GENERAL NEWS
Bulk mail services now administered by Printing
Better communication within our department enables better service. This will further strengthen our employees' skills and knowledge, and it will strengthen the department as a whole.
More and more businesses and universities are exploring the idea of combining Printing with Mail. Many already have combined the two areas, and departmental names such as Print-Mail and Print and Mail Center are becoming common. The combination has the potential to reduce costs, gain efficiencies, and streamline operations.
Savings can come from attention to the design and shape of a publication before it is printed. Can it qualify for a less expensive mail category by changing the weight of the paper, or changing the aspect ratio to make sure there is enough free space for an address? Such decisions are part of designing a printed document that mail workers and equipment can process efficiently.
Design and printing are creative endeavors while mail must follow the rules - and the rules are often confusing and constantly changing. Balance between creativity and functional compliance must be achieved.
Other advantages for the merger include the following:
- Our customer service representatives and our customers can more easily learn the proper ways to prepare mail.
- One-stop service will save time for our customers.
- Work order requests will funnel through a single person.
- We can provide timely input on cost issues.
- There will be a reduction in costs associated with poor mail piece design.
- An integrated process will reduce the number of steps needed to design, print, and mail a project, reducing errors.
In addition, to save the University money by taking advantage of discounted mailing rates, we are attempting to mail as many items as possible from our mail distribution center. It may be necessary at times for printing vendors to return a completed order to the Mossman Building for addressing and mailing.
Some departments, including the Alumni and Belin-Blank centers and the hospital's Joint Office for Marketing and Communications, have already saved money in this way. Our staff will be happy to help your department as well. Contact Chris Kula, 384-3809, chris-kula@uiowa.edu, for information about saving money on your mail.
Gary Anderson
Check our customer education, outreach opportunities
Central Mail
Departmental presentations: Central Mail manager Chris Kula will visit departments and small groups on request to present information and money-saving suggestions specific to their needs. Contact Kula, 384-3809, chris-kula@uiowa.edu, to schedule a meeting.
General Stores
Introduction to General Stores and Online Ordering: Wednesday, Nov. 3, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. Information about General Stores and how to use the MIGS and SIGS systems. Register for the class at www.uiowa.edu/~fusstfdv.
MIGS, SIGS: Training for using the General Stores ordering systems is available on request. Contact Judy Rockafellow, 384-3906, judy-rockafellow@uiowa.edu, for more information.
Printing Department
Eye on Iowa - Printing Department tour: Tuesday, Nov. 9, 12:05-12:55 p.m. Register for the class at www.uiowa.edu/~fusstfdv.
Small-group sessions: Printing Department staff will meet with small groups and classes on request. For example, graduate students enrolled in a Library and Information Science class met at Printing this fall to learn about desktop publishing software and the printing process. Contact Jenean Arnold, 384-3723, jenean-arnold@uiowa.edu, for more information.
New staff orientation
Business Services staff regularly participate in the Office of Learning and Development's new faculty and staff orientation sessions each month. Contact Linda Noble, 335-1743, linda-noble@uiowa.edu, for more information about Parking and Transportation and Jenean Arnold, 384-3723, jenean-arnold@uiowa.edu, about the other Business Services departments.
On calendars, catalogs, and directories: We have them
Printing Department calendar set: The 2005 edition of these complimentary calendars will be available for pick-up during the General Stores-Corporate Express Product Show on October 27. Those not attending the show may order online at www.uiowa.edu/~printsvc/forms/cal-ordr.html. We will deliver them in early November.
General Stores stock list: General Stores stock lists are available on request. Contact General Stores at 384-3900, or judy-rockafellow@uiowa.edu, with questions.
University Events Calendar: These are still available. Place departmental orders with General Stores, through SIGS or by faxing a General Stores requisition. The IMU Book Store and Iowa Book also stock them.
Corporate Express catalog: The 2005 catalogs are now available. Use stock number CEI20099 to order, or call us and we'll send one to you.
Herd book: The University Directory is usually available in October. General Stores will e-mail ordering instructions as soon as they arrive. We will not take early orders.
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The Rule of 2
Printing, Document Centers, Central Mail, Surplus, Equipment Rental, and General Stores
require two approval signatures on each departmental requisition.
