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Volume 24
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Boise, Idaho
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Faculty and staff share experiences Amy Merrill News Editor
Five ways to beat the record-breaking Boise summer heat.
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Summer classes can be a great option for many students.
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In February, The Arbiter met with four Boise State faculty and staff who had been awarded through the Faculty International Development Award the opportunity to spend part of their summer traveling abroad. Dan Scott from the Art Department has reached the end of his trip in Viterbo, Italy, as has the music department’s Michael Porter in Lüneberg, Germany. Office of Communications and Marketing’s Kathleen Tuck left in the last week of June for Viterbo, and the Chemistry Department’s Don Warner is setting out for Bilbao, Spain. All four international travelers stated before leaving they would be posting regular blog updates of their travels, which are now available at international.boisestate.edu. Grappling with a new country, unfamiliar language and culture can seem scary to students contemplating study abroad, but first-hand experiences can give students a unique look. Like students, the faculty and staff members are taking a number of classes and hope
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Professor Don Warner studies in Bilbao, Spain from a student perspective. to share their experiences with their students back in the states. In February, Michael Porter explained that he’d, “like to encourage students to explore opportunities.” His hope is that upon returning he can assist students in finding funding and scholarships for an opportunity, “they won’t regret.” Dan Scott shared these sentiments saying he would use the experience in every
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way possible. He views the experience as valuable because he’ll be obtaining it from a student’s perspective which will enable him to talk from that point of view. Students are encouraged to speak with these professors and faculty if unsure about a study abroad experience. Additional resources are available on campus. The International Learning Opportunities Office is open during the summer and
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school year. “Especially (students) with very little information should come in and meet with a peer advisor,” said Greg Harvey who worked at the office as a peer advisor. Harvey explained how every program and cost of living is different. One option for students to consider is the direct exchange program. Students participating in this program will receive their regular bill from Boise
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State, but the biggest extra cost, Harvey added, is the plane ticket. There are options for working with a variety of financial budgets, and financial aid. Harvey also added that once accepted into the program there is the possibility that a financial aid budget can be adjusted for study abroad. Each student will experience a unique study abroad experience and will work closely with the International Learning Opportunities office to find the best program for each individual. Still unsure about study abroad? Go online to check out the experiences Boise State’s very own faculty and staff have had and are having this summer, documented in their blogs, available at http://international.boisestate.edu/broncosabroad. The beautiful photos posted by the travelers give a true sense of exactly what they are experiencing while studying abroad and attempting to pick up new languages and in many ways brings the countries being visited alive. The photos are accompanied by captions, anecdotes and stories with new posts arriving frequently.
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A student’s guide to textbooks Considering the options before deciding whether to buy or not to buy? Amy Merrill
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Buying textbooks is a headache. The question of online versus campus bookstores is daunting, especially for procrastinators and students on strict budgets. Prices for books are constantly fluctuating along with tuition as the economy continues to stagnate, and many students struggle to afford the tab for texts. According to the National Association of College Stores (NACS), students spent on average $667 on books during the 2008-09 school year, a number that has surprisingly gone down according to market research firm Student Monitor. A study completed in 2010 shows roughly 59 percent of students are buying their books through college bookstores or their Web sites. The other 41 percent have opted to buy elsewhere, but who is saving the most money? There is a tendency for stu-
dents to blame their campus bookstores for the high cost of textbooks, but are these stores really to blame? The bookstores don’t select the books brought in for inventory; rather it’s the professors who request course materials and the bookstores who fill these requests. The Boise State Bookstore assures students that they play no part in the textbook selection process and they encourage professors to make text selections early in order to obtain greater numbers of used copies. Publishers establish the price in which they will charge a college bookstore per title, after which the bookstore determines the retail price. The difference between the two amounts is the gross margin, which is used to cover personnel costs covering the cost of freight and running the store itself. According to NACS’ 2010 College Store Industry Financial Report the average gross margin on new textbooks at the time was at 22.3
percent. The gross margin tends to run higher for used textbooks for many reasons including the risk they present to the stores in case a new edition were to come out making the used edition obsolete. The bottom line is that once all expenses are paid, college bookstores on average make about four cents to the dollar. At the Boise State Bookstore, “The majority of the income from all bookstore locations is used in the form of scholarships given out by the university. Over the past two fiscal years the bookstore was able to contribute an estimated $2 million to the general scholarship fund at Boise State University,” according to the store Web site. Does that mean by buying at the Boise State Bookstore you are receiving the best deal on your books? Not necessarily. Online options have become increasingly popular with websites such as textbookspyder.com, which is essentially expedia for text-
books. All that is needed is the text ISBN, title or author to view listings for new, used, ebook and rental options on the textbook. Chegg.com is also a popular website for Boise State students. “I use Amazon to get my books,” said Megan Buxton, a junior communications major. “It is a lot cheaper. I know the [Boise State] bookstore gives scholarships but they are expensive for someone who is on scholarships.” Amazon.com and campus bookstores aren’t the only options that students have though. Google Books or Project Gutenberg, which has scanned 39,000 books into its database, will not have everything you need, but for a literature or English class, many titles that are traditionally found in an anthology could be found in these databases. For students who don’t get a headache reading text off of digital devises E-Textbooks could be a valuable money saver. For example, Cours-
esmart.com is a consortium of major textbook publishers with books available at up to 60 percent off the price of print textbooks, electronically students can still take notes, highlight text and print, but only ten pages at a time. Renting textbooks is an additional option. The Boise State Bookstore does offer textbook rentals on many books and many online sites do as well. With any book purchased or rented online, however, there is always the chance the book may take longer than expected to arrive or not be in great condition. Don’t wait to order books when going the online route. Finally, before buying books anywhere consider the value of a buyback at the bookstore. According to boisestatebooks.com, used Books purchased to be resold by the bookstore are done so at 75 percent of the publisher’s list price. For example, if the new list price is $30, the used book will be sold at $22.50. arbiteronline.com