renting textbooks saves scsu money

1
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITY “ALL THE SNEWS THATS FIT TO PRINTS OUTHERN N EWS VOL. 48 — ISSUE 2 SEPTEMBER 8, 2010 HTTP://SNEWS.SOUTHERNCT.EDU/ FIELD HOCKEY Owls win 6 - 5 in overtime Sunday PAGE 14 I NDEX NEWS 2–3 Printing charges apply to all computer labs OPINIONS 4–6 Gubernatorial candidates face complex CSU system ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 9-11 ResLife Cinema SOUTHERN SPORTS 12–14 Men’s Cross Country aims high ENTERTAINMENT Steppin Up drill team remains at top of Northeast PAGE 9 OPINIONS NYC’s Islamic mosque debate PAGE 4 SPORTS Men’s soccer elects second captain PAGE 14 EMAIL: SCSU.SOUTHERN. NEWS@GMAIL.COM PHONE: 203-392-6928 FAX: 203-392-6927 STUDENT CENTER ROOM 225 501 CRESCENT STREET NEW HAVEN, CT 06515 S OUTHERN N EWS Welcome Weekend better prepares incoming freshmen Ryan Morgan GENERAL ASSIGNMENT REPORTER The class of 2014 was wel- comed onto Southern’s campus like no other previous class. With a few changes to the June orienta- tion program and the addition of a “Welcome Weekend,” sopho- more Orientation Ambassador Erin McGuckin said this year’s incoming students are off to a great start. “When I went through it last year, it was just us moving in and we weren’t really given a chance to get to know our classmates,” she said. “This year, students were put into groups and able to make bonds sooner. That’s something I wish I had last year.” Denise Bentley-Drobish, direc- tor of Student Life, said the main changes for this class came during “Welcome Weekend.” Besides a two day orientation session in June, freshmen moved in Friday Aug. 27, two days before returning students, for a weekend designed with them in mind. “The weekend gave students a chance to get acclimated to campus before dealing with the onset of the rest of the campus arriving,” said Bentley-Drobish. Welcome Weekend consisted of a variety of helpful events. Fresh- men were given the chance to take a private campus tour with student leaders to prevent the anxiety and confusion that normally comes with the first day of class. In addition, many social activities and workshops took place. Freshman Katherine Pausig, an earth science major, said she thought the weekend was not only a good time but helpful as well. “It was fun and really helped me a lot to get ready,” said Pausig. “I’m looking forward to going to classes and making friends and the Welcome Weekend definitely helped me make some.” Bentley-Drobish said the weekend focused on three core components. First was the Com- mon Read, a discussion of the book “Outcast United” which all freshmen were required to read, second was Faces of America, a program about diversity and finally to learn about healthy relationships. “We don’t approach the programs as how to teach stu- dents how to survive for the next four years,” said Bentley-Drobish. “We want to get them to either think differently or continue on the right track to do well.” Both McGuckin and Bentley- Drobish pointed out the class picnic to Holiday Hill as the only part of the weekend that was lacking. While McGuckin and Pausig said they had a great time, attendance was low for the event. “Throughout the weekend we were very pleased with attendance turnouts. We were thrilled with the 30 that turned out for the freshman service project Sunday morning and packed 110 well stocked backpacks for the “Back Pack Project,” said Bentley- Drobish. “However, Holiday Hill had a low turnout but it’s probably because so many want to just stay on campus since they just got here and are afraid to miss anything.” The freshmen aren’t done yet. Bentley-Drobish and Sal Rizza, associate director of Student Life, said all three freshmen learning communities - Inquiry, Links and the Honors College - are designed to continue to help them grow and learn. With 25 peer mentors this year, compared to last year’s 12, Bentley-Drobish has high hopes. “I hope the program contin- ues to grow,” she said. “We want to drive home the fact that co-cur- ricular learning is important and hopefully peer mentors will be able to draw links and comparisons from curricular to co-curricular learning in addition to modeling appropriate student behavior.” Overall, the First Year Experi- ence program is designed to help students begin, connect, involve, strengthen and explore as they experience all Southern has to offer, according to the program’s website. Rizza has been implement- ing