Show January 22 1973 Page 6 1 percent After extensive research by Student Life on the campuses of Utah State In an age where a carton of eggs costs over 70 cents and a welfare check hardly gets you through breakfast to be counted Jn —everything-see- ms — terms of dollars many dollars Liberals conservatives socialists or y even communists will el agree that money is tight Yatr-felucky if you can pass through three rows of goods in the supermarket and still have some change left from your $20 bill The prices which are agonizing all families don’t make exception to helpless students either whole-heartedl- sky-rocki- ng Tuition fees rent transportation laundry parking fees groceries school supplies and books all add up to help plunge the student into the depths of poverty Of all these school supplies and " books are probably the most' con-- : troversial financial matter facing "students and their checkbooks Regardless of his political or religious affiliation it does not take any Utah State University student too long to declare that the Bookstore is the main threat to his financial well- being Book prices students charge are unrealistically : high Some with political motivation assert: that the Bookstore is an example1 of “the T explaitive nature students capitalism” Students are not satisfied with and will not accept the theory that the Bookstore does not set the retail prices and that they have been predetermined by the publishers The outrage of the students seems to be justified when one looks at a paper back book which is half the size of The God Father and costs $595 On the other hand the Bookstore management claims they can not reduce any price of the textbooks since - Representatives who work closely with the faculty members and students 20 they must register a profit of at least Story and Photos by Sondhi Limthongkul international ed RtQ3r Utley BYU bookstore's manager: profit goes to the university fund with some injected into student themselves BYU receives recommendations from the Faculty Coordinators which includes a representative of every University Weber State College University of Utah and Brigham of Young University the management schools’ four bookstores agree that 20 percenfprofit isdefimfely necessary in order to match the costs of operating the Bookstores Dee Schenck Weber State College’s bookstore manager claims that only the school supplies sales are the real profit to the establishment “Suppose we have a book at the retail price of $10 This means that after the freight charge we only make $170 on that book and that barely gets us through our operating cost” added Gerald Walk the U of U’s manager Roger Utley BYU manager explains another side of the story “We don’t always make money on the textbooks” he said “Sometimes if wo over-ordthem we can only send 20 percent of the total back We have to keep the rest 0 which is usually worth only percent of original price if we sell them back to the wholesalers” Dean Haslem USU’s bookstore manager said that if luck is on his side the cost of operation will be even too the profit from the text books “Our only profits after all expenses usually are obtained from anything in the store er 20-4- except the textbooks” explained Haslem As far as the non-textbo- items are ok concerned the prices have also been predetermined by the publishers too The only differences in this category among different schools are in the selection of the items and in policies selecting them Weber State College puts responsibility for this selection on one person who supposedly possesses a broad feeling for student interest non-textbo- ok The University of Utah gets suggestions from the Board of Students The of books are agonizing alt students Inflation adds more pressures to high-pric- e existing problems - - department Utah State University uses the to every- process faculty member asking for recom- mendations “The majority of the faculty members haven’ t responded too well in this matter Only the history department has They have recommended something like 700 books and obviously we can’t buy that many letters-- t)f-sen- ding non-textboo- ks n in one field” said Haslem Pens and other educational equipment may be purchased cheaper from the town’s stores but according to Dee items are Schenck those merely an attraction to bring people into the store and spend more money on other items The bookstores generally but school supplies from the Western College Bookstore Union They can purchase many items through this company cheaper than by going to other comcut-pric- ed panies Wholesalers predetermine retailed prices However the the bookstore does not have to set prices as Gerald Walk has accordingly pointed out: “We generally do not go to the predetermined prices some we do but some we make cheaper than the retail prices” The average profit of school supplies is about 28 percent Some gift items go as high as 35 percent items usually include things like television sets radios and tape recorders and typewriters Utah State University is the only university where items are not being Non-textbo- these-mention- ok ed sold Dean Haslem cited “pressures from some faculty members who think the (Continued on pogo 7) The “Bitch-Bac- k ity of Utah helps Board” of the reduce Universstudents' frus- tration allows for communication |