University of South Carolina Libraries
? Wednesday, April 15, 1998 Book buy What are the criticisms of the book buy-back system at USC? The bookstore gives peanuts for used texts, they don't take old editions, they don't care about the students, and they have the audacity to attempt to make a profit. I've noticed a ... ^ W X. - - j gs f tendency Bfc ! amon? Stufs ^ JH dents to think 0 |H the world owes BMP I them somePB thing simply because they emily STREYER had the brainGuest Columnist storm to come to college, and Fm sure it will be evident again with the semi-annual whining about book buyback. During the 1996-1997 school year, I attended a university in England whose only bookstore did not stock every text reft ported to them by professors. It was often ~ necessary to wait several weeks into the school year to receive all the texts required for a course. When the time came to attempt to sell books at the end of the school year, the bookstore posted a list of 20 books it would accept. The mandatory text I bought for a m ZnerwA I AMiNVJH I WOW DO VKIAW VI NOT JUSl GUY it; Tt\e I ??H ftl&JPP' ' ,* W?, i Ir^i IJc? JJ^ ^25= icXT^fi F' or fast relief from the nagging ai recommend TIAA-CREF SRAs. deferred annuities that can help you h assets ? money that can make the dilft living and living uvll in retirement. Contributions to SRAs are conveni >. Irotn your salary on a pretax basis. I money invested. Fewer taxes now. Ar = earnings are tax deferred until you re income, the monev you don t send to work even harder for you. Visit Ensuring the futu for those who sha TIAA-t Ki t ln.liv.il,,.,| ;MB| S. rvi. "" lining ilu?gi-k ,.ihI .\|h,im-s .ill I I A 1- J back syst< course required of all mathematics and statistics students was not on it. The student government organization ran a singularly disorganized used-book store, in which it was nearly impossible to find a needed book. When one could be found, it was usually out-of-date. The managers would not accept used books at all after mid-June, which was unfortunate for me because two of my final exams (worth 80 percent of my final grade) took place the final week of June. Most students there did what students V\ni?n or?n norfoinlt7 fn /1a? Tbmr nnofnr] 11C1C cue ttl WUU1J 11 CC lu UU. 111CJ pJOl/CU fliers and sold their own damn books. Admittedly, there's a lot to dislike about buying textbooks. Every semester, I dread looking at the price tag of a brandspanking-new computer science text. I hate new editions that are trivially different from last year's. I think unkind things about professors who order three different texts so he or she can use a few chapters from each. But acquiring knowledge is not without cost, and that's a fact that should be obvious even to students, who participate in only the first step of the learning process. The cost of publishing a book goes beyond the paper and ink on which it's printed. Nor can we honestly ask, expect or want our professors to teach with out-dated books. I can't, however, defend professors who require books they hardly use. Hg^BoY SCol; for M _ ..I narrve ?? * fTou' **s1 . t*; ftp-* Uv? '?v^i?"i?"i:,vs : .... , ,.s;. iS;, ;..: ! . - ,,..... che of taxes, we What else do SRAs offer? SRAs are tax- choices, a helpful loan featur uild additional of'TIAA-CRKF. the world's rente between Now More Ways ently deducted Today TIAA-CRFF can he result? More of your financial objectives id since investment and more. We'll help you s< ceive them as ymir needs. Visit your ben Washington can 1 800 8-12-2776 to learn mor I )o it today - it cotildn I h us on the Internet at w ww.iiaa-erer.org re pe it. r,s,-.I ...... p......... ..Iislril.nl.". < Itl I ... I inl.r.sls ... ill. IIW It,-.,I \, , SDH KH'_' li/".".".. cm. ..".O'l, I... ll... |,lt,s|H . |imV Kim.I ll.i-.n . .111I..IK I,. I,,.. * VlEWPOIE The Gamecock ;m flawed But a buy-back system allows us to recoup a portion, large or small, of the money we spend on books we no longer need. For a buy-back system to work, bookstores have to determine which books will be used aaain thev must nhvsirallv arrant, the O 1 J I J J f - books, they must catalog and organize them, and they must prepare them for selling again. This means labor costs. I don't think many of the whiners would be willing to volunteer at Wallace Bookstore. Furthermore, standard mark-up throughout the retail industry is 100 percent above product cost, so bookstores are refunding us in full for the actual book. What we can't return is the labor involved when they sold us the books at the beginning of the semester. And if bookstores took them back at 100 percent, we can be certain that they wouldn't sell them again at 75 percent. No one expects a clothing store to accept returned items that already have been worn or kept for four months. We're fortunate we have a system already in place that helps us re-sell books we no longer need and enables us to buy books in near-mint condition (for early shoppers) at only part of the cost. For those who would like to rent their books for free, I suggest the use of Thomas Cooper Library. A library lends books. A bookstore sells them. college press EXCHANGE QB3BB I Blip ^ - o I \ 0**L ??* "^sr^ I 3H c A full range of investment e, and the financial expertise largest retirement system.0 JJ > to Meet Your Goals -?~k K help you meet even more , with IRAs, mutual funds, elect the solutions that suit _ . elits ollice or call us at Xt J A lll'l. K P ?Mini Ini IIHIM- < oillplrlt lllloi IIMlMill. J VVW > iry Wf > JTS I BELIEVE... THERI WILL! every person has worth as an individual. strive from i I believe every person is entitled to dignity and respect, regardless of v I will race or color. by otl I believe every thought and every I will act of racial prejudice is harmful. respe I believe if it is my thought or act, I striv * u? 14. u.1 4.^ ^ I, ~ ; men 11 is iiainiiui lu me as wen as imiuwi to others. bettei SIGNATURE PLEASE PRINT NAME _____ STREET ADDRESS CITY, STATE , ZIP CODE ORGANIZATION DATE RETURN THIS FORf RUSSELL HOUSE ROOM 343, 1400 GREENE AYMESTER & SUI use ANNUi OPEN H< L4 \ Thursday, Api 4:00 pm -1 Now hiring forMaymester * Munchies, applications Evening & weekend @ $5.25 to Come tour the US( Telecent For more info-> 1t9 Byrnes Building - Across ONGRATUI enry Chang aiessa deWein | llyson Hallman yUff\ ndrewjohnson ara Jones (^i^) hi Sigma Pi National ? >uld like to congratulat< mk. * Page 5 EFORE, FROM THIS DAY FOREWARD, I daily to eliminate racial prejudice ny thoughts and actions. discourage racial prejudice lers at every opportunity. treat all people with dignity and ct. e daily to honor this pledge, ing that the world will be a r place betause of my effort. 0 V! TO: STREET, COLUMBIA, SC 29208 MMER WORK aLFUND OUSE ril 16 1998 5:00 pm callers & Summer & job descriptions I hours available > start J AnnualFuncf ert! I .777-2985 i From the Horseshoe ATIONS! Jiyun Kang Perry Moniuszko I .mn D nntorc JLiJ till IXUgVl O Kathryn Weatherford Joesph Whitehurst Karen Zacharias [onor Fraternity i its new Brothers i