2008 Woodie Awards
Munch Money can no longer pay for tobacco
Ali Tweten
Issue date: 11/29/07 Section: News
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Beginning Jan. 1, students will no longer be able to buy tobacco using the subsidized Munch Money, which they have been able to do since September 2006, when Sodexho bought the convenience store.
"It was not our intention to encourage tobacco sales," said interim director of Atwood Ed Bouffard.
Tobacco products will still be available, but students must now buy them with cash, debit or credit.
One factor in buying tobacco on campus is the price.
"I don't buy from here much," said first-year student Tayler Haza. "They cost way more here, like a buck twenty more than at a regular gas station."
Haza said that using Munch Money is common.
"Everybody uses their Munch Money for cigarettes," he said.
Another first-year student, Megan Tilton, said she usually uses Munch Money for cigarettes, but had used it up on food.
"It's just a form of money," Tilton said.
"When we recognized that this was happening, we visited with Atwood Council, and they concurred that that was not the intention, and so we're making the change for next semester," Bouffard said.
The Atwood Memorial Center Council is the advisory group for Atwood, made up of six students from a variety of areas across campus including UPB, CSOLD and SGA, one faculty member, and one alumni member.
"They give us a lot of advice about how to do things," Bouffard said. "Keep in mind that Atwood is a student union. It is funded by student activity dollars, not by tuition dollars."
Munch Money is a prepaid amount of money, which parents or students can add to an account. By using their ID cards, students can purchase meals or other items at the convenience store as well as at other restaurants on campus tax-free.
Many meal plans from Campus Dining include Munch Money, so parents could be inadvertently giving their children money for tobacco products.
Freshmen students are required to buy a meal plan their first semester on campus.
Bouffard said the main reason for stopping the sale of tobacco with Munch Money is because it is subsidized.