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Business Services staff help at state fair
Every year The University of Iowa struts its stuff at the Iowa State Fair. This year, there were six volunteers from Business Services - Gary Anderson, Bill Burch, Chris Kula, Judy Rockafellow, Rhonda Weaver, and Helen Wilson. They spent the day applying temporary tattoos, answering questions, handing out posters and hundreds of Hawkeye stickers, and generally promoting the University.
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CENTRAL MAIL SERVICES
Immediate postal reform needed to contain rate hikes
Without immediate postal reform, mailers may face unnecessarily high postage rate increases in 2006. Projections range from 9 percent with reform to 15 percent without it. Bills that were introduced in Congress earlier this year to help hold rates steady until 2006 have not made it to the House and Senate floors, although they have cleared in their respective committees.
In 2003, the Postal Service discovered it was making overpayments into the Civil Service Retirement System. Congress allowed it to use part of the overpayments as a way to hold postal rates stable until 2006 and to pay down its debt.
This was done with the expectation that permanent reforms which would release the remainder of the overpayments, now in escrow, would be enacted this year. Additionally, the reforms would transfer payment of postal employees' military retirement benefits from postal funds to the Treasury, and they would address competitive practices and international mail delivery.
There is a slight chance that Congress will act on the reforms before it adjourns for the holidays. Or, as an interim solution, it could act quickly on the retirement funding issues and release another two years of the escrowed funds for Postal Service operating expenses.
The Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers says the potential rate increase amounts to a stamp tax. It encourages mailers to contact their congressional representatives and express objections to the unnecessary increase.
FedEx pick-up is between 3 and 4 p.m. daily.
Please have outgoing packages in the mail room before 3 p.m.
Character counts: Meet Florin Velterean
He's been a professional athlete and a world traveler, but what he really likes now is driving his Campus Mail route. "There's so much to see," he says. "It's like watching TV. You drive along...look out the window...see flowers, people doing things...you look at everything."
He could hardly be more content. "I love it. I have the best job and the best boss." In his third year at Central Mail, Flo runs a regular mail route, fills in at bulk mail, and works additional hours as the building's custodian.
Flo grew up in Bucharest, the capital of Romania. His wife, Bogdana Rus, graduated from Iowa last May with a degree in political science. A former UI volleyball player, she works as a tutor for athletes. Also from Romania, she teases Flo about her home state - Transylvania.
"Watch out, I'm from Dracula country!" she'll say. Flo explains that the Dracula legend stems from a fifteenth-century ruler who drove off invaders by frightening them with barricades of impaled criminals.
Flo says he was struck by the strength of the dollar when he and Bogdana visited Romania last year. They asked for a room with a view of the Black Sea; the hotel clerk, thinking they were from elsewhere in the country, said it would be more expensive than a landlocked room. She offered to give them the lower rate: $5 instead of $6. They graciously declined, and paid full price.
At age eleven Flo started playing rugby and went on to play professionally for Romania, then France. The job took him around the world, to New Zealand, Australia, Chile, and more. He liked the pay and the travel, but not the injuries. A mouthful of dental repairs and a four-inch scar along one arm are the ones he can show. "I have these all over my body," he says. "My hair is short because my head is covered with them."
He would go for a no-contact sport if given another chance. "If I could be born again, I wouldn't do it. I'd want to play chess," he says. Then, eyes twinkling, "or volleyball!"
Flo's mother, on the faculty of the University of Florida, and stepfather live in Gainesville; his father is in Australia; and his brother lives in Romania after having lived in Texas a while.
The Iowa City area suits Flo. "It's a good place to live," he says. He intends to become an American citizen as soon as the law allows. He will file an application in March and take the citizenship test next October. He has already begun to study. It will make travel easier, and besides, he says, "I pay taxes here!"
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PARKING & TRANSPORTATION
Don't want to get caught in traffic?
Contact Parking Office when planning events
View photos
Do you help organize events for your department? Will attendees be driving to your event? If you answered "yes" to these questions, contact the Parking Office for help planning your event. Let the staff know about it and about your parking needs, and a customer service representative will provide you with various options.
Depending on the event and the overall demand for parking on the day it takes place, options may range from distributing parking passes to reserving parking spaces. Other options might be to rearrange the time of the event to an evening or weekend, when parking demand is less, or relocate it to an area of campus that can accommodate the additional parking demand.
