Super Saver cards may not continue

By Christie S. Peterson

Arizona Daily Wildcat

The ASUA-sponsored Super Saver cards have been saving UA students money at local businesses for years, but because of problems producing this year's cards, there may be no more in the future.

Super Saver cards are laminated wallet-sized coupons that offer discounts at various UA-area merchants.

The latest batch of cards, which expire Jan. 31, 1996, were delivered to Associated Students of the University of Arizona Special Events Director Guarav Parnami Tuesday night after a year of controversy.

Parnami said that earlier in the school year he attempted to contact American Eagle Enterprises, the distributor which printed 50,000 cards for the 1993-94 school year, but they never called him back. They were scheduled to print another 50,000 cards for this year.

Instead, Parnami contacted Varsity Press, which agreed to print 20,000 cards in a credit-card style which Parnami said was better than the "not too appealing" larger size used the year before.

However, the contract with American Eagle Enterprises was not fulfilled, and under threat of suit, Parnami arranged for a card with this company to take effect after the one with Varsity Press expired on Feb. 28.

These cards were to be delivered in March, but did not arrive until Tuesday.

The cards are usually distributed to students through residence halls, clubs, and the ASUA offices, but Parnami said he is "not sure if it's even worth doing right now because so many students are leaving" for the summer.

The cards will be available to students in the ASUA offices.

William Bruno of American Eagle Enterprises said that his company had encountered "every unexpected thing" possible in the production of these cards, and that the delay was due to difficulty in finding a second printer after the first was flooded out in the San Diego rains earlier this year.

Bruno said that his company "salvaged it, and ... got those cards out as soon as we could."

ASUA Adviser Jim Drnek said if the students want to continue doing something like this, he would prefer ASUA to go out to find advertisers themselves.

He said ASUA officials often seek outside sponsors for events and that producing the cards themselves would cause "no more problems than we're having right now."

ASUA's only obligation is to distribute the cards. They receive approximately $140 for their services.

Parnami also said the job could be done by ASUA, but they would probably just break even, and it would only be done "if somebody takes the initiative and does it."

"I guess a good number of students use it, but I'm not sure if enough students use it to be advantageous," he said.

Bruno said that his company saw these new cards as a "bonus distribution" and has already sold the advertising space on next fall's card.

Parnami said it would be up to his successor, who has not yet been named, to decide whether the cards would be produced again.

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