.. WEATHER INSIDE l'ODAY: eunnr EDf'FORIAL _, .............. 10 brMzy lnd cool FOCUS ........................ 13 High: mid.. Low: 55 STYL£ .........................16 TUESDAY: .-11r eunny Sfl()RTS..... -...... ,....... .25 t.ezy HUMOR ...................... .29 High: low.. Low: «ls CLASSIREDS ............. 31 MADISON UNIVERSITY MONDAY OCTOBER 3, 1994 VOL 72, NO. 11 Discount card sees its end Library discontinues use ofThrsa system, opting for FLEX by Maggie Welter contributing writer Versa cards will soon be a thing of the past Under a new plan instituted by the JM U Budget Office, FLEX accounts will replace Versa accounts, which currently provide students with a convenient way to make copies in the library and laser printouts in computer labs. Originally, the Budget Office had planned to remove all machines accepting Versa cards by Nov . I. However, in response to student concern about some pitfalls in the plan, the office has decided to choose a later date for cancellation. according to budget director Terry Knight. One of the reasons the office decided to extend the date, according to acting University Librarian Barbara Miller. was to allow more students time to use up the money they currently have on their Versa cards. NlCKI CAMPBElL' s/IJJf photograpMr "We've heard that some students have more money on their Versa cards than they feel they Afternoon poetry can use up by Nov. I:· Miller said. Money lost on Versa accounts was not the OWing • poetry relldlng Frkt.y In Wllaon Hallt Auditorium, •uthor Nikki Giovanni reads to a capacity crowd from her only flaw students found in the new FLEX IliuM~•'-~ book, Knoxvlile, TMn. The reeding was part of the Furious Rower program on campus last weekend that plan. brought together renowned Mlthora to celebrate Afrlcan-Amerte•n poetry. For mora on the celebration, see page 16. CARD page2 Harrisonburg Price Club to open in spring 1995 by Cbrls Tiernan wide range of items, often in bulk. greater city re venue through an wi ll ultimately push down prices In Many money-saving consumers at staff writer Items vary from school supplies and increased propeny tax and sales tax the area. The volume·based. low-cost Wai-Man shopping for non-grocery romputers to clothes and sports gear. collection. he said. Price Club will probably draw a lot needs could be expected to tum their When Harrisonburg's Price Club According to a clerk at the Price Harrisonburg, arguably referred to or consumers. thereby forcing area carts to Price Club fo r grocery opens shop next sprina, members or Club in Fairfax, personal as the capital city of the Shenandoah. competitors to lower thei r prices. values. "In a price-sensi uve market. the wholesale warehouse can e.Jtpect memberships are $35 for one or two has led the Valley in retail sales for According to Milliman, th e two low-cost producers such as Wni­ to feel an ease on their wallets. cards and are renewable each year. the last few years. and the addition of presence of Wai-Mart, Price Club's Mart and Price Club, could The members-only discount store, Anyone 18 or older can get a Price Club should maintain that high largest competitor. might have a1ded part of the California-based Price membership. level, Stewart said. Harrisonburg in landing the store. CLUB page 2 CostCo, is to be buill at the comer or The site of the price-saving super Harrisonburg earned more than University Boulevard and Reservoir store could be another indication of $259 million in tuable sales during Street across from JM U's new economic growth or Harrisonburg the first half of 1993, leading the College of Integrated Science and and the Shenandoah Valley, Stewart pack as the regional center for Technology. said. shopping in the Valley, he said. -rhe land to build the store cost "We were definite that Price Clu b stores in most areas $1,835.000, according to the Sept30 [Harrisonburg] wo uld meet the can draw customers from op to an issue of the Doily News-Record. demands of the store," Campbell hour away, according to Stewart. The 135,000-square-foot store said. With the nearest Price Club store should open its doors in late March According to Stewart, the store more than 100 miles away, projected or early April, according to should bring several economical sales figures, though not disclosed, Harrisonburg City Manager Steven benefits to the area. for the new Harrisonburg store are Stewart. "Price Club will create an expected to be high, according to the Accordlna to Roger Campbell, estimated 200 new jobs In the Sept. 27 issue of the Daily News­ re&ional senior vice president of Valley," Stewart said. Record. Price CostCo, Price Club sells The super store will also boost Scott Milliman, JMU associate PHOTO COURTESY OF BOB LIEDTKE memberships to individuals and revenue to the city, according to professor or economics, speculates A Price Club, Juat like thla one In U.nasau, will open In businesses who can then purchase a Stewan. Harrisonburg can expect that the addition or the Jute store Harrt.onburg off Unlveralty Boulev•rd beginning In spring 1995. --.. -- - 2 Monday. Oct. 3. 