Departments are encouraged to contact the Parking Office in advance of an event to find out what parking options are available. Call 335-1475 or email parking-office@uiowa.edu.
Michelle Ribble
Hang on to your hardhat - Ramp 4 expansion begins
The dust is flying and the fence is up. Yep, another construction project has started. The Hospital Ramp 4 expansion is under way. When the expansion is finished there will be a net gain of 571 spaces. The new structure will have a total of 649 spaces, including 45 new spaces to be built on top of Ramp 4. They will be connected to the expansion.
The construction of the expansion temporarily but drastically reduces the parking capacity in the area because the expansion is replacing the open lot south of the Field House.
In order to provide public access to the Field House during this construction period, permit holders in Lots 6 and 14 were relocated to other parking areas. Then, Lot 14 was converted to a cashiered and permit facility to accommodate the overflow public parking from the Field House.
Michelle Ribble
Lot 43 utilities, CDD meters, Newton Rd crosswalk improvements finished
The utilities projects at Lot 43, behind Kinnick Stadium, were completed August 25. They were the first in a series of construction projects that will affect this lot for several years. The next one will begin after the 2004 football season ends and will involve reconstructing and reconfiguring the lot.
Additional meters were installed at the Center for Disabilities and Development (CDD) this past summer. A utilities project provided the opportunity to improve the landscape and parking in this area.
Previously, the CDD and Wendell Johnson Speech and Hearing Center shared the nearby public meters. However, clinic visits at the CDD, increased patient loads, and limited parking capacity prompted a review, followed by a decision to expand parking spaces. With a little rearranging, twelve metered spaces were created for use by patients of CDD, and the aesthetics of the area were greatly enhanced with a new landscape.
Pedestrians crossing Newton Road on their way to and from the health sciences campus are getting help from two construction projects. Pedestrian safety concerns prompted the projects, which are intended to enhance the crosswalk between the health sciences campus and the Newton Road Ramp.
The first project relocated the southern Newton Road bus stop farther to the east. This project was completed in August and provides improved visibility for pedestrians and motor vehicle operators to see each other. Previously, buses at the former stop would block motor vehicle drivers from seeing pedestrians crossing the road, and pedestrians couldn't see vehicles driving toward them.
The second project, which was completed in September, involved raising the crosswalk so pedestrians are more prominently visible when crossing the road. The crosswalk is four inches high and ten feet wide and has ramps on both sides. This raised crosswalk is a traffic-calming strategy intended to slow traffic and increase pedestrian safety across the road.
Michelle Ribble
Parking demand at Hawkeye commuter lot continues to grow
When Parking and Transportation opened the Hawkeye storage lot ten years ago, it was thought it would take years for it to be filled. The lot opened as a student vehicle storage lot, but the growing demand for parking resulted in adding commuter parking spaces as well as expanding the lot's capacity in 1998. Since then, the lot has had split use between student storage and commuter parking.
The commuter portion of the parking lot has been expanded for a second consecutive year. The first expansion was over Thanksgiving break last year, when 47 spaces were converted from storage to commuter and ten commuter spaces to long-term, low-cost meters.
The second commuter expansion was this fall; 146 storage spaces were converted to commuter space to meet the growing parking demand. The lot currently has approximately 1,400 parking spaces, with 461 of them reserved for commuter permits.
Fortunately, the lot was built with the possibility in mind of expanding commuter parking in the future. Therefore, reducing the amount of storage parking has not limited the number of storage permits that can be offered.
There are many reasons why demand has increased but one of the main reasons may be permit holders are actually parking in their assigned lot instead of parking in the hospital ramps on a regular basis. To make parking at Hawkeye Commuter easier for employees, Cambus has increased and expanded the frequency of service to the lot. For more information on routes and schedules go to www.uiowa.edu/~cambus.
Michelle Ribble
Chemistry Building remodeling reduces available parking
Remodeling to the interior and exterior of the Chemistry Building has had an impact on the parking capacity of Lot 8. The lot permanently lost its motorcycle parking area but a new motorcycle lot was created across the street, north of the former Iowa City water plant.
Other parking spaces will be lost during the projects so additional spaces were created, also near the former water plant, for Lot 8 permit holders. It is estimated the lot will permanently lose twelve to fifteen parking spaces after the projects are complete.
