Rising Book Prices Plague Students
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THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF MERCYHURST COLLEGE SINCE 1929 A&E SPORTS Student-produced Men’s hockey musical ‘Grease’ scores victory opening at the PAC over Team USA Page 5 Page 8 Vol. 79 No. 14 Mercyhurst College 501 E. 38th St. Erie Pa. 16546 February 8, 2006 THE MERCIAD Rising book prices plague students Students should blame their empty wallets on the publishing companies and not the college bookstore book buyback in an effort to make prof- By Jeff Allen its. Some mark their prices up as high as Contributing writer 26 percent. Mercyhurst, however, only charges 20 percent. Many college students across the This means instances arise where nation frequently complain about students are sold books below the sug- buying and selling textbooks. gested retailer price. Many students feel they should get Mercyhurst has a contract with the back a larger amount of money when Follett company for book buyback. they sell their books back. Follett is renowned for being one of When asked about selling back her the largest of six publishing companies. books, junior Ashley Leute said, “I This means it can supply Mercyhurst spend a ton of money buying my books with a large, diverse amount of books. and receive a small amount of cash Follett is also recongized for its con- when I sell them back.” sideration of students and fair pricing. However, book buyback is not a According to Dan Cullen, general simple process. manager of the Mercyhurst bookstore, The supply of textbooks fl uxuates another advantage the students have are frequently. Books are bought and sold teachers who are conscious about book based on the college’s need to supply prices and usage. its students with the right textbooks at Cullen explained that many faculty the right time. members insist on selecting books that Students fail to realize universities closely fi t the curriculum at the most are also businesses designed to make reasonable price. money while performing a service to The problem of excessively high book Corrie Thearle/News editor the students. prices does not lie with Mercyhurst, but Mercyhurst students empty their wallets each term to purchase new textbooks for their classes. It is the goal of the bookstore to bal- with the publishing companies. ance student necessity while adequately In order to publish a new edition of older editions of the textbook, driving term. Therefore editions of certain others don’t use them at all. In some monitoring its supply. a textbook, the information only needs the older edition’s resale value down. books for these classes change. instances the CDs can actually reduce Mercyhurst makes great efforts to aid to be altered by 20 percent. Because many students choose to Additionally publishers in recent years costs of paper usage. the students in this matter. However, This percentage, while including new keep their books and sections change have been selling books in bundles Despite this advantage however, the they cannot be obligated to lose money information, can also include minor by trimester, it’s impossible to supply which include compact disks as well as bookstore and faculty members have no for the students benefi t. font changes. all students with the same edition of workbooks. These packages are much way to avoid this form of packaging. The bookstore book buyback is This causes a dilemma for the book- a book. more expensive than the individual Recently many publishing companies superior to that of most colleges for store and ultimately the students and It is diffi cult for a teacher to conduct a textbook. have come under attack by the federal several reasons. faculty members as well. class with multiple editions of the same Some faculty rely heavily on these Many colleges and universities offer Publishing new editions invalidates text. Many electives are not offered each additional materials for classes while Please see Bookstore on page 2 Mercyhurst students lend a helping hand at the annual Special Olympics Ski Meet another co-chair of the event. By Jonelle Davis Franks was eager to get involved in Contributing writer the meet after seeing the kids at last year’s event. Mercyhurst students helped special “Last year I went to the Special Olym- needs students from the Erie City pics Ski Meet and was overly impressed School District at the annual ski meet with the talents that these students at Peek ‘n’ Peak Ski Resort on Thursday, have. I had such a great time that I Feb. 2. really wanted to get more involved,” According to Kelly Dombrowski, she said. Katie McAdams/Photo editor senior co-chair of the Special Olym- Franks would also like to see even Randal Silvis spoke Tuesday. pics