1994 THE BREEZE Card _______ continued from page 1 Senior Sarah Chambers said she optimistic as the administration about was upset about having to open a the future elimination of tbe Versa FLEX account because, "it has a cards. minimum opening balance of $25. Senior Gary Vaugban, a computer and I don't see myself spending $25 lab assistant in Harrison and on anything FLEX can buy before I Converse Halls, has seen many graduate." students come into tbe labs who feel To alleviate this concern, the confused and inconvenienced by the Campus Card Center has decided to oew plan. lower the opening balance to S I 0. According to Vaughan. in the according to Becky Hinkle of the Converse Hall computer lab, the IBM Campus Card Center. laser printers are still operated by "We realize that many students Versa, but the Macintosh laser don't feel they need $25," Hinkle printers have been converted to the said, "and we want to make this a FLEX system. change of convenience. He said the opposite is true in the "We're not out to make money," Harrison Hall computer lab. The she said. IBM printers take FLEX, and the Knight said the main motive Macintosh printers take Versa. None behind the cancellation of the Versa of the printers in either labs take card system was simplification of cash. student accounting. " I had a student come in this week "J'he mam thing we were looking who needed to make a laser copy off at was trying to make it easier for a Mac, and all be had was a Versa people and accomplish some other card." said Vaughan. "I had to send goals on the side." she said. him over to Harrison." Vaughan The other reasons Knight cited for added that the student was upset the change include concerns in the because he didn't know ahead of Budget Office over the efficiency of time. the Versa card system. "I don't think as many students "It's labor intensive; you have to would be upset with the change to hire someone to collect money from FLEX if Lhe Budget Office would each individual machine." Knight just make the exact date and location Hey guys said. of the changes clear. When a student uses FLEX, the "They need to publish specifics," Four-year-old Taylor Schwalbach calla out to hla big brother Gwntt and hie brother'a friend finances are handled electronically Vaughan said. Jernea D•klna to welt for him to cR:h up after the men's soccer game s.turdlly at the by the Campus Card Center, which, Junior psychology major R•srvolr Stntet field. For more on the Dukes' win over George Meson University, ... page 26. Knight said, makes using Min- Yi Han, who currently FLEX "a more has $7 on her Versa card, streamlined and said she was also efficient annoyed about the way of card change. handling She said she continued from page 1 t h a t k n o w s money." several compliment each other," Milliman Knight people said. also said who have The convenient location of using JAC more than Harrl son burg along Interstate 81 cards provides the Budget Office $20 on their makes for easy bulk shipping to the with more internal control over the cards and were store, another pouible factor in money taken in by the library concerned they choosing Harrisonburg, Milliman printing machines. wouldn't be able to use said. ..With Versa, it was hard to keep that much. Campbell said that before track down to the nickel," Knight 'They sbouJd at least wait until the opening, Price Club must clear off said. end of the semester to cancel Versa." necessary land and secure building Miller said that with the extension Han said. permits which are usually low-risk of Lime allowed to drain the Versa Han also said she feels that it is measures. accounts and the lower balance more dHficuJt to get money into Some students in midst of the of needed to open a FLEX account, she FLEX accounts than it is to put the penny-pinching world of college does not foresee the change being a money on Versa cards. life are already anticipating the major inconvenience for many "You have to go to the FLEX card opening of the low-price super store. students. center, and that's a pain," Han said, Sophomore Man Rinaldi believes "JAC cards provide convenience.