Maroon

              The Loyola MAROON  Volume 71 No. 4 :xx-x-:xx-x-x xxx xxxx-xxx-x :-x-r-X;::-:::::::::-:-:::::::::::xxxxxxxxxxx:xxxxxxxxxxx xx:: x ;x ................. ; . Loyola University New Orleans, Louisiana 70118 1 « September 18,1992 SGA to implement book exchange program By Elisa Veal Contributing writer It's not the host of "Let's Make A Deal" who will present students with a bargain, but the Student Government Association that hopes to give students an easily accessible option to resell or purchase textbooks at reduced prices. At the close of the fall 1992 semester, the SGA will initiate a book exchange program. SGA vice-president, Erika Schwarz, communicationscommunications junior, said that the program will allow students to sell used textbooks at their own prices rather than selling them back to the bookstore for a non-negotiable amount. The program will be patterned after the current book exchange offered at the University of New Orleans. While there may be a small service charge, the SGA will work to promote this student service as a nonprofit program, Schwarz said. The SGA will require students to bring their texts, titles, a selling price, and course indications, and leave their name and phorte number. Readily available, the information will be placed on file in the SGA office. Students who wish to buy books can simply contact the SGA office to inquire whether or not the book is available. "We want to help people. We want this to go over well," Schwarz said. "Especially, with all the money you pay to go to school here and all the other things you have to pay for, students don' t have the money just to throw it away. And I think with this program they can get the prices they want for their books," she said. Schwarz predicted that the program will be a benefit to those who wish to resell their books through the SGA as opposed to them using the bookstore's resale process. Frustrated with the low buy-back rate of the bookstore, many students look forward to this new SGA agenda. "I think it is a good idea, since the bookstore hardly discounts used books and doesn't give a fair trade-in price on new books,", Margaret McMahon, music sophomore, said. The book exchange is also expected to eliminate the need for tacking up or looking for signs to buy or sell books, Schwarz said. The director of UNO's book exchange program, David Weiner said, "Most people are happy with our program. It's better than having to go to the bookstore and receiving only onefourth the price of a brand new book in perfect condition and they [the bookstore] sell it for three-fourths the price." The UNO book exchange is set up in the library. Students are required to sign a contract giving the SGA permission to sell the books. Whatever the amount of the sale, the SGA receives 10 percent which is used to fund the library, Weiner said. Weiner also cited that "some students tend to get ridiculous with their prices" and others who set bargain rates for their books "sell much faster." "They (UNO) have a service charge of 10 percent. We haven't decided what we're going to do yet, but it probably won't be as high," Schwarz said. "The only reason we would have a service charge is if in the case that a book was stolen and we could reinburse a student for it," she said. "UNO has had a small problem with that, but we have security guards," she said. "So hopefully, that won't happen on this campus. "We also plan to donate anything extra to charity," Schwarz said. Schwarz concluded that compared to the UNO program several things would have to be taken into account such as the number of students.Because UNO has a greater number of students, the Loyola book exchange will be operated on a smaller scale. Loyola stops weekend mail By Dan Alvarez Contributing writer To Ben Perez, getting mail is much more than opening his box and reaching in. To him, it's his life-line to home. That's why a new school policy closing the campus post office on Saturday's upsets the biology freshman. "It really lifts your spirit to get mail, and if you do not get it, it is really upsetting," said Perez, who on average gets 8 to 10 letters a week. The new policy is a direct result of a school wide cost cutting plan, according to Doug Dougherty, Loyola controller. The plan entailed a ranking of possible cuts in the school's programs and found the post office's Saturday hours to be a low priority, said Dougherty. 'Times are tight everywhere and Loyola is feeling the pinch as well," Dougherty said. "I would like to keep it open on Saturday, but I don't have the money." Perez is not alone in his sentiments. Other students agree service should not be intterupted. "Everyone is mad," Katy Connor, 18, acommunications freshman. "We are used to getting it at home, and we can understand Sunday, but Saturday we want mail." But even if the post office was open the three or four hours it normally would be, no one would use it according to Sam Scortino, post office supervisor."Students do not use the post office on Saturdays. You are lucky if you get 10 customers and they are not even students," said Scortino. A nearby solution is the Carrollton post office, which is only about 10 minutes away by car, Scortino said. / think I "can," I think I "can"— Dan Dueneck, visual arts freshman and John Curran, general studies freshman, break through a bridge of cans on 2 South in Biever Hall. They constructed the aluminum masterpiece from cans found in the recycling bin. /Photo by Alan Choate. Communication gap puts Film Buffs on video By Peter Nicholas Reichard Assistant News Editor On Aug. 15,1992 John Mosier, English professor, sent a memo to his fellow Film Studies Committee members stating that he would no longer be associated with the Loyola Film Buffs Institute unless compensated. This was the first word the committee, which was put together last spring and charged with overseeing the FBI this year by Dr. Robert Rowland, Jr., dean of Arts and Sciences, had heard from Mosier in months. Committee members had tried and failed to contact him during the summer. The result is that the FBI is without films for the fall 1992 semester. Because Mosier was in charge of the FBI last year, it was his responsibility to order films to be shown this fall and administer the budget. But the budget was frozen because Mosier could not contact the committee. By Aug. IS, it was too late to order the films. Mosier, who had been in charge of the FBI since the early 1980s, refused to comment. Except for special festivals, the FBl's fall 1992 presentations will consist of films put on video and laser disc. Film Studies Committee members agree that these two media are inferior to projected film. "For teaching purposes, you can't compare the two (film and video)," committee member Dr. Mary Blue, communications associate professor, said. "Film is a director's medium and art. You can't discuss a director's choices with video. Composition video cuts out part of the picture." The FBI cannot charge admission to the video screenings because video is readily available and doesn't have the same artistic value that film has. "There's an esthetic part of sitting in a dark room with the images projected onto a screen," Blue said. Despite setbacks, the committee is optimistic about the future of the FBI and its role in the new Film Studies minor being offered this year. "The direction we're going in is to integrate Film Buffs into the Film Studies minor and broaden its appeal to the community," committee member W. Brittain Smith, modem foreign languages instructor, said. Fellow committee members elected Dr. William Hammel, associate professor of communications, to head the committee. He felt that much of the FBl's success will depend on funding. "There is no question that money is a big problem in a university these days," Hammel said. "If Loyola decides it wants to support the Buffs it will have a very bright future and will make a large contribution to the culture of New Orleans." Inside this week... it 3? At Party Central See page 11.