Vol. 40, Iss. 8
Monday, October 19, 2015
IN BRIEF
University of Colorado Colorado Springs
Impact of cashless campus, no sale of bottled water continues
NEWS
Chancellor’s Forum
Chancellor answers questions students have about UCCS 2
Creative Midterms
Professors choose alternative methods for giving tests 4
CULTURE
VAPA Music
Music department offers variety of programs to students 5 MEGAN LUNSFORD | THE SCRIBE
The UCCS bookstore features a wide variety of reuseable water bottles.
Scary Movies Some of the best movies to watch for Halloween 7
OPINION
Using Facebook too much can be bad for you 9
Halloween
Holiday pales in comparision to other national holidays 9
SPORTS
Midnight Madness
Annual kickoff to the basketball season 11
Women’s Soccer
Team hopes for strong finish to the season 12
DeKeveion Glaspie dglaspie@uccs.edu
Last year, the university experienced a transition, moving away from both cash and bottled water. Hard cash continues to not be accepted at various facilities around campus, while bottled water is not sold at all. Mark Hayes, executive director of Dining and Food Services explained in an email that less than 25 percent of transactions in Dining and Food Service facilities are paid for with cash. Cash is still accepted at Café ’65, University Center Coffee and Clyde’s. “In the coffee shops where cashless has most recently been implemented, we know that most students, faculty and staff want fast service. Processing cashless transactions on the whole is faster than processing cash transactions,” he said. He added the coffee shops do not have adequate areas for securely handling cash funds and deposits. Students, faculty and staff who only have cash can pre-load funds via the Munch Money program. Munch Money can be set up for anyone with an active UCCS ID card and comes with the benefit of earning bonus funds for additional food. Munch Money can be loaded at the University Center desk and housing.
UCCS also discontinued the sale of bottle water on campus. Reusable water bottles with the “Take Back the Tap” logo were given out at events targeting freshman students and faculty. The campaign’s goal was to educate incoming freshmen about the negative environmental consequences when they buy bottled water, encouraging students to buy reusable bottles to help the environment. Anne Conner, junior marketing major, said she is inconvenienced by the lack of water bottles. “I forgot my water bottle at home and went to Dwire, they gave me a cup of water and I was worried about spilling it,” she said. “Yeah it’s good for the world, but kind of an inconvenience.” Conner added she hasn’t seen any “Take Back the Tap” bottles. Emily Malone, senior biochemistry major, said she would prefer not to drink from water fountains if she forgets her water bottle. “If you can’t buy water and you don’t want to spend $17 at the bookstore your choice is water fountain or sugary drinks that are cheaper.” “If they are willing to sell pop in bottles why not sell water? They can cut back on the number of pop bottles they sell and balance it out with water bottles.” Carole Huber, geography
and environmental studies instructor and faculty sponsor for Students for Environmental Awareness and Sustainability, explained why bottled water was discontinued “Well the problem with the possibility of students questioning ‘why not sell bottle water if we sell coke’ was certainly talked about when it was first proposed, and
of course we would like to not have plastic bottles,” she said. “It’s easier to do water because there is an alternative. We always get water from the tap, and we can’t do that with coke or the other drinks. So we feel like there is a real alternative on campus especially with the new hydration stations,” Huber said.
MEGAN LUNSFORD | THE SCRIBE
Water filling stations are available throughout campus.