Books and business: Capitol setup “BOOKSTORE” from page 1 University Park, Harrisburg Area Community College (H.A.C.C.), and Franklin and Marshall, a private liberal arts college. Capitol Campus, of course, is unique as the only upper division school. Yet since a bookstore is a business, we assumed that comparable markets should receive comparable services. In other The Franklin and Marshall College bookstore offers a selection of magazines. words, the Capitol Campus Bookstore with 2,500 student customers should provide better service than at small campuses such as Hazleton with 1,100 students, Berks with 1,000, and comparable service to Franklin and Marshall with its 2,000 students. We assumed wrong. Even compared to much smaller bookstores, Capitol Campus’ store seemed to have fewer essential services, more limited selections of books and store items, and the fewest cost advantages for students. Cost of bodes, of course, is the largest single student concern. And while all the stores sold new bodes at suggested retail prices, the real savings and service was in used books bought and sold. Here at Capitol Campus, the bookstore does not sell or buy used books. While an independent book buyer does come in once a year to buy used bods, this service is not widely publicized. The two smallest bodes tores, Hazelton and Berks, both sell used bods at substantial savings to their students. Hazelton sells used bodes at two-thirds original price and at Berks used bodes go for 25 percent below retail. At Berks, books are bought back at 50 percent of the current price and at Hazleton, an outside book buyer comes in twice a year to make purchases from students. At University Park, the school bookstore makes a special effort to buy back used books, setting up buying tables in residence halls at the beginning of each term. At H.A.C.C., used books are sold, but a special table for Bodes On Discount Sale is a prominent feature and students are allowed to sell bods on a special bulletin board inside of the store. Franklin and Marshall is unique because the used bod buying and selling is handled by student clubs ana fraternities as social fund-raising activities. The bookstore, however, also stocks and sells used textbooks. ‘S’ &■s£&?. . ’ ;,.’ : '4MS| ’*■ **■ "*’*£l. fV* ,,r V 1- v ’:>WQi ;^; '4 , - . " -.i ' I" JP— ' "'.5: , •>»*>* Another major complaint against the Capitol Campus Bookstore is that it regularly underorders classroom textbooks in order to avoid the possible cost of shipping extra books back to the publishers. “I’ve learned that I have to buy bodes before the term starts because the bookstore reduces the number of bodes the professors request. The store runs out,” says Alice Duncan, a graduate student. And as Dr. Donald Alexander, Associate Professor of Education says, “The F and M students browse throngh their bookstore. i - /j& iMMf overridir that the I have baL There is ordering Both W Campus and Dr.. Assistant Psycholc the Book refused subject. Other didn’t s< underor were thi
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers