Online retailers help students play ‘buy’ the book
By Christine Tatum
College Press Exchange
CHICAGO (CPX) - While shopping
for books this semester, Troy Dunmire
spotted an intriguing ad in the student
newspaper at the University of South
Florida. It dared him to find "any
other area college bookstore" offering
books at lower prices. Campus
bookstore officials were so confident
it couldn’t be done that they offered
to pay double the difference to anyone
who proved them wrong.
Dunmire, the university's student
body vice president, hopped online
and made only one stop:
Varsityßooks.com. The Web site
offered the books he needed for
$358.15 $78.50 cheaper than the
charges he had racked up in the
student store on campus.
Dunmire, consoled by the thought
that the bookstore would give him
double the difference. $157, proudly
presented his receipts and Internet
research to store management. They
turned him down, stating in a letter
Dunmire received that online
booksellers couldn't be counted
among "area college bookstores."
“I don't know why not," Dunmire
Mob Hits’ CD is putting Fordham student through law school
By Gene Mustain
Knight-Ridder Newspapers
NEW YORK - A law student whose
office is sometimes his bathtub has
an offer he hopes you won't refuse, a
chance to have your own mob
experience without having to leave
the comfort of your home. So far as
we know, David Brinker and his crew
of pals won’t make you sleep with the
fishes if you don't buy the album
they've put out. the one they and
singer Jerry Vale are hawking in the
wee, wee hours on cable TV.
They just really, really want you to
purchase "Mob Hits" so they can
make money and Brinker can stay
current with his law school tuition.
It’s a double-CD lineup of songs from
mob movies and songs that sound like
they should be. "If you put this music
on while having dinner with friends,
it’s like, well, it’s hard to put it into
words, but it conveys the style,
intrigue and adventure that you get
from mob movies," says the 25-year
old Brinker.
“The songs are not about being in
the mob. But some happened to be in
mob movies and others, well, they’ve
There’s no excuse for
not making the grade
By Teneshia Ashley
Knight-Ridder Newspapers
TALLAHASSEE. Fla. - Some
athletes have it made. You know, the
ones who have phones ringing off the
hook during all hours of the night.
The callers, of course, are Division I
college coaches, making all kinds of
promises to these gifted athletes. The
coaches tell them they will start their
first season. They’ll win a
championship ring. But more
importantly, they will get a tree
education.
Thirty-one Tallahassee-area
athletes signed letters of intent to
colleges on Wednesday, National
Signing Day. But some of them will
never suit up for the schools. See,
there’s a catch.
Before these players enroll, they
must earn at least a 2.5 grade-point
average in 13 core courses and make
a certain minimum score on their
choice of college-entrance exams,
820 on the SAT or 17 on the ACT.
These standards are known as Prop
42.
Many athletes are failing to meet
those standards. At least four high
school football players in the Big
Bend did not sign letters intent to
Division I schools Wednesday
because they didn’t make the grade.
There’s no excuse for it.
What makes these athletes any
National Campus News
said. "Online sellers are advertising
on this campus, and they’re certainly
available in this area. If the student
bookstore didn’t want to include them
in the offer, it should have put a
disclaimer in the ad.” Dunmire was
even more insulted when he learned
that Varsityßooks.com is an affiliate
member of the National Association
of College Stores.
“The lesson here is that I’ll be
shopping online tor my books in the
future," Dunmire said. "It was easier,
and it was definitely cheaper." Such
conclusions are sending shivers up the
spines of college bookstore managers
around the country. While it appears
campus bookstores still have a much
stronger foothold in textbook sales,
it's tough to say how much longer that
edge will remain. Students are
inereasingly Web savvy and have
been searching for ways to overthrow
campus bookstores for years. And
with Web textbook vendors
advertising on campus more
aggressively, the battle lor students
business is expected to get ugly.
"It's real competition at last, said
John Dennis, a junior majoring in
math at California State University at
Bakersfield. "I’ve been waiting a long
just got that I eel." Brinker, who
worked for a record company before
he enrolled at Fordham Law School,
got the feeling to produce the album
about 18 months ago while working
in the bathtub of his East Side
apartment.
"You study all night and go to the
bath to relax, but when I'm in the
bath, I’m thinking or I’m on the
phone doing business, did you get
this'.’ Did you do that?" So tar, w ith a
Web site and those Jerry Vale ads on
cable TV, the little company he started
with backing from friends has sold
about 50,000 copies; a retail
distribution plan is in the works.