Michelle Ribble
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PRINTING DEPARTMENT
Printing, Center for Book open Historical Printing Studio
Related articles
Printing, Center for the Book collaborate on new student learning opportunity
Historical printing studio taking shape at MBSB
A new Historical Printing Studio will provide a teaching laboratory for instruction and demonstration of composition, line casting and presswork of the 20th century letterpress era. Prior to digital composition and offset printing these letterpress technologies enabled the production of all printed matter while they also sped up the processes to permit the daily production of newspapers and timely printing of books.
First-hand experience of these technologies is now available to students of media history, graphic arts and book studies. The Historical Printing Studio provides tutorials in Linotype setting and casting as well as earlier hand setting and hand press work. The studio also includes production letterpress printing equipment and a complete array of layout and prepress equipment. Of particular note is the fully operational model #31 Linotype machine as well as a traditional Reliance flatbed press and a Vandercook cylinder proof press. The studio is renovated to provide a pleasant and practical classroom environment in the setting of a modern digital printing operation.
The Historical Printing Studio features the collaboration of an academic unit with a production facility. This is an especially promising precedent, providing The University of Iowa with an innovative and unique educational resource.
The official opening of the Historical Printing Studio will take place Tuesday, October 26, from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. at the Mossman Business Services Building, 2222 Old Highway 218 South. The University community is cordially invited to attend this event.
O.K. to start copyright search for spring UPACS
If you are waiting for an "o.k." to start working on copyright permission for spring semester UPACS, here it is. Even better, we'll help make it painless. When you produce course packs with Document Services, we can be your copyright go-to folks, submitting applications, making payments, and maintaining records. We need to have articles and bibliographies as early as possible, though, because we cannot control the publishers' response time.
Permission to reproduce copyrighted material is granted for one-time use, so if you are reprinting, the request for permission must be resubmitted. Contact Ken Knopik, 335-3410, upacs-printing@uiowa.edu, for more information.
If quality counts, download eps, not gif, graphics for publications
If you go to the trouble of writing, editing, laying out, and printing a publication, you probably care about how it looks. The resolution of your graphics will make a difference in the publication's quality - the images above, downloaded from the University Relations website, show how quality varies with resolution.
We see quite a few publications in which the graphics appear fuzzy or jagged along the edges. The effect is called pixellation. It results from low resolution of the image, usually 72 dots per inch for gifs. This is fine for monitor display but not for printing. For printed material, 266 dots per inch is the minimum needed for good quality.
If you download images to use in publications, be sure to take the eps-formatted ones. When you click and hold on an image you will have several options, including Download link to disk and Download image to disk. To get the eps file, download the link, not the image. Remember:
gif images - low resolution, use for web
eps images - high resolution, use for printed material.
Printing order checklist
To start your printing order and make sure it flows smoothly through the process, we need the following:
__ Requisition. On it, write:
__ Your MFK number. Your department's office staff will have this information.
__ Whether the job is new, a reprint, or a revision.
__ Last job number if the job is a reprint or revision.
__ Quantity you want.
__ Signatures - two departmental signatures are required.
__ Brief description. For example: single-fold brochure on 11x17-inch white cover stock; 3-part NCR form.
__ Whether you want to see a proof.
__ When you want the job delivered. Be specific: ASAP and RUSH mean different things to different people.
__ Where you want the job delivered: Central Mail, your office, a receptionist, a receiving dock? Specify person, room, and building.
__ Sample or mock-up; especially important if job prints on two sides or folds.
__ CD or disk if applicable.
Send everything on this list to: Printing Department, 100 MBSB, or deliver it to 2222 Old Highway 218 S. (phone 384-3700).
Big little tips: Appropriate use of bluelines helps control costs
Blueline proofs allow you to review a printing order before it goes on the press. The materials used to produce them are expensive, so limit your use of these proofs to the following:
- Check photo placement if you have asked us to replace low-resolution images with high-resolution versions.
- Make sure the page order is correct.
- See that all type is visible.
- Make sure the color breaks are correct.
- Locate and point out accidental marks such as dust specks.
Any other use of bluelines, especially for editing, means your department spends more than it should on printing.
Kinnick remodeling keeps Wide Media Center busy
View photos
The arrival of electronic files for the Kinnick Stadium remodeling project brings a flurry of activity to the Wide Media Center. Architects send plans for UI capital development projects electronically to the Center; our staff use the files to print the plans, which they then assemble and distribute.
