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March 28, 2024

  • Visiting Author: Sheila Squillante
    Last week, the visiting author, Sheila Squillante, presented the art of creative non-fiction at BGSU. Last year, her memoir came out. From Chatham University in Pittsburgh, PA, Squillante visited BGSU, last week. Previously, she has published collections on poetry, but most recently, her memoir, All Things Edible, Random and Odd  was published in 2023. “I […]
  • Petrofiction Review: Oil on Water
    Here’s my review of Oil on Water by Helon Habila – a petrofiction novel which won The Commonwealth Prize and Caine Prize. For context, petrofiction stems from petroleum and fiction. A specific text that focuses on petroleum culture in political economics and environmental impact. Although Habila’s novel begins with a journalist investigating a kidnapping, the […]
Spring Housing Guide

Off-campus is the way to go for books

AT ISSUE Can we bear the cost of the over-priced books available on campus?

Spring semester is underway and classes are in session again. By now you should know what building your classes are in, how much effort to put forth in them and whether or not you like your professors. Friday was the last day to drop a class, so be sure to choose classes you like. Not to mention after adding and dropping classes, it’s time to buy the books.

“School books,” the phrase is sort of an oxymoron according to the way I look at it. I hardly ever read them. If the rest of the student population is like me, then they hardly ever use them. I learn more by going to class everyday than reading a book. I mean, I’m sure they have good material underneath all the dull scientific definitions, but I just don’t like to spend time reading it.

If books were less expensive, then I might reconsider the matter, but I refuse to pay extreme amounts of money for books I usually only use once. As long as I take good notes and participate in class, I don’t think I need to buy books.

Books are expensive, and the University bookstore is probably the worst of all the bookstores in Bowling Green. Their high prices put a severe dent in my pocket, not to mention my parents’.

Perhaps the worst part of the Bowling Green campus bookstore situation happens at the end of every semester. I can return my books for a partial refund; the refund price is no more than $15.

That is quite a deal, especially since SBX offers almost three times that amount for some books. I must admit, the off-campus bookstores have better deals than the University bookstore. However, there is a way around the Bowling Green bookstores, on or off-campus.

There is a website called www.bigwords.com which searches all the online bookstores, like half.com and amazon.com. The website finds the best deals for the book you’re looking for. It’s great. I needed to buy six different books for my english class and I was able to get all of them for a very reasonable price.

I’m not completely bashing the University bookstore; I’m just a little annoyed. The bookstore has to make their money back to pay for fees and other things; that’s not a problem.

The problem is that refund prices at the end of the semester are outrageously low. I’ve learned to take my books to the off-campus stores to get a bigger refund.

The University bookstore and online bookstores like amazon.com and half.com have comparable prices, but it all comes down to what the consumer wants.

Students might think they live in a sort of bubble without having to worry about prices and refunds while they’re in school. If students don’t look for the best bargains now, then how can they expect to be a good consumer after graduation?

The great thing about the American way of life is that we have the power to choose. I choose not to shop at the University bookstore because I think I’m getting ripped off, and it’s as simple as that.

Call me cantankerous or call me a fool, but that’s my opinion about the scandalous University bookstore’s refund policy.

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