Columbia College Chicago Digital Commons @ Columbia College Chicago Columbia Chronicle College Publications 5-18-1998 Columbia Chronicle (05/18/1998) Columbia College Chicago Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.colum.edu/cadc_chronicle Part of the Journalism Studies Commons This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License. Recommended Citation Columbia College Chicago, "Columbia Chronicle (05/18/1998)" (May 18, 1998). Columbia Chronicle, College Publications, College Archives & Special Collections, Columbia College Chicago. http://digitalcommons.colum.edu/cadc_chronicle/400 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at Digital Commons @ Columbia College Chicago. It has been accepted for inclusion in Columbia Chronicle by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Columbia College Chicago. Textbooks -Expensive and unwanted Many students frustrated by paying big bucks for books that often go unused By Dan Bischoff found that, throughout the semester, his M i c h igan Special to the Chrtmide instructors referred to most of the books b uild i n g. that cost him a lot of money. The college The latest goings-ons at Columbia " I pay enough for tuition and I am very also receives College may have opened doors to broad­ angry because they want me to buy books an undis­ er speculation o f who exactly benefits that are expensive and not useful," Ahmed closed per­ from the Follet's bookstore o n campus, but said. ''They take advantage of students in centage of all most info rmation regarding the politics of the bookstore." book sales. how the store is managed remains, for the As a freshman, Ahmed bought one Other col­ most part, closed for examination. book at the bookstore for $45 and was leges and shocked to receive o nly $4 for the buy universities Problems seem to be a universal trend back. take different on college and university campuses: In chorus with Ahmed is Alicia Kelley, approaches. 2 1, a junior maj or- T h e T h e Y.' r e ing in photo-j our- University of e x p e n s 1 v e ; $17"5 nalism. Chicago, for they're hard ly " ? " I don't go to the examp l e, used; and they're book buy-back ope r ates hard to carry. process because it's three book­ They're text- too much trouble," stores with books. said Kelley. "When each store Life is no t you sell back books specializi ng well in textbook to the bookstore, in broad dis­ land ... Students they never give you ciplines. In and teachers nearly the amount addition, alike are not too that you initially there are -; happy about hav- .il.iliiiiiiiliiiiiiiliiiliiiiiii•• liiililiilil:ililiiliiiii.iliiifiiiiJ t paid for them. It's a smaller inde­ ing to deal with total rip-off." pendent the hassles text- -- Chronicle survey A hmed and bookstores Photo ll/ustration/Vince Johnson/Chronicle books seem to Kelley are not present, a recent C hro nicle survey indi- alone. In the Chronicle survey, more than a ~:o~~ r i n a~ Caught in the textbook shuffle cates. T he examples o f dissatisfactions thi rd, or 4 1 o f 117 students, responded c h e a p e r Photo-journalism maj or Alicia K elley is one of many students who are: "no" when asked if they purchase all the prices on feels textbooks cost too much at the beginning of the sem ester a nd *Textbooks cost a lot o f money, required texts for their classes. campus. a re worth little a few months later in the buy back process. as much as several hundred dollars over a Unlike many Chicago coll eges, Like many L------------------------_.J school year. But they are infrequently used Columbia o nly has one bookstore on cam­ Co lu mbia Loretta McGary, 23, a recent Columbia by an instructor, if at all. pus, run by Follet's-a national bookstore students who have become disenfran­ graduate, says, "'It was pity for me to sell *Textbooks are not avail able or chain that specializes in providing college chised with the college bookstore, Ahmed properly stocked at the bookstore. textbooks-leaving students with little some o f m y books back because I would later learned a variety of different methods get only 50 percent of their fi nal price." In *T he buy-back process can be competitio n from other retailers that may to p urchase books fo r the classes on his additio n, even though her books were more or less a rip-off, with students getting offer the books at lower prices. schedules. Ahmed said he used the li brary often in excellent condition, the bookstore back a small percentage-usually well Pauleu e Cowlings, the manager of the or borrowed books from students taking would pay her the same money as