Even Luca Brasi would have a hard
time failing to notice the album cover,
a gold record pierced by what look
to be .38-caliber bullet holes. In
addition to Vale, the album features
Dean Martin, Al Martino. Louis
Prima, Lou Monte and Julius La
Rosa. About half the songs are from
such films as "Casino." "Donnie
Brasco.” "Goodlellas" and. of course.
"The Godfather."
Some of the mob world's favorite
singers. Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Roselli
and Tonv Bennett, are not featured.
different from their classmates who
participate in extracurricular
activities? Band members and ROTC
students practice for hours after
school and participate in out-of-town
competition.
Yet, they are not given the option
of meeting minor requirements to
reeeive a free college education.
Most incoming freshmen have to
earn grade-point averages exceeding
a 3.5 to even be considered for full
paid college scholarships.
The only thing college recruits
need arc those small standards, and
they can make their dreams realities.
And they get the help they need. Like
other high school students, these
athletes have access to tutoring. They
talk with counselors. They also have
study hall with their teams.
Godby athletics director Art
Witters said the department does
everything possible to ensure athletes
are prepared for college. Athletes
even have an academic advisor, dean
of students Kendrick Fearson.
Fearson was a graduate assistant in
the academic division of Florida
State’s athletics department. He has
an annual meeting that informs
athletes about the requirements for
college. He also tells them the classes
they need to take.
“They know what they’re up
against,” Fearson said. “We told them
what they need to do. They have
time for this." Given the explosion of
online shopping, it was only a matter
of time before someone tapped into
the nation’s S 3 billion textbook
industry. Varsityßooks.com and Big
Words have emerged as the
frontrunners among a half-dozen
online bookstores looking to grab
students’ money.
Most of the Web "stores" tout
hundreds of thousands of titles and
discounts of up to 40 percent,
reductions they say they tire able to
offer because they don't have to
maintain staffs or buildings. E Follet
tells students to "get out of line," and
Big Words currently is not charging
for shipping and handling. For a Hat
shipping rate of $4.95. Varsityßooks
promises that books will be on
students' doorsteps within three
business days. For a lew extra bucks,
overnight opt ions are also available.
"Our plans are already working,"
said Eric Kuhn, co founder and CEO
of Varsityßooks. "We lully
understand that people expect
shopping online to be cheaper and
speedy. The savings and short
delivery time we offer distinguish us
from anyone else. We believe we have
the whole package." Not so last, said
but it was nothing personal, just
business. Brinker couldn t obtain the
rights to their songs. "It wasn't that
they were 100 expensive, it's just that
those artists have not allowed their
works to be reproduced on
compilation albums. That's why we
got Paul Anka singing 'My Way,’ not
Sinatra. But it's Anka’s song, he
wrote it
The idea came to Brinker because
he is both an avid collector ol music
and a big fan of mob movies. "1 grew
up spending every cent 1 had on
music, all kinds. I have 3,00(1 CDs
littering my apartment. And then I
became a mob-movie freak and I
realized, hey, some of the music in
them is stuff my parents listen to. but
it's great
His parents used to go to nightclubs
to hear Vale sing "Al-Di-I.a" and
"Non Dimenticar." and now both
sones are on "Mob Hus and Vale is
the album's pitchman. "It's not music
that would he al the top of my list,"
says Brinker. "But it's good music,
and it's familiar in a New York kind
of w ay because so many mob movies
have been made here."
every opportunity to reeeive any
necessary help at the school. There's
no way we’re putting athletics before
academics.” But every year athletes
continuously fail to meet the college
entrance standards.
Last year, seven Tallahassee
football signees who accepted
athletic scholarships to four-year
programs ended up in junior college
because they did not meet the
requirements. The notable casualties
were former Florida High running
back Maurice Wilson, former Godby
twins C.K. and C.R. McCoy and
former Godby linebacker Aries
Monroe. Those four signed letters of
intent with Division 1 programs but
did not qualify. They did not have the
required grade-point averages or test
scores.
Wilson signed with Central Florida
last spring and plans to enroll next
fall as a full qualifier. He recently
made the required score on the
college-entrance exam and is taking
a class at Tallahassee Community
College. The McCoys, who signed
with Tulane, enrolled at Middle
Georgia College last summer and
returned to Tallahassee soon after.
