the review washburn university
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volume 136, Issue 1 • Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Bookstore introduces textbook rentals Kevin Mitchell WASHBURN REVIEW
parable shape to the time of purchase, and must not have excessive damage. “We know textbooks cost too Students can pay $150, or $60, much and we’re always looking for $147 or $59. The choice is now theirs, ways to save students money,” said Kay thanks to a new program the Wash- Farley, Washburn bookstore director. In addition to the book rental burn University bookstore is implementing for the 2009-10 school year. program, there are some other ways The bookstore is beginning a book for students to save a buck. Books rental program this year, presenting purchased in advance include a 5 percent discount. students with Students can an opportunity “ either buy their to save money. books online, The program We know textbooks or fill out a prewill offer four order form that cost too much and textbooks iniin tially, with more we’re always looking isthe available bookstore. textbooks to Students can be added to the for ways to save also sign up for rental inventory students money. e-mail alerts in in the future. the “Events that Instead of Matter” newsletpaying $150.00 - Kay Farley ter through the for a new “InWashburn Bookstore Director university booktroduction to store at www. Biology” book ” washburnbookor $112 for a store.com. The used book, stunewsletter sends dents can now rent the book for $60. A brand new students information about bookstore “Intermediate Algebra” textbook will and union events, secret sales, textbook cost students $147.65, a used book buyback and other bookstore news. will cost $110.75, but a rented book There are currently more than 1,100 will cost $59 for a semester. Also students signed up for the newsletter. Along with potentially savavailable for rental are “College Algebra” and “An Invitation to Wellness.” ing money on books and merchan“I wish they had book rental dise, patronizing the Washburn when I was a student,” said former bookstore directs profits back into Washburn student Chad Lacey, “that the university coffers, as opposed could have saved me a ton of cash.” to supporting companies that don’t To participate in the program, directly invest in the university. Textbooks go on sale in students select the eligible books from the bookstore, based on avail- the bookstore Aug. 3, and the ability. If rental books are chosen, the last day for a refund is Aug. 28. student must present their Washburn identification card and sign the terms of agreement for rental. When the semester has ended, students will return the rented books to the university Kevin Mitchell is a member of the summer bookstore. The books must be in com- advanced newswriting class.
Photo by Matt Wilper, Washburn Review
Saved by the rental: A Washburn student looks at one of the textbooks that are now available to rent at the Washburn Book Store. Books available for rent include: “Introduction to Biology,” “College Algebra,” “An Invitation to Wellness,” and “Intermediate Algebra.”
Budget cuts cause higher tuition
Discover what fun things await in Topeka, and all for prices that won’t break your budget!
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raising tuition. He said that if more people were willing to take pay cuts across the board, then perhaps the situation wouldn’t be so severe. “I’m very humbled by the students taking on this responsibility,” said Haze, who added that his “ideal situation” would be to find out how to save enough money to someday give back that two percent to the students. To put that “two percent” in perspective though, in the 1998-1999 school year, tuition was $135 per credit hour. Now, for the 2009-2010 school year, tuition is $201 per credit hour. It’s a raise of nearly 50 percent. The drastic tuition raise concerns some, like Haze and Marshall, that the tuition has too often increased in order to give faculty members raises. “There are more than just raises that go into tuition. The cost of going to college has increased,” said Parks. She also said that not everyone is given a raise, but that faculty members receive raises based on how they are rated. “A lot goes into it. It’s hard to explain,” she said. The board isn’t just trying to get money out of the students. At the June meeting, the board voted
Please see SAFETY TIPS page A5
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Aug. 26: Activities & Majors Fair 11:00 am to 2:00 pm North Side of the Union 11:00 am to 1:30 pm Music | Food | Sales | And more…
Aug. 28: Wear Washburn Day
Seung-Hui Cho entered Norris Hall, chained the doors behind him, then proceeded to calmly and violently shoot and kill 30 Virginia Tech students in April, 2007. He had already murdered two students earlier that morning. In the time since that brutal incident, universities around the country have improved campus security, including Washburn University. Washburn implemented an emergency alert system called I-Alert. It is designed to notify students by e-mail, text message and land line quickly in case of an emergency. Students who choose to participate in the system can sign up through their MyWashburn account. The I-Alert system is one way of being informed about possible dangerous situations, but there are also some simple solutions that students can do on a daily basis to
With a new format and a new name, “WU Women” calendar still brings the heat.
Aug. 25: Pepsi Tasting on the East Side of the Union 10:00 am Aug. 27: Scorch on the Porch
Kevin Mitchell WASHBURN REVIEW
Please see BUDGET CUTS page A5
The Ichabods will honor Ben Muir by wearing his jersey each game this season.
sports
news & opinion
When tuition increased yet again this year, it wasn’t unexpected. But the alternative to the two percent increase may come as a surprise: it was either this or outsourcing jobs. At the same meeting where the Washburn University Board of Regents decided to charge students an extra $4 per credit hour, it had to make a decision about whether to outsource Washburn’s maintenance jobs to a bigger company, UGL Unicco. The outsourcing was one option to increase the university budget, but the Board decided not to negotiate a contract with Unicco in a narrow vote of 4-3. “They said we could save about $500,000,” said Blanche Parks, a member of the Board of Regents for nearly 15 years. “But I’m not for cutting jobs.” Parks was one of the four to vote against the contract and was also the only board member to vote against the two percent tuition increase. She said she “felt there could have been other ways” of raising the money instead of raising the cost of schooling. She was also afraid that the students wouldn’t understand. “I know it’s a hardship for stu-
dents, but it’s important for the stu- least, have saved the facilities servicdents to understand that the university es workers’ jobs, but shop mechanic depends on tuition dollars to be able and union president Michael Haze to operate and maintain an excel- warned that this won’t be the end of it. lent academic university,” she said. “The two percent is in there. But sophomore Brandon Marshall Now it’s going to be part of the doesn’t think that the students would budget. And Unicco is still here, be so upset about tuition increases if it so we’ve got to look out,” he said. was clear what the board was spendHaze said that the outsourcing the money on. He said he trans- ing would have damaged the workferred out of the last college he was at ers’ economic standings as well as because he found out that 80 percent their work ethics. Unicco would have of the budget was spent on advertis- paid at a semi-rate of pay, so working. Marshall didn’t mind ers “would pay their own that his tuition this year was medical insurance and being raised to cover the UNIVERSITY then also face a reducTUITION costs of Washburn’s maintetion in benefits,” he said. nance workers, but he didn’t If Washburn outthink that was the real issue. sourced the maintenance “[The question of outsourcing jobs to Unicco, then the workers custodians] is insulting to me person- would owe their allegiance to Unicco. ally because it never should have been This would mean that they would have brought up in the first place. Our cus- to follow orders instead of thinking todians do a good job,” said Marshall, about what’s best for the university. who also said that the university hasn’t “We are the lowest paid people done a good job at managing the budget. on this campus,” Haze said, “Just “Where could they cut back? You look at our wages for the last 15, have to look at the entire thing,” he said. 20 years and you see how commit“Like with Chartwells, it was a bad in- ted we are. Not many people would vestment, and it continued to be a bad work for those kind of wages.” investment. It’s obvious that [board But Haze also wished the board members] have not shopped around.” had thought of another way to raise Tuition prices, for this year at the money for the budget instead of
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Regina Budden WASHBURN REVIEW
WU Police Department safety tips
Visit the Bookstore Friday, Aug. 28 and Enter to Win: 2 Football Tickets for Faculty & Staff Washburn T-Shirt for Students (785) 670-BOOK
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