Meghann Rise

With the winter season coming up fast, students may appreciate that they can get a hot movie release in the same place as a hot meal.

Instead of weathering the cold and driving to a video store, students can rent movies, for just $1 a day, from the movie box located in The Union.

The box – not to be confused with the “Redbox” found in Wal-Mart and HyVee- is available to anyone as long as The Union is open, including weekends, until midnight. The box is stocked with new release movies and will include 250 selections within the next month. All genres are available, including drama, comedy, action, sci-fi and horror.

Students cannot use Hobo Dough yet, but Joy Fisk, Union Services Manager, is hopeful that this will change. Right now, students can use credit cards to purchase movies.

The whole idea behind the box was to make DVD renting more affordable and convenient for students.

“We had been listening and getting feedback from students,” Fisk said. “Having a place to rent DVDs was something they really wanted, and it’s something we’ve wanted to do for a while.”

Along with DVDs, students can also rent Blu-ray discs for $1 a night. If students wish to purchase a DVD or Blu-ray, the cost is $30. Another interesting feature students can use is DVD reservation. Students have the option of reserving DVDs and getting e-mails sent to them with updates and new movie releases. Gift cards will also be available soon.

A group of people, including entrepreneurs and sisters, Amy Kirchhevel and Lori Colberg, came into contact with Fisk and Mona Tunender, The Union secretary, to coordinate the placement of the movie box. The box came from Canada, and after talking with Fisk, the decision was made to place the box in The Union.

“Since The Union has such high volume, it seemed like the most logical place to put it,” Fisk said. “If it’s as successful as we hope it will be, we will definitely consider placing more around campus.”

Due to a bug with our Web site host, we cannot post the remainder of this story. We are working to resolve the issue.

#1.881355:3725294414.jpg:Redbox3.1.jpg:Shane Kraemer, a freshman political science major, checks out the movies available in The Union.:Katie Rusch