They planned to enroll at Florida
A&M this semester and try out tor
the football team.
Monroe now plays football at
Coffeeville Community College. He
initially signed with the University
Kay Farley assistant union director for
retail and bookstore manager at
Kansas State University. She’s
keeping a watchful eye on what her
online competitors are up to and so
far isn’t too impressed.
"I think service is a big factor, and
from what I hear, their service isn’t as
good as they say it is," she said.
"People I’ve talked to say it's taken
more than six days to get their books,
and that's not good, especially when
it’s an algebra book; it’s imperative
you have that at the start ot class. "And
w hat if a student drops the class or gets
the wrong book.’" she continued.
"Returning a book ordered online is
another hassle I wouldn’t want to
contend w ith."
Many bookstore managers say
they’re willing to pit service and
product quality against their online
competition any day. But price? Well,
that’s another matter, at least for now.
Many managers, like Farley, say
there's something fishy about the
reduced prices being peddled online
these days. "The publishers won’t
even let me buy some of these books
at the rales they're being sold for
online," she said. "I don't understand
that."
Students help free man after almost 17
By Mark Lebien And
Charlie Meyerson
K n i gh t - R idd e r N e vv spape r s
CHICAGO - Anthony Porter, who
came within days of being exeeuted
by lethal injection in September,
walked out of jail Friday afternoon
after spending nearly 17 years in
prison for a double murder that
another man now says he committed.
"It feels marvelous to be outside,"
Porter said after being released. "I’m
free."
Porter, wearing black jeans and a
black jacket instead of the brown
prison uniform he had been wearing
just hours earlier, said the outside
world "looked great." He said he can’t
wait to gel home to see his family and
eat a steak dinner. And he said his faith
in God helped him get through the
ordeal.
Porter's release followed a hearing
earlier in the day in Cook County
Criminal Court. There, Assistant
State’s Ally. Thomas Gainer made a
motion that, based on new' evidence,
Porter should be released on his owm
recognizance. Judge Thomas R.
Fitzgerald agreed and ordered the
release.
On Wednesday, a Milwaukee man,
athletes
of Alabama. C.R. McCoy said the
blame for his nonqualification should
not be placed on the athletics
department.
"It’s not their fault,” McCoy said.
"It’s really no one’s fault. We just
didn’t get the score. It’s going to
happen again. I don't know how to
solve it, but it’s going to happen
again.” But it shouldn’t. Why are
athletes who are making the grade
considered exceptions?
Eight Quincy Shanks starters
signed letters of intent Wednesday for
football scholarships. The seniors
combine for at least a 3.0 grade-point
average. Lincoln defensive lineman
Elton Patterson and Florida High
running back Kevin Tate both are
honor students.
And consider Shanks quarterback
Willie Simmons - the Big Bend’s
leading passer last season. He will
have his A.A. degree from TCC and
will enroll at Clemson as a junior.
More athletes need to stand up in the
classroom instead of using the
minimal enrollment standards as a
crutch. Getting in is easy. Staying in
is not.
Thursday, February 11, 1999 - The Behrend College Beacon - page 5
Neither does the National
Association of College Stores, which
has hired attorneys to look into
allegations of impropriety, said
spokesman Jerry Buchs. And another
thing about those low prices: Little
or none of the money spent with
companies online goes back to the
university to help students, bookstore
managers say. Figured into the price
of textbooks sold by many campus
stores are administrative fees paid to
universities for a variety of support
services and contributions to student,
faculty and staff activities, events and
promotions.
"These are all expenses that are not
required of on-line booksellers and.
to some extent, to private
bookstores," Jeffrey Mack, director
of auxiliary services at USF, stated
in the rejection letter Dunmire
received. "Without these expenses,
these private companies can reduce
the margin (and subsequent prices)
necessary to run their operations.
Their incentive is profit, and they are
contributing nothing to the
university.”
To help its members fend oft
competition the association is
encouraging them to tight fire with
Alstory Simon, made a videotaped
statement implicating himself in the
1982 murders of Jerry Hillard. 18,
and Marilyn Green, 19, for which
Porter was convicted. Charges have
not been filed against Simon, who
police said is at an undisclosed
location and is not a flight risk.