the program for four years and said he has seen only positive eff ects. “As the cycles, or generations of students continue, we’re start- ing to see how data will play out,” said Rizza. “What we’re seeing is higher retention and graduation rates. It’s more than just us think- ing the program is working. We know it is working.” COURTESY OF WWW.SOUTHERNCT.EDU Freshman moved in on Friday Aug. 27 for a Welcome Weekend, which was filled with a variety of activities including a trip to Holiday Hill Students react to printing charge in labs Stephanie Paulino NEWS WRITER When junior Keishla Morales returned to Southern last week to find students would be charged for printing in cam- pus computer labs, she said she was upset about this additional fee and would consider at-home printing. “I hate it,” said Morales, a social work major. “I don’t think we should have to pay. We pay for tuition and everything else, we shouldn’t have to pay to print papers.” The new policy, which charges students using the cam- pus printers five cents per black and white and 25 cents per color copy, was put into effect on June 1. According to Chief Infor- mation Officer Wendy Chang, the university was spending more than $200,000 in paper and printing supplies a year. Chang said she was able to determine that the university prints 23 million sheets at one cent per sheet on average a year through printing managing soft- ware, which is a program that allows students to manage print- ing jobs after they’ve swiped their Hoot Loot in computer labs. Within the 50 printing labs on campus, only 35 have the print managing software, which means there are more printing expenses that have not been accounted for, said Chang. “It’s more of a green initia- tive than anything else,” said Chang. “We hope that students will think twice before they print.” When considering possible alternatives to the printing fees, Chang said a popular practice among other universities is to give students a number of free copies before charging them to print. However, because print- ing needs vary from student to Renting textbooks saves SCSU students money Sean Meenaghan GENERAL ASSIGNMENT REPORTER As hundreds of Southern stu- dents file in and out of the book- store each day to buy their fall books, this year for the first time, they have another option: renting. Larry Gal, bookstore man- ager, said, This is the students’ bookstore. We want to bring them back. “Students are getting the books for a lower price,” Gal said. “The option has been well received so far this semester.” Gal said if a brand new book costs $100 and it is $75 used, then it will be $45 if a student rents it. “There are 350-400 books available for rental,” Gal said. “ It’s our first time renting out textbooks. Be patient with the process.” Gal said it is more conve- nient for the student to rent from the school rather than an online carrier. “Instead of having to deal with returning a textbook by send- ing it back through the mail,” Gal said. “You can return it right back to the bookstore.” Gal said feedback from last semester and being part of Barnes and Noble helped initiate the pro- cess of renting textbooks at SCSU. Gal said if a book is not returned, the student will be charged the full price for the book. “We will send out three e-mails prior to classes being over,” Gal said. “It is more than ample time.” Gal said the bookstore has also increased their digital bookstore. “We have tripled the amount of books from 100 to 300.” Gal said. “The digital books are still more expensive than if you rent it.” Gal said they specifically picked certain books depending on how many students take the class. “We put rental stickers on the textbooks for math 95 and bio 100,” Gal said. “There are 400- 500 students taking math 95.” Gal said students could rent many new editions of textbooks so students can reuse them for the years following. According to the bookstore’s rental form, a student can decide to purchase the book after he or she rents it within the first two weeks of the transaction. Christina Baum, Buley Library director, said she thinks the ability to rent textbooks right on campus is a great idea. “I have worked at different institutions that allowed students SEE RENTING PAGE 2 SEE PRINT PAGE 3 It’s more of a green initiative than anything else - Wendy Chang CATHERINE GROUX | PHOTO EDITOR Southern is one of the last Connecticut universities to put printing charges into effect, which oc- curred June 1.