other ,• : under half-{)f what they actually paid for bookstore for the last four years, told The the same class, or students who have taken ! the book. Chronicle that, financially, Columbia ben- the class during a previous semester. Case in point: Zuhair Ahmed, a 23- efits from Follet's since the bookstore pays Students are also frustrated by the buy See TEXTS, page 2 year-old senior computer animation maj or, rent for the space it occupies in the 624 S. back policy process. Percentage of students who How students pay for their textbooks Percentage of students who par­ bought the required texts ticipate in the buyback process INSIDE Features Features Sports fashion students Fear and Loathing Sara predicts NBA showcase their work at the Four Seasons champions Page 18 Page 18 Back Page ---\. 2 - NEWS May 18, 1998 The Chronide'*}r of Columbia College Chicago. Inst\f.~t~qJI,at Research releases fact bo~k -,,:I / ~ till 1 .. ... l ()lJ S. \V0'1h.1 sh Ave. , Suite 205 By Elvira Bertran ' • • ), " · Jl) ,I rose 5% for undergraduates and 6% for Within six years, only 16% of new freshmen Chit.:ago, lllinois 60605 j Staff Writer graduate students. Giving a Iota! of 8,473 graduate. A significant number of new student population. freshmen drop out before their third semes­ Main Line (3 12) 344- 7343 Every fall semester, the Planning and A dramatic 16% increase in freshmen ter at Columbia College. Leaving only 42% l' hotography (l12) 344-7732 lnsli tul ional Research compiles data from enrollmenl was evident from last years Fact students continuing from their freshmen Advertising (l12) 344-7432 Columbia College lo whal is known as the Book data. In !he Fall of 1997, 1,317 new semester. Features (3 12) 344-7521 Fact Book. freshmen were enrolled for the semester. Only a small number of students take Fax ( 312) 427-3920 Majority of the information is exlracted Transfer students enrollment only advantage of the services offered at from the Fall 1997 enrollment data. The increased by one percent since last years Columbia College. For example, during \.Vch t\ddrcss 1996, only 2,800 students or alumni spoke w wwS.intc r:tc<.:c.ss.co m / Fact Book provides a variety of data about Facl Book data. Although the number of the College, ils studenls and programs. new transfer students enlering each fall has with advisors of the Career Planning and. chro nicle The Facl Book contains specifics about increased from 814 to 1,078 since 1990. Placement then, attendance to special events E-mail Address the college such as enrollmenl trends, acad­ This is primarily due to more sludents had fallen from 1,370 to 810. Chron96@ intcracccss.com emic programs, student services, rclention optioning to begin their college education at Surprisingly, during recent years there and graduation, information about under­ two-year institulions. has been a ederived from tuition. In the last graduate/graduate student, elhnic ily and This fall, 73% of undergraduates studenls two yetuition has gone up from 70% in 1995 Edito r-in-Chief gender and operations and facilities. were enrolled full-time. In contrast with to 83% in 1996. Yet, it is lower compared to McmaAyi This year Columbia College had !he large only 36% of graduate students enrolled the past when 90% of income from tuition st year-to-year growth since 1990. The rate full-time. was der.ived. of undergraduate and graduale enrollments Retenlion among freshmen are low. Manag ing Editor Michel le Du Four The question to be asked is: How much value do you place on your Texts time? News Editors Depending on which bookstore to go to, there might not be a big Chuck Jordan continued from page one discount and there may be a wait of up to six weeks to order a spe­ cific book. For instance, the Columbia bookstore stocks the " Art of Rui Kancya people whose books had tom off covers and missing pages. She Editing" at a retail price of$39.75. At B. Dalton, the same book costs ·thinks the buyback process at Columbia is not fair because all used slightly less- $38.50-but can take up to two weeks to order. Opinion/ Sports Editor books of the same title have the same, fl at price. Columbia's price for "Media Ethics and Law" is around $50, while at Rohcrt Stevenson For those looking to avoid the bookstore, there are several altema- Borders, it's about $35. At tives that may fi t your budget and sched- Columbia, the "Reporters ule. Like Ahmed, many students have Th c J'·J \ Handbook" costs $20.80 and at Features Editor found loopholes in the textbook purchas- C 0 ·ege Supercrown the book is listed at Eileen La Valle · ing system.