After his release, Porter briefly
talked to reporters before being
driven away in a car. Asked it he was
bitter toward prosecutors, he said,
"They’ve got a job to do, but they
took too damn long to get me out of
here.” He also said he was grateful to
Simon for "stepping up” and taking
responsibility for the murders.
Meanwhile, First Assistant State’s
Atty. David Erickson stressed the
case was still open, but acknowledged
that releasing Porter was “the
appropriate thj/igfo do.”
“Wo’re nowhere near . final
conclusions.,We haven’t completed
our investigation yet,” said Erickson,
who would not speculate on whether
charges against Porter would be
dismissed. Erickson said he does not
believe investigators failed to do their
jobs.
Simon's statement was taped by a
Chicago private investigator who was
working with a Northwestern
University professor and five
Fraternity party spurs
meningitis scare at Penn
State
College Press Exchange
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (CPX) -
About 300 students at Penn State
have sought medical treatment after
potentially being exposed to bacterial
meningitis during a weekend
fraternity party. Doctors say the
chances that any students at the party
will contract the disease are low, but
they have given a single dose of an
antibiotic to most seeking treatment.
It is not known how many people
Court:
for student’s
College Press Exchange
CINCINNATI (CPX) - Sears,
Roebuck and Co. and one of its
security guards are not responsible
for the suicide of a college student
accused of shoplifting, a federal
appeals court ruled. The estate of 20-
year-old Grace Ko filed suit against
the multi-million-dollar corporation
and one of its guards, alleging that
Ko’s death stemmed from false
accusations against her. The estate
also accused Sears of fraudulent
misrepresentation and inflicting
emotional distress. The 6th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed,
upholding a lower court’s 1997
fire. “It’s simple,” Buchs said.
“College bookstores have to find a
way to do business on the Internet.”
In February, many college stores
are expected to take advantage of 8
new product called “Course Web,” a
series of Web pages that can be
tailored to individual campuses and
are designed to make students’
shopping easier. Using Course Web,
professors will be able to post changes
in required reading immediately.
Students will be able to reserve books
at the campus store, where they can
pay for them when they pick them up,
or they can choose to conduct the
entire transaction online and have
their books delivered to them at home
later that day.
“It’s the best of both worlds because
it gives students up-to-the-minute
information on their courses and the
full convenience of shopping online,”
he said. “And because the student
store is right on campus, this option
also provides the next-door, face-to
face connection people need.” Tell
that to John Dennis, the Cal State
student who ordered his books online
this semester. “Til shop wherever the
books are cheapest,” he said.
years on death row
journalism students. Together, they
had unearthed new evidence
indicating that Porter may be
innocent
The startling developments began
unfolding last week, when Simon’s
ex-wife, Inez Jackson, came forward
and alleged she was present when
Simon shot Hillard and Green at a
park on Chicago’s South Side. Paul
Ciolino, the private investigator, then
persuaded Simon to make the
videotaped statement, in which he
says he shot Hillard in self-defense,
then accidentally shot Green.
Porter was two days away from
being executed in September when
the Illinois Supreme Court delayed
the execution amid questions about
Porter’s mental competency.
Before his release, Porter took time
to talk to the Northwestern students
who helped free him. He said he
"loves them.”
Their professor, David Protess, said
the students were thrilled with
Porter’s release, but, he added, that
joy is tempered by the knowledge that
"this man was railroaded.”
"As good as I feel about Anthony
Porter’s release today,” Protess said,
"1 am outraged that this man had to
spend 16 years on death row for a
crime that he did not commit.”
attended a party at the Pi Lambda Phi
house on Saturday. A young woman
enrolled at Shippensburg University,
whose name has not been released,
was diagnosed with the illness and
listed in critical condition at a local
hospital on Monday.
Bacterial meningitis, which can be
deadly, is transmitted through
extended close contact with an
infected person or through sharing
oral secretions.
Sears
not
suicide
ruling in favor of Sears.
Ko, a Chinese immigrant studying
at the University of Michigan, killed
herself in 1994 by jumping from her
18th-story apartment window one
day after she was arrested for
shoplifting at a Sears store In Ann
Arbor, Mich. Ko denied the charge
and tried to pay for the goods the next
day because she said she feared being
deported. According to court records,
Sears officials told her a court
hearing was unavoidable.
liable