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News story I wrote about renting textbooks.

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Page 1: Renting Textbooks saves SCSU money

The STudenT newSpaper of SouThern ConneCTiCuT STaTe univerSiTy “all The SnewS ThaT’S fiT To prinT”

SouThern NewSVol. 48 — Issue 2 september 8, 2010 http://snews.southernct.edu/

field hoCkeyOwls win 6 - 5 in overtime Sunday

Page 14

index

newS 2–3 Printing charges apply toall computer labs

opinionS 4–6Gubernatorial candidates face complex CSU system

arTS & enTerTainmenT 9-11 ResLife Cinema

SouThern SporTS 12–14

Men’s Cross Country aims high

enTerTainmenT

Steppin Up drill team remains at top of Northeast

Page 9

opinionS

NYC’s Islamic mosque debate

Page 4

SporTS

Men’s soccer elects second captain

Page 14

email: [email protected]

phone: 203-392-6928fax: 203-392-6927

STudenT CenTer room 225501 CreSCenT STreeT

new haven, CT 06515

SouThern newS

Welcome Weekend better prepares incoming freshmenRyan MorganGeneral assiGnment reporter

The class of 2014 was wel-comed onto Southern’s campus like no other previous class. With a few changes to the June orienta-tion program and the addition of a “Welcome Weekend,” sopho-more Orientation Ambassador Erin McGuckin said this year’s incoming students are off to a great start.

“When I went through it last year, it was just us moving in and we weren’t really given a chance to get to know our classmates,” she said. “This year, students were put into groups and able to make bonds sooner. That’s something I wish I had last year.” Denise Bentley-Drobish, direc-tor of Student Life, said the main changes for this class came during

“Welcome Weekend.” Besides a two day orientation session in June, freshmen moved in Friday Aug. 27, two days before returning students, for a weekend designed with them in mind.

“The weekend gave students a chance to get acclimated to campus before dealing with the onset of the rest of the campus arriving,” said Bentley-Drobish. Welcome Weekend consisted of a variety of helpful events. Fresh-men were given the chance to take a private campus tour with student leaders to prevent the anxiety and confusion that normally comes with the first day of class.

In addition, many social

activities and workshops took place. Freshman Katherine Pausig, an earth science major, said she thought the weekend was not only a good time but helpful as well. “It was fun and really helped me a lot to get ready,” said Pausig.

“I’m looking forward to going to classes and making friends and the Welcome Weekend definitely helped me make some.”

Bentley-Drobish said the weekend focused on three core components. First was the Com-mon Read, a discussion of the book “Outcast United” which all freshmen were required to read, second was Faces of America, a program about diversity and finally to learn about healthy relationships.

“We don’t approach the

programs as how to teach stu-dents how to survive for the next four years,” said Bentley-Drobish.

“We want to get them to either think differently or continue on the right track to do well.” Both McGuckin and Bentley-Drobish pointed out the class picnic to Holiday Hill as the only part of the weekend that was lacking. While McGuckin and

Pausig said they had a great time, attendance was low for the event. “Throughout the weekend we were very pleased with attendance turnouts. We were thrilled with the 30 that turned out for the freshman service project Sunday morning and packed 110 well stocked backpacks for the “Back Pack Project,” said Bentley-Drobish. “However, Holiday Hill

had a low turnout but it’s probably because so many want to just stay on campus since they just got here and are afraid to miss anything.” The freshmen aren’t done yet. Bentley-Drobish and Sal Rizza, associate director of Student Life, said all three freshmen learning communities - Inquiry, Links and the Honors College - are designed to continue to help them grow and learn.

With 25 peer mentors this year, compared to last year’s 12, Bentley-Drobish has high hopes.

