4—The Daily Collegian Tuesday, Sept. 5,1989
PSU bookstore hopes to end
complimentary book sales
By LISA GRIECO
Collegian Staff Writer
Officials at the Penn State Bookstore on Campus are taking
steps to combat the "unethical" practice of reselling compli
mentary copies of books a problem rapidly gaining
momentum nationwide.
As part of the yearly marketing process, publishers flood
instructors with free copies of new textbooks. Often instruc
tors, who may not have requested the books, resell the copies
to bookstores and wholesalers for a profit. Each time a com
plimentary copy is resold, the publisher and author make no
money from the transaction, said Elizabeth Wilson, the
bookstore's merchandise supervisor.
Publishers mark complimentary copies in a variety of
ways, such as drilling holes in the covers or removing several
chapters.
"It's the ethical thing to not deal in complimentary copies,"
Wilson said. "It's a practice that should be stopped."
Bright yellow signs posted throughout the campus
bookstore have informed students since the beginning of this
sememster that management is cracking down on instructors
who attempt to resell complimentary books.
Customers who purchase textbooks suffer when instructors
and wholesalers deal in complimentary books, Wilson said.
Publishers have to charge more for regular copies of books
to make up for lost revenues. _ _
But Norm Brown, manager of the Student Book Store, 330
E. College Ave., does not agree that students suffer when
complimentary books are sold.
He said the store has no policy against selling such copies,
which show up in shipments of used texts from wholesalers
around the country. It is cheaper for a student to purchase
used texts because they usually cost 25 percent less than new
copies, he said.
"We're out to find used books because that's what the stu
dents want," Brown said. However, he estimated that com
plimentary copies equal less than 2 percent of the store's used
book inventory.
Similarly, Steve Long, general manager of the University
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"It's the ethical thing to not deal in
complimentary copies."
ELIZABETH WILSON,
merchandise supervisor, the Penn State
Bookstore on Campus
Book Center, 206 E. College Ave., said ÜBC will buy compli
mentary copies from individuals as long as they do not have
prominent markings.
"We really have not taken that strong of a stance," Long
said. However, because of bad publicity about the practice,
ÜBC will not resell complimentary books in State College in
most cases, he added. Long said such books are sold to whole
salers of used books.
Long disagrees that the activity causes higher book prices,
which publishers blame on bookstores and instructors who
deal in complimentary book trade.
"This is total nonsense that this has anything to do with the
price of books. (Publishers) really don't want to clean up the
problem or they would," he said.
Wilson said the campus bookstore has had the policy of nol
selling complimentary books for several years, but an
increase in the activity, coupled with a change in manage
ment, prompted store officials to take a tougher stand.
The actions of the campus bookstore followed recommen
dations from several organizations, including the National
Association of College Stores and the Textbook Authors Asso
ciation.
"The feeling in the industry is that this is an abused priv
ilege," Wilson said.
Officials at the Penn State Bookstore on Campus ask stu
dents who notice any complimentary copies to turn them ir
to the service desk. They said it is impossible for the store's
employees to catch every copy without student assistance.
Some customers have already found complimentary copies
on the shelves this semester and turned them in, Wilson said.
The campus bookstore also has informed its wholesalers
they will not accept any complimentary copies.
New outdoor lights brighten
walkways around University
By KRISTIN WINTERMANTEL
Collegian Staff Writer
If the University's campus seems a
lot brighter at night than it did in May,
it's because of new high-pressure sodi
um lamps installed in outdoor lights
around campus.
The University's Office of Physical
Plant has been working on a campus
lighting conversion project since Feb
ruary, said J. Carroll Dean, manager
of electrical and electronics services for
the physical plant.
The project involves converting out
door lights on campus from mercury
vapor lamps to high-pressure sodium
lamps that are 50 percent more effi
cient, Dean said. The purpose of the
conversion is to increase lighting on
campus, he said, and the project was
begun at the request of the Department
of University Safety.
The high-pressure sodium lamps give
off a brighter, pale yellow light, while
the old lights emitted a duller bluish
white light, Dean said. The new lamps
use the same wattage as the old mer
cury vapor lamps, while giving off more
light. The lamps were chosen, he said,
in order to "get more light out of the
existing system."
All work is scheduled to be completed
in October, when University safety and
the physical plant will conduct a survey
to evaluate the changes made and
determine whether any other
improvements are necessary, Dean
said. The survey will comprise the final
phase of the project.
When finished, the project will cost
441 don't want
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"Everyone draws
upon their own
experience and
background as to
whether he feels
comfortable (walking
on campus at night).
What feels
comfortable to one
may not to another."
- DAVID STORMER,
assistant vice president
for environmental health
and safety.
close to $150,000, Dean said. There are
now about 1,175 street walkway lights
on campus. It costs about $60,000 a year
to operate them and $12,000 to $15,000
annually in maintenance, he said.
The majority of the lights on campus
are remotely controlled, Dean said.
They are connected to circuits fed frorh
50 campus buildings, which receive sig
nals from a computer in the Physical
Plant Building.
Officials from the physical plant and
University safety conduct a survey of
campus lighting twice a year, Dean
said. They walk parts of the campus at
night for about three hours and evaluate
lighting in those areas.
There are different criteria used to
determine whether an area is well-lit.
Physical plant officials base the deci
sion on whether a person can see any
tripping hazards, such as a fallen tree
limb or an empty can in the walkway.
University safety officals use the crite
ria of whether a person can identify the
face of a passerby, and also whether he
or she feels comfortable in the area,
said David Stormer, assistant vice pres
ident for environmental health and safe
ty.
"Everyone draws upon their own
experience and background as to
whether he feels comfortable (walking
on campus at night). What feels com
fortable to one may not to another.
Everyone's socialization process is dif
ferent," Stormer said. .
University police officers and com
munity services officers also check
campus lighting during their patrols,
said George Conklin, a biosafety officer
with environmental health and safety
in University safety.
Although lighting does not stop crime,
Stormer stressed the importance of
staying on well-lit pathways when walk
ing at night.
"Lighting does not prevent crime. If
it did, there would be no crime in the
daytime. What it does do is affect how
people feel, their perceptions, and their
fears," Stormer said.
University safety distributes a "night
map" of the campus that highlights
walkways most traveled at night and
those which have better lighting, Storm
er said. The map was initiated by the
Undergraduate Student Government in
1980 and was first printed by University
safety at that time.
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