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Show StatesmanCampus News Monday, Aug. 29, 2011 Page 3 More textbook options available in Bookstore BY ARIANNA REES staff writer Students hoping to save money and time buying textbooks this semester now have two more options, said USU Bookstore director David Parkinson. Those options are the bookstore's new online rental and price comparison services, which provide students with access to lower priced textbooks. In December 2010, along with the bookstore's switch to author alphabetization to make checkout faster, the option to rent textbooks was introduced to students. Over the summer the price comparison service was also created and perfected to provide the students with what they need all in one place. This semester the bookstore plans on heavily marketing these options and, Parkinson said, the biggest reason for providing them is because the bookstore must "compete or die." "The idea of electronic textbooks has been out there for a decade. What does a student want in the end? A student wants the best price that they can get," Parkinson said. "We've given students all the tools they need to find the right price." From the bookstore's homepage shoppers have access to a list of departments and classes by clicking on the "Compare" link in the top, left-hand corner. From there students can highlight the classes they will be taking and continue on to check and compare the average price of their course materials with prices pulled from search engines on the Internet. Books can be added to an online shopping cart and the student can go through each provider's checkout process right on the bookstore's page. Also on the homepage is a link that leads to the rental process. Students can rent books for a certain number of days from Follett Publishing, and at the end of the semester, ship them back. Parkinson said this saves about as much as buying a textbook from the bookstore and selling it at buyback at the end of the year. "If you buy a textbook and you come see us at buyback, you pay about half the price of the book. If you rent the book, you're going to pay about half the price of the book. So it's about the same, but the student has to wait three months to get their money back," Parkinson said. Student reactions to the bookstore's new options are mixed. Melissa Johnson, a senior, said that her experience with the bookstore has been mostly good but at times frustrating. Despite that, Johnson said she tried the bookstore's price comparison option and was happy with it. "I actually used it for one of my books. It was a lot cheaper," she said. Johnson said she generally doesn't choose to buy books online because of the length of time it takes for them to ship a feeling that is echoed by many students. "It's got to be cheap, and we've got to make sure that we can buy them here," freshman Caleb Mairs said. Of the online services, he added, "I would definitely look into it if I had more information about it." Other students were very open to the idea of trying out the bookstore's services. "It would save a trip down here," said freshman David Bowers. Bowers and Mairs agreed, the best outcome of buying their textbooks, in whatever form, would be to get the right textbooks at the right price. To provide the right price, Parkinson said the bookstore is taking several large risks. "It actually decreases our revenues, of course, because we're selling an item that's at a lower value, and because we're working with other companies, there's less profit margin to be had. So it Campus & Community USU FFA chapter featured on TV The Utah State University Collegiate FFA chapter will be showcased Aug. 27-29 on This Week In AgriBusiness, a weekly television program hosted by two of the country's most well-known farm broadcasters, Max Armstrong and Orion Samuelson. The Utah State University Collegiate FFA chapter tribute includes information about the chapter's history, activities and community service. It also includes several photos of university students and their participation in local activities. "We are very excited to showcase the great things that the students at USU have done for our campus and community to a national audience," said Becki Lawyer, USU Collegiate FFA advisor. %Iry l,,04.,ton . 1,4A %bee l nivel Official USU app launched this week THE USU BOOKSTORE is trying to help students spend less and get the most out of their textbook purchases. This year students can rent books as well as compare prices with other companies. ANI MIRZAKHANYAN photo illustration may negatively affect our financials, but it's what the customer wants, so we have to adjust. "By renting," he added, "we actually increase that risk because we're also still selling the book. Being able to identify the quantity of how many we should have on our shelf gets tough." Parkinson said that despite the risk, providing the customers with what they want is the bookstore's overall goal, and he hopes that perspectives will change because of it. "What we're hoping that you learned along the way," Parkinson said, "was, 'Wow! The bookstore is competitive on most of those titles. Maybe that's not such a bad bookstore anymore, is it?' That's our end goal. Compete or die." He added, "The bookstore has a reputation for high prices. We've said for a long time that we're trying. This website proves that we are. We want to kill the idea that the bookstore is overpriced. Instead we want, 'The bookstore is my friend.'" - ariwrees@gmail.com From Page 1 Student officer working to ban water bottle sales on campus initiative across the entire campus. She also wants to hold a water bottle drive for students who would be willing to carry water bottles if they had one. "I do hope to ban the sale of bottled water on campus", she said. "But if nothing else just encourage the sustainable alternative by bringing your own bottle and drinking local tap water, by making these filling stations more accessible as well as education about bottled water waste, etc.," she said. While the installation of the filling fountains has returned only positive feedback, so far, the idea of banning water bottle sales on campus has gotten mixed reviews. Speech communications major Ben Williams, who ran for president of ASUSU executive council last year, said, "It's a person's own prerogative how they are going to spend their money, what they're going to spend their money on. Also, to restrict water bottle sales on campus seems fairly communist to me. If you start restricting that on campus, where's the end of it?" He said, "I would imagine that whoever is forming that opinion is not well informed on what water bottle sales are at the university." Williams said he, himself, carries a Nalgene bottle daily, but on the days that he forgets to bring it he feels he should have the option of purchasing water on campus. Ben