Recently, 29 Quinnipiac students embarked on a business venture that will soon help pay tribute to Timothy Cotter, an undergraduate, who passed away in December of 2003.

Last Thursday, Anthony Ziniti, Florence Kelemen, Jonathan Bellows and Stacey Sotomayor, sophomores, sat behind a rack of DVDs in the Carl Hansen Student Center awaiting any student or faculty member willing to rent a DVD for the night.

They are among the group of students involved with Quinnipiac’s first ever DVD rental business, QU DVD.

QU DVD was an idea that evolved from a sophomore honors level School of Business class headed by Professor Dale Jazinski and taught by other business professors as well.

Students in this class had come up with a total of five business plans, but the idea of having a DVD rental business became the favorite idea.

“I think it’s an amazing experience for us, but I also thing it’s a good experience for the University to get involved with,” Kelemen said about QU DVD.

On Tuesday, Feb. 24, the entire class agreed to begin their business venture with hopes of earning enough money to donate to an organization, create a scholarship fund, or build a memorial in Cotter’s name.

Cotter was a member of this honors class and had worked closely with other students on a different business plan.

“This class, by nature, is a class that’s suppose to be a family more than a class,” Florence Kelemen, a sophomore marketing major said, when speaking about the closeness shared within the groups of students in the classroom.

With a grant of $750 from the School of Business to start this business at Quinnipiac, these students are able to serve undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty members by allowing them to rent DVDs throughout this semester.

They are already two thirds of the way to making a profit and fulfilling their goal to honor Cotter.

“He had a smile that was from ear to ear,” Kelemen said about Cotter, who was in her group. “It’s something he deserves. As a class, we don’t want people to forget him.”

As part of this honors level business class, students are able to learn about marketing, management, finance, accounting, and international business within a year.

Three times a week, students taking the class meet for two hours and learn about each of the various topics offered. Different professors help in teaching the course.

Being involved in this honors class and now helping out with QU DVD has made an impression on Bellows, a sophomore computer and information systems major. “Throughout this whole semester, we’ve actually had a hands on feeling,” Bellows said. “You feel the ups and downs of running an actual business so that you’re prepared in the future.”

In order to rent a DVD from QU DVD, a student or faculty member must either purchase a $20 membership or pay the rental fee of $4 for an old DVD or $5 for a new release per night.

The membership allows for the rental of one movie a night for five weeks.

If a student would like to rent a movie for two nights, they must pay an extra $1. All movies are due by closing the next day. QU DVD has already sold about 30 memberships.

Students are required to fill out a customer agreement form when signing up for a membership or simply renting one or more DVDs for the night.

Among the information needed on the form is the person’s name, address, P.O. Box, phone number, and screen name.

Every Tuesday, QU DVD receives new releases from Best Video in Hamden, which sells its DVDs to QU DVD at a discount.

QU DVD is located in the Carl Hansen Student Center outside of Hudson United Bank in the hallway. QU DVD will be open until April 4.

It is open Tuesday until Sunday of every week from 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

Additional hours are 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

QU DVD accepts Q-card payment and cash.

For more information or questions regarding DVD rentals from this new on-campus source, students, faculty and all those interested in renting can contact any of the members listed above at the Quinnipiac e-mail addresses or stop by their table in the student center.