In a presentation that lasted more than an hour in the discussion faze, the Board has approved a plan to change our campus ATM service.

On the plus side for students, we are looking at two ATMs to start, with a third to be added shortly after. The locations include the existing kiasck and a new machine by the student activities center. The third may be placed somewhere near the new nursing building, on the south side of campus.

The new ATMs will be serviced by Financial Partners Credit Union, which may inconvenience some students. All credit union members will be able to withdraw money service charge free. Members of any other banking institution, however, will be charged one dollar. The fee amount is based on a verbal commitment by Financial Partners’ representatives. That does not include the fees you may incure from your bank. Washington Mutual, for example, has charged me as much as $2.50 for alternative ATM transactions.

Concerns about these fees, and possible increase in utilities for added machines, were expressed by the Board President and members Eric Guiterrez and Cheryl Epple. However, after 75 minutes of repeated arguments, Vice President Bob Arther called for the vote and only Gutierrez opposed the new deal.

Student input on this issue was asked for by Epple, but no statistics on student banks were presented at the meeting and the vote passed without them.

Cerritos stands to gain an added $500 a month in rental for the change over, plus an added $1,000 bonus if transaction activity exceeds 10,000.

And in other money issues, the Board, with some dissent and warning, granted the hiring of Luis Rodriguez as a full time maintenance mechanic for the woodworking department. The job will pay #3,002.00 a month in salary for the certified machinist who will be on sight to make repairs and do safety inspections on the machines that run in the area of 16 hours a day, seven days a week.

The long-term cost of hiring contract repair men will be greatly reduced with this added position to the woodworking faculty. But it was not an easy sell for the department. Board member Epple and others were not easily convinced that the expenditure was necessary, warning that when the crunching begins, the part time workers in the woodshops may have to be sacrificed. In the name of safety though, the department stood by its decision that the position was not expendable.