Wilson, a senior majoring in political science said, "I understand the sentiment. However, at the end of the day I believe that people should have the freedom to make wrong decisions if they would like to, including something so basic as if they would like to buy a water bottle or not." Laura Andersen, a junior majoring in political science and economics and the president of the College Democrats said, "I think it's really great initiative. Plastic water bottles are a complete waste of plastic that could be used elsewhere. In this situation you have to look at Police Blotter Friday, Aug. 19 • USU Police investigated some information that there was property being sold on Craig's List and could belong to the university. The investigation determined that the property no longer belongs to USU. • USU Police received a report of found property. An individual was in the Premium B parking lot on the east side of the TSC and located money in the parking lot. The money was turned into the booth attendant in the parking lot and was later turned into the police. Police have placed the money in safekeeping for 90 days until the owner comes forward. Saturday, Aug. 20 • USU Police responded to an elevator alarm in the Mountain View Tower. There was an RA stuck in the elevator that was shortly freed after arrival. Sunday, Aug. 21 • USU Police responded to a lewdness incident at the Quad where they found two individuals engaged in lewd behavior. Police issued citations to the individuals and released them. Briefs • USU Police assisted the Logan City Police with an individual that was suicidal. The individual was in the Logan Cemetery and was unresponsive. Officers located the individual and she was transported to the Logan Regional Hospital by Ambulance. Monday, Aug. 22 • Police responded to a suspicious box that was found on the west side of the Center for Persons with Disabilities building. Further investigation found the box was being sent to another person. No further action was taken. • Complainant contacted USU PD and reported that his mother-in-law, who is from China, is in Logan visiting and has not been seen since 12:00 p.m. While speaking with the complainant the mother-in-law returned to the residence. Tuesday, Aug. 23 • USU Police responded to a Fire Alarm at the Living Learning Community, building B. A student had burned some toast which set off the alarm. The alarms were reset. the greater good. It's not an infringement on rights. At the end of the day you can still make a consumer purchase. Is consuming that bottle of water really worth it?" Political science major Mike Smith and a former member of the USU debate team said, "If water bottles actually are a significant factor in environmental degradation then I would definitely support a top-down ban on their sales." Evans said she suspects USU Dining Services might also have a problem with banning water bottle sales on campus, and that eliminating sales might disrupt USU's contract with Coca-Cola, who supplies Dasani bottled water on campus. "The hope is that students will get into the habit of bringing their re-usable water bottles," she said. "We all know that everyone has at least one, they just need to get the habit of always bringing it with them." - robmjepson@gmail.com Contact USU Police at 797-1939 for non-emergencies. Anonymous reporting line: 797-5000 EMERGENCY NUMBER: 911 • USU Police responded to a trespassing incident at the Logan City cemetery. Police had found four individuals inside the cemetery after dark. Police issued a verbal warning to the individuals. A report was filed with USU Police. Wednesday, Aug. 24 • USU police manned a booth at the USU Connections fair. Thursday, Aug. 25 • USU Police responded to Valley View Tower on a fire alarm. This alarm was caused by a resident curling their hair to close to a smoke detector in their room. The alarm was silenced and reset. • USU police stopped a vehicle for expired registration and found that the registration on the vehicle had been revoked. It was also discovered that the vehicle did not have insurance. The vehicle was impounded. *Compiled by Megan Allen The first day of school has always been a day of excitement and bewilderment as new students file into classes. For many not familiar with the acronyms of Utah State University's Logan campus, the first day of classes is spent with a student schedule in one hand and a campus map in the other. USU now makes it easier for students to find their classes and a whole lot more with the official USU mobile app. "We saw a need and looked around campus for help developing an official app," said Trent Hunsaker, USU social media and marketing coordinator. "We were lucky to find great innovators on campus who could tackle such a project." These innovators make up the team at USU's Interactive Design for Instructional Applications and Simulations (IDIAS) Institute which was contracted to build the app for both iOS (iPhone) and Android smart phones. "We had worked with mobile apps specifically tailored for GPS data," said Brett Shelton, project director of IDIAS, "and we were excited to take on a fully functioning app with many features." The app's features include a campus Google map, complete with building, office and parking information, as well as Aggie Shuttle locations, an Aggie Radio streaming player, USU news and sports stories from across campus and athletics, videos, a full calendar for the academic year and events and links to various helpful sites for students, faculty, staff and visitors. "I'm really happy with our work and the product," said Shelton. Celebrate USU's Young Scientists Nine of Utah State University's younger faculty members are making news at the national level for groundbreaking research. Whether they are researching climate change, how to improve education or studying wireless networks used to cure neural injuries, this rising crop of young faculty has one thing in common: they are all recipients of the National Science Foundation's CAREER Award. NSF CAREER awards are given to outstanding junior faculty who demonstrate their research has the potential to have an impact in their fields. In particular, CAREER awards support the early career development of those who are most likely to become the academic leaders of the 21st century. "These CAREER awards are among some of the most prestigious awards granted by the National Science Foundation," said Raymond T. Coward, executive vice president and provost of USU. "As a research institution, USU is known for its seasoned researchers who are some of the most well-established, internationally-known experts in their fields.This group of NSF CAREER awardees will be the next generation of researchers to make groundbreaking discoveries." At USU, nine young faculty have received CAREER awards since January 2010. El Compiled from staff and media reports |