Machines at UA provide supplies
Michelle Granrud, Staff Writer
Issue date: 11/8/04 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
Vending machines stocked with school supplies are available for service to UA students, said Ali Sodeghi, the campus bookstore director.
One machine is located on the second floor of the Arkansas Union and the other is located in the Sam Walton College of Business.
The main goal of the new vending machines is to "provide convenience," Sodeghi said. Some students need materials before the bookstore opens and after 7 p.m., when it closes, but until now there wasn't a way to provide materials at those times, he said.
The bookstore considered extending its hours but need to do so was not large enough, Sodeghi said.
Bookstore officials borrowed the idea of school supply vending machines from other large universities, particularly from colleges in Canada, he said. At the beginning of the summer the bookstore began looking for the vending machines. The bookstore ordered them in August and the vending machines arrived in early October, Sodeghi said.
"So far the response has been really good," Sodeghi said. All of the profits go to services that benefit the students, like parking and computer labs, he said.
The bookstore takes care of the machines by refilling them and keeping inventory of the supplies sold. The prices, including sales tax, are exactly the same as buying them in the bookstore, Sodeghi said.
The vending machines sell Scantrons, bluebooks, pencils, batteries, low-price calculators, floppy disks, rewritable CDs and stamps with $3 to $7 value, Sodeghi said.
The machines accept cash, change and credit cards, Sodeghi said. In the future, the machines will be capable of taking Razorbucks, but they aren't set up for it yet. Sodeghi said the bookstore is trying to make that option available to students.
The machines also detect if the school supplies students paid for do not drop from the shelves. If the item purchased does not drop to the receptacle where students can pick it up, the machines returns the money it was just fed, Sodeghi said.
If the response continues to grow, the bookstore may buy more vending machines, he said.
"It all depends on the enthusiasm," Sodeghi said.
The next approved locations are Old Main and the chemistry building, he said. The bookstore needs approval from Mullins Library and residence halls, Sodeghi said.
If expanded to the residence halls, the machines could have the capability to include hygienic items such as toothpaste and a toothbrush, he said. It could be "extremely promising," he said.
One machine is located on the second floor of the Arkansas Union and the other is located in the Sam Walton College of Business.
The main goal of the new vending machines is to "provide convenience," Sodeghi said. Some students need materials before the bookstore opens and after 7 p.m., when it closes, but until now there wasn't a way to provide materials at those times, he said.
The bookstore considered extending its hours but need to do so was not large enough, Sodeghi said.
Bookstore officials borrowed the idea of school supply vending machines from other large universities, particularly from colleges in Canada, he said. At the beginning of the summer the bookstore began looking for the vending machines. The bookstore ordered them in August and the vending machines arrived in early October, Sodeghi said.
"So far the response has been really good," Sodeghi said. All of the profits go to services that benefit the students, like parking and computer labs, he said.
The bookstore takes care of the machines by refilling them and keeping inventory of the supplies sold. The prices, including sales tax, are exactly the same as buying them in the bookstore, Sodeghi said.
The vending machines sell Scantrons, bluebooks, pencils, batteries, low-price calculators, floppy disks, rewritable CDs and stamps with $3 to $7 value, Sodeghi said.
The machines accept cash, change and credit cards, Sodeghi said. In the future, the machines will be capable of taking Razorbucks, but they aren't set up for it yet. Sodeghi said the bookstore is trying to make that option available to students.
The machines also detect if the school supplies students paid for do not drop from the shelves. If the item purchased does not drop to the receptacle where students can pick it up, the machines returns the money it was just fed, Sodeghi said.
If the response continues to grow, the bookstore may buy more vending machines, he said.
"It all depends on the enthusiasm," Sodeghi said.
The next approved locations are Old Main and the chemistry building, he said. The bookstore needs approval from Mullins Library and residence halls, Sodeghi said.
If expanded to the residence halls, the machines could have the capability to include hygienic items such as toothpaste and a toothbrush, he said. It could be "extremely promising," he said.
