Sunny 103° / 77°
Freshmen Phenoms No Limits Athletes immediately contribute Sports | Page 4
Art exhibit questions perceptions Arts & Life | Page 3
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
News 1, 2 Arts & Life 3 Sports 4 Classifieds 5 Games 5
Volume 100 | Issue 04
ntdaily.com
The Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas
Students rent, download to dodge high book costs JASON YANG
Senior Staff Writer It is pre-English f re shman Ha idy n P y fer’s f i r s t s e m e s t e r a t U N T. She purchased her required textbooks from Campus Bookstore and paid $430 for five books, a hefty price for the new college student. “Luckily, my parents assist me in tuition and book fees,” Pyfer said. “But I would think it’s an outrageous price for independent students.” Pyfer is a casualty of today’s high book costs, one of many students trying to save a buck on books. According to UNT Student Financial Aid and Scholarships, an undergraduate taking 15 hours of classes spent, on average, about $1,000 on books and supplies this semester. Voertman’s Bookstore Manager Michelle Dellis said because book costs increase every year – whether it’s $1 or $5 more –students are always looking for cheaper options. “Rental has been the most popular choice this semester,” Dellis said. “If the price of a new textbook is $100, the rental price would be $50.” The number of students renting textbooks at Campus Bookstore has increased by 5 to 10 percent this semester, Campus Bookstore Manager Bret Erskin said.
Students wait in long lines at the Campus Bookstore during the first days of class. Both Dellis and Erskin said rentals are a better investment because of the unpredictability and restrictions of textbook buybacks. Bookstores do not buy back
most books that have newer editions, books with one-time online access codes, loose-leaf books, or used lab books. Dellis said most stores will not buy back UNT-only books because of those
classes’ unpredictability. “I have a third edition English book that I’m selling for $5, and the required fourth edition costs $90,” Dellis said. “Only one edition different, yet every student buys
markups that lead to high book costs. “If an author receives $10 from the book sale, then both publisher and bookstore will get at least a 100 percent markup through each process,” Church said. “With all the markups, the book can end up costing 400 percent more.” UNT and the Universit y of Texas at Arlington introduced digital books two years ago. Digital textbooks have been so successful that 25 percent of UNT classes’ required text selections are currently available digitally, UNT Bookstore Assistant Manager Shawn Bourdo said. If the price of a new textbook is $100, then a digital copy would cost $60, he said. “With digital books, students have the option to purchase by the chapter or by the book,” Bourdo said. About 10 percent of Voertman’s selections are currently available digitally, but Dellis said she believes digital books will continue to take off in the next two to four PHOTO BY ERIKA LAMBRETON/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER semesters. Bourdo agreed that the old model – buying books and selling them back to stores at the end of the fourth edition.” D e l l i s a nd Er sk i n s a id a semester – was bound to fall by the wayside. publishers determine prices. “Technology is the future,” he Accounting professor K im Church said both publishers said. “You can’t beat the conveand bookstores are guilty of the nience and ease of access.”
Mosquito repellent in high demand locally JULIE BIRD Intern
PHOTO COURTESY / SARA JONES
Denton Police arrive at the Kroger on University Drive on Tuesday afternoon after a suspect fled from robbing the DATCU Credit Union. He was arrested and charged with robbery after trying to escape from the back door.
Robbery suspect arrested at Denton grocery store Brief A SHLEY GRANT
Senior Staff Writer A man accused of robbing a local credit union and f leeing with an unspecified amount of cash was arrested by police at the Kroger on University Drive early Tuesday afternoon, said Ryan Grelle, media relations officer for the Denton Police Department.
Grel le s a id the robb er y occurred at about 1 p.m. at a DATCU Credit Union branch in the 900 block of West University Drive. The suspect fled to the nearby Kroger, where police set up a perimeter around the store. He was taken into custody shortly after attempting to run out of a back door. Details about the robbery were not immediately available because
it is the subject of an ongoing investigation, Grelle said. It did not appear that the man was armed. According to the Cit y of Denton’s on l ine publ ic jai l re c ords, Bra d ley K i l l more, a 32-year-old white male, was ar re ste d and charge d w ith robbery of a banking-type institution Tuesday. The Denton City Jail custody report listed his time of arrest as 2:17 p.m.
Denton stores are working to keep up with an increased demand for mosquito repellent as residents take precautions against the spread of West Nile virus. “We fill up the shelves every morning, and by 1 [p.m.], they are pretty much empty,” said Steven Walker, department manager at the Walmart on Loop 288. The Denton County Health Department recommends using a mosquito repellent with 10 to 30 percent of the active ingredient DEET. In very rare cases, excessive amounts of DEET can cause skin irritation and other adverse health effects, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Walker said that repellents containing 40 percent or more DEET have been the most popular with customers in the past few weeks. Products with higher DEET percentages are advertised as being able to repel mosquitoes for a longer period of time. Aubry Vance, a manager at the Target on Loop 288, said he has also seen an increased demand for sprays and other insect repellent products. “We have definitely had a lot of people asking where the spray is. More so in the last few days,” Vance said.
PHOTO BY TYLER CLEVELAND/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
A lone bottle of mosquito repellant sits on the shelf in Target, off Loop 288 and Brinker Road. Local stores are struggling to keep repellent stocked. He said that Target hasn’t had a problem keeping up with the demand and has no plans to increase prices on any repellent products. The health department warns against using products containing DEET on children younger than two months, or reapplying the products more often than recommended by the manufacturer. Bracelets and products that can be clipped on to clothes to keep mosquitoes away have been popular with parents of young children, Walker said. According to the Denton County Health Department’s website, however, these products have not been proven effective at preventing mosquito bites. Radio, television and film sophomore Morgan Sain said she bought mosquito repellent earlier this summer,
before the West Nile outbreak, and uses it occasionally before going outside. “I don’t always use bug spray,” Sain said. “I do worry a little, but I haven’t been bitten too much,” Sain said she also avoids going outside in the evenings, especially when it is humid. The Denton County Health Department advises residents to stay inside at dusk and dawn, when mosquitoes are most active, to wear long pants and sleeves when outside and to drain any standing water. As of Sunday, Denton County had reported 145 human cases of West Nile. The city of Denton opted out of aerial mosquito spraying last week, although more than 20 other municipalities in the county received aerial spraying over the weekend.
UNT to house first LGBT archive in South BEN PEYTON Staff Writer
UNT is set to become the site of the only Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender archive in the South. After a four-year process, the Dallas Resource Center has
donated about 400 boxes of LGBT archives to the university’s Libraries System, which will begin the roughly one-year period of processing the donation in the next month. “From an academic perspective, this is extraordinary,” said
LGBT Studies Co-Director Mark Vosvick, a psychology professor. “No one has published on any kind of LGBT stuff in the South. No one in the whole world.” The archive dates back to the 1950s and will include newspapers, photos, political posters and more
materials related to the gay community in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, including collections from the influential gay architect Philip Johnson. “You name any aspect of political, socio, historical stuff that happened in the LGBT community, there is a very good chance
that there is something in this archive that is going to document that stuff,” Vosvick said. The acquisition aligns itself with UNT Libraries’ goal of building its database in two main areas of focus: Latino and Chicano archives and LGBT archives, said Morgan
Davis, head of Archives and Rare Books. UNT has relatively few collections in those two fields, with the exception of a Dallas Voice archive that dates back to 1984, Davis said.
See LGBT on page 2
Inside Sage Hall accommodates moved programs News | Page 2
Group transforms local logs Arts & Life | Page 3
Alien architecture signals progress Views | Page 5