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STORES AND RENTAL SERVICES
Corporate Express places full-time customer service rep at General Stores
The University's contracted office supply vendor, Corporate Express (CE), expanded its service to UI this summer when it transferred full-time customer service representative Linda Courtney to its MBSB location. The position had previously been staffed by part-time, temporary workers.
"We wanted to provide more coverage for the University," says CE account representative Brian Studier. He had been filling the gaps that resulted from part-time staffing.
"It could be any type of issue, whether it be tracking down shipments, shortages." Now that Linda handles this type of work, Studier plans to enhance services, through marketing initiatives and cost savings analyses for departments, for example. He emphasizes that he is still available for customers who need to contact him.
Linda, who has been with CE for eighteen years, transferred from the Cedar Rapids office this past July. Her clients there included Coe College, Quaker Oats, and the City of Cedar Rapids.
"She knows her business," says General Stores' office manager Judy Rockafellow. "With her knowledge and experience with Corporate Express, she has been able to help our customers 100 percent. She goes above and beyond. "I can't say enough about her!"
For her part, Linda is happy to be here. "I love it. The people in General Stores are wonderful. The customers are very nice, and they're open to having someone new to work with."
She is eager to help and is able to answer questions about products, orders, tracking shipments, or any other issue that might arise.
"Just don't hesitate to call if you have questions," she says. "We look forward to talking to you." Adds Studier, "She's the warm, friendly voice on the other end of the line." Linda's phone number is 384-3908; Studier's is 384-3819. Both may be reached at uicsr@cexp.com.
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SURPLUS
Great stuff shows up at Surplus
View photos
Starting at 10 a.m. every Thursday, the public packs the aisles at Surplus to buy the University's castoffs. Hot items at one recent sale were a dialysis system, Bosch clothes dryers, a video projector, easels, carpeting, dozens of chairs, and a kiln. It can be competitive, so go early for the best selection.
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WE LIKE FEEDBACK!
Story ideas:
Are there topics we haven't covered that you would like to see in our newsletter?
Do you have questions you would like us to address? Send an e-mail to
jenean-arnold@uiowa.edu or a memo to Into Print,126C MBSB.
Address corrections and additions:
If you wish to be added to the Into Print mailing list, fill out and send our
form or e-mail the following
information [University of Iowa campus addresses and @uiowa.edu e-mail suffixes only]
to jenean-arnold@uiowa.edu:
- Your name
- Department
- Campus Mail address
- whether you want the print version, e-mail notification of Web posting, or both.
E-mail us:
Send questions and comments about departmental topics to:
Bionic Bus . . . bionic-bus@uiowa.edu
Cambus information . . . cambus-dispatching@uiowa.edu
Central Mail . . . central-mail@uiowa.edu
Commuter programs . . . commuter-programs@uiowa.edu
General Stores . . . genstores@uiowa.edu
Motor Pool . . . motor-pool@uiowa.edu
Parking facilities operations . . . facilities-dispatch@uiowa.edu
Parking services . . . parking-office@uiowa.edu
Wide Media Center . . . widemedia-printing@uiowa.edu
Copy Centers:
Boyd Law . . . dcblb-printing@uiowa.edu
Hardin Library . . . dchlhs-printing@uiowa.edu
Iowa Memorial Union . . . dcimu-printing@uiowa.edu
Med Labs . . . dcml-printing@uiowa.edu
Mossman Building . . . dcmbsb-printing@uiowa.edu
Pappajohn Bldg . . . dcpbb-printing@uiowa.edu
UPACS and Copyright Service . . . upacs-printing@uiowa.edu
We are . . .
Business Services: Central Mail Services, Equipment Rental, General
Stores, Laundry Service, Maintenance Stores, Parking and Transportation, Printing
Department, and Surplus, serving The University of Iowa. The print version of
Into Print is distributed free and on request to UI faculty, staff,
and students.
Contributors to this issue:
Gary Anderson/Business Services, Printing;
Chris Kula/Central Mail;
Michelle Ribble/Parking & Transportation;
Judy Rockafellow/General Stores.
Editor/web administrator: Jenean Arnold, phone 384-3723,
jenean-arnold@uiowa.edu, 126C MBSB.
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