Thursday, Sept. 13, 2007
www.theloquitur.com
NEWS | 5
Cost of textbooks is on the rise Bush comments on possible troop reduction in surprise visit to Iraq
KAITLIN BARR KMB738@CABRINI.EDU EDITOR IN CHIEF
The cost of textbooks has risen at twice the rate of annual inflation over the last two decades, according to a new report by the United States Government Accountability Office. The cost of textbooks and supplies, which has become a significant factor in the total cost of college, is becoming more of a hassle for students everyday. According to the College Board website, the average cost of books and supplies for 200607 are as follows: for a four-year public college, an average student taking 15 credits will spend an estimated $942. An average student at a four-year private college will spend an estimated $946 as well. The question is, are textbooks that expensive or are professors not taking the price into consideration when looking into textbooks for students? “I absolutely look at the price before ordering texts,” Asst. English Professor, Dr. Paul Wright said. “I try to use reasonably priced paperbacks when possible, unless I have no other choice.” Some professors look at prices before content, others however, look at content before price. “When choosing a textbook, I am first and foremost concerned with the quality of information and appropriateness for the students I teach,” Fine Arts-Music professor Dr. Adeline Bethany said. “Usually, all the books being considered are ‘in the same ballpark’ so it does not impact significantly on my selection.” Buying textbooks online versus in the bookstore can also account for how much money you are going to spend on textbooks. According to the College Store Industry Financial Report, the average gross margin on new textbooks is currently 22.4 per-
SARAH PASTOR SEP722@CABRINI.EDU
STAFF WRITER
President Bush made an unofficial appearance at Al-Asad Air Base in Anbar Province, Iraq on Monday to announce the possibility of a troop reduction in the near future after considerable military success in the area. Recent alliance with Sunni tribes in Anbar is one of the few indicators that Bush’s strategy announced in January, ordering 30,000 additional troops to the country, shows any signs of success. While no specific timeline was indicated, the president did assure local troops that “..if the kind of success we are seeing now continues, it will be possible to maintain the same level of security with fewer American forces.” MARCELLA DISANDRO
The cost of textbooks has become a significant part of the costs that college students face when in college. cent. The gross margin is the difference between what the college store paid for the textbook and the amount they charge the student. After the store expenses have been paid, a college store’s profit is 4.4 cents for every dollar’s worth of new textbooks sold. In an article posted recently in the Daily Local out of Chester County, Larry Davis, a manager at the Barnes & Noble bookstore at Immaculata University, said that Barnes & Noble at Immaculata buys back books for 50 percent of the price of the book. If that sounds interesting, other Barnes & Nobles do this as well, just check into the one nearest to your area. “I’m amazed at how expensive textbooks have become,” Asst. professor of mathematics, Dr. John Brown said. “When I was in col-
lege almost 30 years ago, my books were about 20 dollars a piece, which I thought was a lot back then. Those same books would sell for over 100 dollars today.” Websites such as half.com or Amazon.com can save you sometimes half the money you would have spent in the bookstore. If ordering off-line, you are risking the chance of getting a beat-up and not-so-nice text. That may not matter to some students, but to some it does. Even professors remember the feeling of having to pay a lot of money for textbooks. “As a college student, I would ‘freak out’ at the price of textbooks,” Asst. biology professor Dr. David Dunbar said. “Most of my summer job money went to paying for them.”
New online withdraw system is in effect CHRISTOPHER BLAKE CRB724@CABRINI.EDU STAFF WRITER
Is there a class on your schedule that is just not working out? Well, now Cabrini College offers an online program for course withdrawals. Life just became a whole lot more convenient. Students will not have to complete the traditional process of filling out a withdrawal form, meeting with their faculty adviser and finally delivering a signed transcript to the registrar’s office. Instead, withdrawing from a course can be as easy as the click of your mouse. Chris Socienski, sophomore management information systems major, said, “This will be much more convenient, but I don’t know if I will trust the computer.” He later added, “I’ll probably use it anyway. I have to drop history.” The new program will allow students to contact their faculty adviser online through an auto-
matic email. Then the adviser will either approve or request the student to “See Adviser.” Lastly, the email will be sent to the registrar’s office for completion and they will notify the student, adviser, and professor of the withdrawal. Nancy Hutchinson, director of cooperative education and career services, said “I would want to have a conversation with the student, and exhaust all possibilities before they made the decision to withdraw from a class.” In addition, Hutchinson said, “As an adviser I do not want to lose the personal contact with a student. I am in favor of the new program if it simplifies the process and helps various offices. If not then we will just have to go back to the drawing boards.” The success of the new online course withdrawal system is going to be placed on the shoulders of faculty advisers checking their emails on a regular basis. Joseph Coyle, associate director of admissions, said, “A part-time faculty
adviser might not be able to check his email regularly. This would be okay if a student tried to withdraw from a course early on, but a problem if time was running out.” Another problem students could run into would be regretting that they actually withdrew from the course. M. Frances Harkness, the assistant registrar, said, “If students withdrew spontaneously and then think it’s a mistake we can work with them to change it. Sometimes in the heat of the moment students withdraw due to fear of failure.” Dr. Nicholas Uliano, assistant professor of Spanish, said, “Virtual contact with the adviser is an important first step in the new process-as there may be times in which a face-to-face meeting may still be necessary. However, I see the new online course withdrawal system as a positive step in the facilitation of routine course withdrawals.”
Germans Arrest 3 in Terrorist Plot German police announced the arrest of three local men in the final stages of a “massive” bombing attack on American facilities in Germany. The suspects, identified as two German citizens who had converted to Islam and a Turkish resident of Germany, were arrested in the remote town of Oberschledon after investigators discovered over 200 gallons of concentrated hydrogen peroxide contained in a small rental where the attackers planned to construct bombs. The arrest followed an 8 month investigation by both German and American intelligence of continued suspicious behavior demonstrated by the suspects and their affiliates. Police arrived as the men were leaving the residence; one man fled and managed to injure an officer with a shot to the hand before being subdued.
Increased Unemployment Raises Risk of Economic Recession A report released Friday by the U.S. Department of Labor sites that over 4,000 American jobs were cut from July to August, the first major fall in employment rates since 2003. Most of these cuts were in companies connected to the housing industry, such as construction and manufacturing. The job slump has been predicted for months due to the failing housing industry; this current report caused stock priced to fall significantly and sparked greater fears of a nationwide economic recession than ever before. Reports by the Federal Reserve indicate that the odds of economic recession in the next year are now up 25-50%, putting greater pressure on the government to improve the weakening housing industry before it negatively impacts the country’s economy as a whole.
Report Criticizes Airport Security A recent government investigation indicates that the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) plan for detecting and removing bombs from airplane cargo holds is hardly sufficient. The report claims that the main weaknesses in TSA’s system are providing too few and improperly trained cargo inspectors, an ineffective database to track violations, and slack regulations for screening cargo being put onto passenger planes. Another major cause of concern was the lack of individually inspecting oversized cargo that arrives at an airport because it does not fit into standard bomb detecting devices. Authorities conclude that TSA “increases the opportunities to put explosives, incendiaries, and other dangerous devices in passenger aircraft.”