Vermont Cynic Spring 2015 Issue 16

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In LIFE: Kingbread Page 3 Returns W e d n e s d a y, J a n u a r y 2 1 , 2 0 1 5 – Vo l u m e 1 3 1 I s s u e 1 6 | B u r l i n g t o n , Ve r m o n t

Some rentals yet to be returned Sarah Olsen Assistant News Editor

JACOB HOLZMAN The Vermont Cynic

company agreed to extend the deadline due to the high volume of textbooks left unreturned.

There was an unusually large amount of textbook rentals left unreturned by the Dec. 17 deadline. Jay Menninger, director of the UVM Bookstore, believes the high volume of unreturned textbooks is due to the December 2014 academic calendar. “We rented approximately 3,500 textbooks for the fall semester,” Menninger said. Almost 1,000 of them weren’t returned by the Dec. 17 deadline. “I think that just like anything else, it is easy for something like that to slip your mind. For me, it would just be pure laziness,” sophomore Abigail Holmquist said. Holmquist suggested an incentive program. “If you return your textbooks back, you get 10 percent back or something,” she said. Menninger spoke with the rental company, who agreed to extend the deadline to Jan. 14. “Nobody would get charged until after that deadline,” Menninger said. Normally, if a student does

not return their textbook rental on time, “they get charged the rented it for and the price they would have bought it for,” Menninger said. The textbook rental agreethough. Students who do not bring back their textbooks by the deadline will be charged $5 charged the replacement cost of the textbook on top of that, according to the agreement. It was because of the high volume of textbooks not returned that the rental company agreed to the deadline extension, Menninger said. “It was an unusually high amount,” he said. “Usually anywhere from 10-20 percent of the rented books don’t come back. Some students decide they want to keep it because they like it.” “It was just the way our semester ended,” Menninger said. “We had the Thanksgiving break and three days of classes and then exams. It was pretty quick. The kids, they just weren’t thinking about it,” he said.

Gun Sense Vermont comes to UVM John Riedel As the new spring semester begins, a new organization is making its way onto campus. Gun Sense Vermont is “an independent, grassroots organization started by Vermonters, run by Vermonters and focused on closing the gaps in Vermont’s gun laws that make it too easy for guns to fall into the wrong hands” according to its website, gunsensevt.org. “Together we can help Vermont take the lead in closing the loopholes that make it so easy for guns to fall into the wrong hands,” the website stated. Gun Sense Vermont’s focus is passing legislation that would require background checks on all gun purchases in Vermont, particularly in the upcoming 2015 legislative session, according to the website. Right now, background checks are not required on gun shows and online sales in Vermont. Instead, any pawnbroker or quired to keep a record of the sale at the time of purchase. “Such records shall include the date of the transaction, the turer’s name, the caliber, model

and manufacturer’s number of birthplace, occupation, age, height, weight and color of eyes and hair of the purchaser or the Attorney General’s website. Vermont has one of the most lenient gun laws in the nation, according to usacarry.com. arm openly or concealed pro-

mont.gov. Background checks on the ducted with the National Instant Check System. The system provides gun merchants with immediate information on buyers and is maintained by the FBI, according to the Vermont Department of Public Safety’s website. “I think it’s relatively unim-

with the intent or avowed purpose of injuring a fellow man. There is no permit required to carry concealed,” according to usacarry.com. Vermont citizens as young as 16 years old are permitted to carry concealed weapons. “I am for background checks [on gun purchases],” sophomore Gus Warner said. “I would think it would be a useful and cautionary tactic that could

show that guns used in crimes are primarily acquired illegally anyway,” senior Justin Hall said. “I know gang violence skews that statistic, but there is a lot of skewing in gun statistics.” That law states that “indi-

safety.” Junior TJ Thran agrees with Warner. “As a Vermont resident, I believe we should not be giving guns to people who are going to cause harm,” he said. “We need to do our part to regulate guns.” However, it is required that a background check be done for cense in Vermont, according to the Vermont General Assembly’s website, legislature.ver-

an element of violence on the Criminal History record,” according to the Department of Public Safety. According to Gun Sense Vermont’s website, between 20032012, 56 percent of domestic violence homicides involved a gun. “Vermont does have a domestic violence problem,” the website stated.

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from owning, possessing or pura felony conviction, a domestic assault conviction or a domestic assault charge that was amend-

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“As a Vermont resident, I believe we should not be giving guns to people who are going to cause harm. We need to do our part to regulate guns.” TJ Thran Junior

“I am for background checks,[on gun purchases]. I would think it would be a useful and cautionary tactic that could make a large safety.” Gus Warner Sophomore F o l l o w u s o n Tw i t t e r

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