The Michigan Daily-Wednesday, January 7, 1981--Page 3
'U' Cellar rents 'doorman'
Bookstore
ADe 0
investing in
equipment to
deter thefts
By RITA CLARK
Students buying coursebooks at the
University Cellar will meet an elec-
tronic guard at the door waiting to cat-
ch shoplifters.
The "detective" is a new security
system installed at the campus.
bookstore to deter thefts.
THE UNIVERSITY Cellar loses
roughly $100,000 to $200,000 a year to
shoplifters-about three to five percent
of its $4.8 million gross-according to
Assistant Manager John Sappington.
He said the Cellar has thought about
increased security measures over the
last three or four years, but nothing had
been .formulated until recently. "Some
of our employees were not comfortable
with the idea at first," Sappington said.
The security system-much like the
one found in University libraries-was
not instituted to alienate customers,
Sappington said, but was installed "so
that we can continue to give students
lower-priced items."-
BRUCE WEINBERG, personnel
manager at the Cellar, said that
because the system is obvious, poten-
tial shoplifters are deterred im-
mediately.
No shoplifters have been apprehen-
ded since the new system began, said
Dave Logan; a Cellar employee. We
are not tout to catch people, but to deter
so we can keep prices down," he said.
"So far it's going very smoothly."
Cellar General Manager Tudor said
he is confident that if the system works,
the store can continue to offer discount
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Daily Photo by MAUREEN O'MALLEY
PATRONS OF THE University Cellar pass through the new electronic monitoring system yesterday. Cellar officials
say they hope the equipment will deter would-be thieves.
prices.
INVISIBLE TAGS are attached to
every item of merchandise. As the
customer checks out at the register, the
clerk desensitizes the item via a small
box on the counter. If an item has not
been properly desensitized or if it is
being stolen, an alarm will sound when
the customer passes through a booth at
the store exit where a security guard is
posted.
"Because it is a new system to us, a
few times our clerks haven't properly
desensitized the items, causing the
alarm to go off, which has annoyed a
few customers," said Bradley. He said
that this problem will diminish as em-
ployees become more familiar with the
equipment.
Currently the security system is
being rented with the option to buy,
Sappington said. ' If purchased the
machinery would cost the Cellar $25,000
to $30,000. However, 90 percent of the
rental cost-$450 a month-would go
toward the purchasing of the equip-
ment.
"WE EXPECT the equipment to pay
for itself," Sappington said. Because it
has an approximate 85 to 95 percent ef-
ficiency rate, he said, it could pay for
itself in a single year. Bradley said the
Cellar will be able to determine the
system's effectiveness in May when it
takes inventory.
Student reaction generally was
favorable toward the new system. "It
doesn't bother me, I think they
probably need it," said LSA sophomore
Carol Lestock.
"They probably get robbed blind
without it. It makes sense to me," said
graduate student Rich Quateman.
THE DECENTRALIZING process,
however, does add time to the checkout
line. In an effort to compensate for this,,
the Cellar has formed a check approval
line outside the ballroom.
"By having the check approved
before the checkout line, it means less
onus on cashiers," Sappington said.
"That way the cashiers don't have so
much to concentrate on."
General Manager Bradley said check
approval is very important because
"we had over $10,000 written in bad
checks last September."
One unanticipated problem caused by
the check approval tables is the incon-
venience to the offices on the same floor
as the Michigan Union Ballroom where
the temporary tables. are located.
Bradley said the Cellar hopes to solve
the difficulty .
Project Community has several of-
fices on the second floor.sEllen Offen,
who works with Project Community,
said she has positive feelings toward
the arrangement, but she said shewas
afraid the commotion in the hall would
disturb students registering for Project
Community.
"They (University Cellar employees)
have been extremely accommodating.
When I first talked to them, they im-
mediately moved their tables further
from our doors. And now they have
posted a person to make sure our door
is clear. I think that is very considerate
of-them," Offen said.
PLANNED
PARENTHOOD
912 N. Main St., Ann Arbor
"Pregnancy Testing
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o Complete Contraceptive
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. Vasectomy Services
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" Board Certified, Licensed
Gynecologists
COMPLETELY CONFIDENTIAL
* Our 47th Year *
(313) 769-8530 / Ann Arbor
t
HAPPENINGS-
FILMS
Ann Arbor Film Co-op-Philadelphia Story, 2, 4, 7, 9 p.m., Michigan
Theater; Enter the Dragon, 7, 9 p.m., Aud. A, Angell.
Cinema Guild-Silent Movies, 7 p.m.; Comedies, 9 p.m., Lorch Hall.
Cinema II-Lady Killers, 7, 9p.m., Nat. Sci. Aud.
"PERFORMANCES
Ann Arbor Civic Theater-My Fair Lady, 8 p.m., Mendelssohn Theater.
ounci: The race is on
Continued from Page 1)
dilat'h the Fiffh Ward, Glenn Mensching, said they have
not started campaigning seriously because they have no
competition in the primaries.
THIRD WARD Republican candidates Virginia Johansen
and Kenneth Newble will meet in a February primary for a
chance in the April election against Democrat Cheryle Grif-
fin. Republican Councilman Louis Senunus is not seeking
reelection in the Third Ward.
In the traditionally Republican Fourth Ward, the only ward
without a primary this year, Democrat Mary Burger will
challenge incumbent Republican E. Edward Hood, who has
been on city council since 1979.
'The most pressing issue iii this election, I think, is the
economy-taxes," Hood said. . The other major issue is that
of development... we just can't have a sea of concrete," he
said. The Fourth W rd has been the site of many recent
development plans.
Democrat Sheila Cumberworth and Libertarian Men-
sching will take on the winner of the Fifth Ward primary
between Republicans A.J. LaLonde and Louis Velker. Both
Republicans ran unsuccessfully last year against Coun-
cilwoman Joyce Chesborough in a primary last year.
Like other candidates; Cumberworth also cited develop-
ment and safety as campaign issues, claiming
"mismanagement (of the city) is the underlying cause."
Republican Councilman Gerald Bell declined to run again
for a council position representing the Fifth Ward.
T.
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OPEN THURSDAY AND FRIDAY UNTIL 9:00 P.M.
SALE
The best time to add to your winter wardrobe is now when
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period for new unit-same WITH THIS CO UPON
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