Council for Exceptional Children more student involvement in the (CEC), about 50 special needs students future. from the school district practice once a “I think that other students should week with ski instructors from Peek ‘n’ get involved in the events that Special Literary Peak and then compete in the annual Olympics put on because they open ski meet. your eyes and make you have a better Over 70 students from Mercyhurst understanding of the Special Olympics Speaker joined together at Peek ‘n’ Peak to help athletes,” she said. the kids show off their new skills in the Dombrowski added that not only are annual ski meet. students doing a great thing, but will By Chelsea Boothe Copy editor “I organized all of the Mercyhurst have fun in the process. volunteers for the event,” said Dom- “Students should get involved because browski. it is a great time, and it’s simply an added When novelist Randal Silvis came to “The volunteers’ duties ranged from bonus that we’re helping others. Hon- Mercyhurst campus Tuesday night he being buddies to the athletes, cheering estly, volunteers will forget that they’re said it was like “coming home.” them on and being their one-on-one ‘working’ this event because the athletes Silvis who is also a playwright, screen- support throughout the day,” explained keep you so amused the entire time,” writer and essayist, has been here several Dombrowski. said Dombrowski. times before, once as writer in resi- “Volunteers also bought and planned “The day flies by and seeing the dence. This time he was here to open decorations for an Olympic Village. kids complete their event and become the fourth annual Mercyhurst Literary Some recorded running times and excited and proud really does warm the Festival. scores of the various events includ- heart,” she added. Silvis read an excerpt from his newly ing cross country skiing, beginner and The most rewarding part of the event released book “North of Unknown.” advanced downhill skiing, and nordic for Dombrowski is seeing the kids as It is considered creative non-fi ction, the snowshoe.” they compete. same genre Thomas Wolfe and Truman Dombrowski has been involved in the “Seeing the excitement on the kids’ Capote use. event for the past three years. faces as they complete an event is the He said this style is diffi cult for him “I volunteered my freshman year. It best part.” because he was unsure how much he was my fi rst time being involved with She went on to explain that, “It could make up. In the end, he decided Special Olympics. I really enjoyed it, and doesn’t matter to them what place he needed to fi nd the “essence of truth.” Contributed photos I returned the next three years to lead they come in, they’re just happy to be He did not make up any scenes, Above: An Erie City School District student enjoyed her time skiing. the event,” she said. competing at all and are having a great Below: Mercyhurst students line up with their buddies for an event. Sophomore Kristin Franks was time doing it.” Please see Literary on page 2 PAGE 2 THE MERCIAD February 8, 2006 NEWS To contact: [email protected] Making every call count World Briefs Phonathon raises more than $80,000 toward annual fund International news donors has been overwhelmingly By Jessica Kocent positive. Compiled by Contributing writer Sophomore Ambassador and Corrie Thearle SuperBowl Champs SAC representative Ashley Ga- About 250,000 Steelers fans, The phones are still ringing briel said, “I enjoyed participat- some holding signs that said off the hook even as the annual ing in the phon-a-thon because “CHAMPS” and others with phonathon comes to a close on I got to be part of the develop- black-and-gold face paint, crowd- Thursday, Feb. 9. ment of a fund that I, as well as ed downtown streets Tuesday for During the three-week long thousands of other students at a parade honoring the team’s phonathon, parents and alumni Mercyhurst, can use.” Super Bowl win. have contributed over $80,000 to Sophomore Ambassador Steelers players, coaches and a number of scholarship funds. Pledge Audry Passetti explained, owners went down the parade Most of the money raised by “The phon-a-thon showed me route. Some players, such as the phonathon is considered un- just how proud some alumni can starting cornerback Ike Taylor, restricted, meaning Mercyhurst be of their alma mater. showed up early and signed College deems where it can be “I feel it allows us to appreci- autographs. of most use. ate the contributions that others The Steelers won their fifth However, there is one notable have made because it one day Super Bowl title Sunday, beating addition this year to the event may benefi t us. I also believe the Seattle Seahawks 21-10 in which many callers and donors that those who organized the Detroit.