“I hope the program contin-ues to grow,” she said. “We want to drive home the fact that co-cur-ricular learning is important and hopefully peer mentors will be able to draw links and comparisons from curricular to co-curricular learning in addition to modeling appropriate student behavior.” Overall, the First Year Experi-ence program is designed to help students begin, connect, involve, strengthen and explore as they experience all Southern has to offer, according to the program’s website.

Rizza has been implement-ing the program for four years and said he has seen only positive effects.

“As the cycles, or generations of students continue, we’re start-ing to see how data will play out,” said Rizza. “What we’re seeing is higher retention and graduation rates. It’s more than just us think-ing the program is working. We know it is working.”

CourtesY of WWW.SoUtheRNCt.edU

Freshman moved in on Friday Aug. 27 for a Welcome Weekend, which was filled with a variety of activities including a trip to Holiday Hill

Students react to printing charge in labsStephanie Paulinonews writer

When junior Keishla Morales returned to Southern last week to find students would be charged for printing in cam-pus computer labs, she said she was upset about this additional fee and would consider at-home printing.

“I hate it,” said Morales, a social work major. “I don’t think we should have to pay. We pay for tuition and everything else, we shouldn’t have to pay to print papers.”

The new policy, which charges students using the cam-

pus printers five cents per black and white and 25 cents per color copy, was put into effect on June 1.

According to Chief Infor-mation Officer Wendy Chang, the university was spending more than $200,000 in paper and printing supplies a year.

Chang said she was able to

determine that the university prints 23 million sheets at one cent per sheet on average a year through printing managing soft-ware, which is a program that allows students to manage print-ing jobs after they’ve swiped their Hoot Loot in computer labs.

Within the 50 printing labs on campus, only 35 have the

print managing software, which means there are more printing expenses that have not been accounted for, said Chang.

“It’s more of a green initia-tive than anything else,” said Chang. “We hope that students will think twice before they print.”

When considering possible

alternatives to the printing fees, Chang said a popular practice among other universities is to give students a number of free copies before charging them to print.

However, because print-ing needs vary from student to

Renting textbooks saves SCSU students moneySean MeenaghanGeneral assiGnment reporter

As hundreds of Southern stu-dents file in and out of the book-store each day to buy their fall books, this year for the first time, they have another option: renting.

Larry Gal, bookstore man-ager, said, This is the students’ bookstore. We want to bring them back.

“Students are getting the books for a lower price,” Gal said.

“The option has been well received so far this semester.”

Gal said if a brand new book costs $100 and it is $75 used, then it will be $45 if a student rents it.

“There are 350-400 books available for rental,” Gal said. “ It’s our first time renting out textbooks. Be patient with the process.”

Gal said it is more conve-nient for the student to rent from the school rather than an online carrier.

“Instead of having to deal with returning a textbook by send-ing it back through the mail,” Gal said. “You can return it right back to the bookstore.”

Gal said feedback from last semester and being part of Barnes and Noble helped initiate the pro-cess of renting textbooks at SCSU.

Gal said if a book is not returned, the student will be charged the full price for the

book. “We will send out three

e-mails prior to classes being over,” Gal said. “It is more than ample time.”

Gal said the bookstore has also increased their digital bookstore.

“We have tripled the amount of books from 100 to 300.” Gal said. “The digital books are still more expensive than if you rent it.”

Gal said they specifically picked certain books depending on how many students take the class.

“We put rental stickers on the textbooks for math 95 and bio 100,” Gal said. “There are 400-500 students taking math 95.”

Gal said students could rent many new editions of textbooks so students can reuse them for the years following.

According to the bookstore’s rental form, a student can decide to purchase the book after he or she rents it within the first two weeks of the transaction.

Christina Baum, Buley Library director, said she thinks the ability to rent textbooks right on campus is a great idea.

“I have worked at different institutions that allowed students

See rentIng page 2See prInt page 3

It’s more of a green initiative than anything else - Wendy Chang

CatherINe Groux | Photo editoR

Southern is one of the last Connecticut universities to put printing charges into effect, which oc-curred June 1.