deep red to black in color, but the ripest ones have a bright, shiny skin. students control cash te By JAN WUTHRICH Reporter “An amber or creamy yellow color is a sign of sugar, so peaches and apricots should all have a yellowish or creamy background, while ripe nectarines have a yellow-orange col or,” Linehan said. T 1 " 8 • it’ll get you nothing but dirty looks from produce personnel. Water melon should be firm and smooth with a creamy or yellowish under side. Ideally, pick a cut watermelon so you can see the tell-tale white seeds and fibers of a less-than-fully- ripe fruit. The rule even applies for exotic fruits such as mangos and papayas. Ripe mangos are green with yellow- ish-to-red areas; ripe papayas are at least half green. Citrus fruits such as tangerines, grapefruit and oranges should be firm and heavy for their size — an indication of juiciness. Greenish areas on the rind do not usually af fect the taste of the fruit. Linehan was in Columbus re cently to visit produce suppliers and buyers and to give consumers the in formation they need to “get fresh.” “The trend to fresh is really gro wing,” Linehan said. “I was talking to the chef at the Hyatt (Regency, in Columbus) and he says they have a national directive not to use any fro zen vegetables, only fresh.” When Ben Franklin said a penny saved is a penny earned, he must have had college students in mind. Budget seminars, designed to help students save money, will be of fered this fall by the Office of Stu dent Financial Aid, says administra tor Lynda Gilbert. The seminars will be Sept. 11-13 and Oct. 23-25, and each will be open to about 35 students. The financial aid office will begin each seminar by explaining how it distributes grants and loans. When students receive a large sum of money at the beginning of a Semester, they often have difficulty in making it last, Gilbert says. The best way to keep track of cash flow is Mr Tower n with a checking account, she »wnts per sho Therefore the next step coveredI'd Hardlil the seminar is how to open aiBirps trips v maintain a checking account. 10 guys won The financial advisers at theser|ga , 'i)line at 1( nar will offer additional hintsons ioiel room ai ing money and catching bargaiialsi; worked 1 she says. B>k blAck an Students at the seminar will ittifoutfit on Cor a budget chart of proposed montbfer’s Day para income and expenses, Gilberts $1 McGowai If expenses exceed income, theniiBysale, justments will need to be made»His senior student may l>e spending too ra lfoi his mech money on one item, such asdotl lfessor, Mr. < or utilities. B hour. Sticking to a budget is hard much, but it students because it requiresself-ehRwan said, cipline, she says. ||llege toda) Students interested in thesemirJobs to supf can contact the Office of Student F*tis comfort nancial Aid at 845-3981. lord told mi help, that I jcouldarrang me. I never know a lot fawford sa; When Shopping For Textbooks Look For Texas Aggie Bookstore phy was ‘no i this school hi I Unfortiin, for a senx ward and 1 ■27 to abo beers have s [abom one dr ■ Fueled lv cutbacks, col have increas D percent .eater inct |)84 for ma Despite i You can save big money buying off campus. We have a complete list of required textbooks. Just bring in your schedule and our salesperson can get you “booked” quickly, and you can be on your way to campus fun. (any amb: whose desin ites them t education. J After big] tew Ybar [Southwest ' Drafting Kits 10°/< O off with purchase of Eng.105 Textbook Swing Arm Desk Lamp $Q99 Only reg. $19.95 Back Packs & Bags Wide range of styles & colors available. 10% r O Off with Textbook Purchase 1 m Save Even More Money With Our Large Stock Of Used Books! 50% off Any Tee-Shirt With Purchase of Textbooks Meet The Newest Member Of The Family It's here' HP-41 CX . . . the newest member of the eerie* 40 family of advanced calculators from Hewlett-Packard. Expandable, vereetiie. reliable, this brand new edition of an all-time favorite is everything you'd expect of the Serlea 40 family. The hardware has new built-in features Uke Timer and Extended Functions modules, plus Text-File Editor. And. there ere Hteraily thousands of pre-wrmen software programs available. For more facta about $249 95 HEWLETT PACKARD 5 . ie BOOK Store 327 University North aate (409)846-4518 Texas Instruments Calculators Sale Price TI-35-11 S . Q95 reg. $22.00 ...IS’’ 5 TI-BAT1 c Qyi 95 mS-Ti “ reg. $45.00 *34 TI-30-11 sho95 reg. $14.95 *12