American
Pictures
creator
hopes to
help bring
change
b Mark Owens
The Collegian
Jacob Holdt loves America.
So much, in fact, that he's
devoted his life to showing
Americans how much they hurt
each other.
"America is a such a
wonderful place that it's a shame
so many Americans are treated so
poorly," Holdt said. "I want to
change that."
Hence American Pictures, the
culmination of five years of
hitch-hiking across the United
States. His program, which
combines over 3,000 slides,
music and sound bytes of people
he's met over the five years,
shows scenes of America many
of us aren't used to: poverty,
crime, racism, sexism and pain.
"Racism comes in a
form of love"
- Jacob Holdt,
Creator,
American Pictures
"I came to America strictly by
mistake," said Holdt. Originally
from Denmark, he was on his
way to explore Latin America
when he entered America.
"I was passing through the
States from Canada to Latin
America. It was then that I fell in
love with America," he said.
"The first people I met tried to
hold me up at gun-point. At that
point I wanted to see where all
the pain and suffering which
caused that hold-up was coming
from."
Since then Holdt has travelled
across most of the United States,
taking pictures of America in
pain and suffering. "The
photography started when my
parents asked me to send back
pictures of my trip. What started
as a touristy thing led to a long
look down the back alleys of
(Continued on page 3)
Textbook
Publishers,
a confusing
Eric Dinter
The Collegian
"I don't believe this!"
That's a common reaction
from many students when buying
their books at the beginning of
the semester. Most books average
around 545, thought textbooks
for some business courses and
many science classes run
substantially higher.
The book is used for the
semester, then taken back to the
guy who buys the books back at
the end of the semester. He offers
students half (or in some
instances, lower) of what they
originally paid for their books. "I
don't believe this!" again is a
common reaction.
But perhaps the most ironic
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Rho . itrend Pageant ,
raternatY, was held on Tugsay
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"book brokers" create
system for
thing happens the next semester.
Students, returning to the
bookstore to start the buying
process over again, see their old
books back on the shelves -- for
only a few dollars off the new
price of last semester. Reaction:
"I don't believe this!"
So what happens? How does a
book find its way to the shelves,
get taken home, sold back at half
price, then resold at a higher price
next semester? Let's start at the
beginning.
When a publisher thinks he
has a potentially profitable book,
he prints a large run (number),
anticipating large sales. It takes a
long time (usually 4-5 months)
to print a textbook, so publishers
print a large quantity in advance
to make sure they have enough at
Prices:
the start of the semester.
After the first edition has been
printed, the publisher offers a free
copy of the book to any college
faculty member upon request.
Professors ask the bookstore to
order the textbooks they want
from the publisher.
But someone has to pay for
all of those free copies -- namely
the student, in the form of higher
textbook prices.
"Maybe only one in one
hundred titles ever become
successful for the publisher," said
Robert MacDonald, manager of
Bchrend's bookstore. The cost of
these unsuccessful books, again,
is passed on to the student.
Within a few months books
also seem to rise in price,
Eight inducted into the Athletic
Hall of Fame ...Page 11
students
SGA and
Behrend
officials
discuss
telephone
network
Loretta Russ
The Collegian
The Student Government
Association and Behrend
administrators are discussing the
installation of an emergency
telephone network on campus.
The system would give students
immediate access to an as-of-yet
unspecified service in case of an
emergency.
"The idea (for an emergency
telephone system) is still under
discussion, as the need for an
emergency phone system is
undetermined," said John Ream,
director of operations.
Dan Tropezar, SGA commuter
senator, said the approximate cost
for the system is $5OOO per
phone.
"The idea is still
under discussion, as
the need for an
emergency phone
system is
undetermined."
- John Ream,
Director of Operations
Ream said currently only one
phone, to be located in the
parking lot south of the
apartments, is under discussion.
"We need to make sure the
emergency phones can be applied
to a service that will permit the
phones to be answered 24 hours a
day," said Ream. "We need to
find someone who could provide
that service."
SGA has established a
committee to look into the
benefits and negative aspects of
an emergency phone network.
SGA said they are discussing a
total of four emergency phones to
be installed around campus.
One telephone will be located
near the tennis courts, one by the
(Continued on page 3)