Newspaper Page Text
Vol. XXIX, NO. 4
Spelman
Atlanta, Georgia
FEBRUARY 1985
Book Prices at CWB
cause tension
by Marie Roberts
Discrepancies in pricing have
caused the tension between the
student body and the College
World Bookstore (CWB) to grow.
The last incident reported was
that of a $17 literature book
being sold for $34, but it was only
wood to an already blazing fire.
The mistake was discovered by
members of Dr. Anne Warner's
20th Century Literature class,
who had purchased the book
from the Atlanta University
Bookstore (AUB). When the
error was brought to the atten
tion of Mary Louise Simmons,
the CWB manager, it was ex
cused as an error, and the
students were refunded the
difference in the two prices.
"I don’t know how the price
could have gotten like that," said
Simmons. "The only way that I
can think of is that someone did
not change their price stamper
from something else that he had
priced.”
William Singleton, textbook
manager in the AUB, agreed that
confusing price stampers is not
difficult or uncommon since
they are usually kept next to one
another.
This, however, seems to be a
reoccurring incident. The con
tract between Spelman and the
bookstore requires texts to be
sold at publisher list price, but
several complaints have been
filed by staff members on the
failure to abide by this agree
ment. Both the Education
Department and the Math
Department have recorded such
cases.
Boundary Value Problems, a
math text which was originally
selling for $30 in CWB, was
reduced to $22.50 after several
complaints. It was sold to the
bookstore at $18 a copy, and sold
by the publisher to individual
students for $24.50 plus postage.
Debora Davis, a senior at
Spelman, purchased a text for
her Education 300 course only to
later find that at $36 it was
extremely over-priced. “I was
told that the publisher thought
$36 was an outrageous price, and
that he would only charge $24,”
said Davis.
Sometime later Davis purchas
ed another book for the same
course with a $21.95 sticker on
the outside. Upon opening the
text, she discovered the
publisher's price was $6.95.
When she reported this to a store
employee it was said to be an
error and sold to her for a lower
price.
Until Valarie Brittian, a junior
at Spelman, questioned the price
of her biology text it was $28.
“When I asked about the price
they said it was a pricing error.
Then they took it into the back
and changed the price to
$22.50,” she said.
Though rumors have it that the
AUB is less expensive that the
CWB, this should not be so. The
AUB adds a percentage mark-up
to their books which prices them
over the publisher list price;
both stores have a 30% mark-up
on their clothing; and the ma
jority of their cosmetics and
other supplies are equally pric
ed.
Their book return policies are
also similar. They each buy back
editions which will be used the
following year at half price, it
they are in good condition.
Books which will not be used
again, yet are still timely editions,
are purchased for wholesalers at
a set market value.
However, there are ways in
which these two stores differ. For
example, the CWB has an agree
ment with foreign language
teachers to not buy back
language books which have had
the translations written in them.
The AUB has an agreement with
an instructor to not buy back the
book which he wrote, yet he may
use this book each semester in
his class.
Two other areas which
students are concerned about in
the CWB are its lack of black
products and its purse policy.
Simmons explained that the
brands of the products chosen
are chosen for financial reasons.
"We could go to the black
companies and get them, but
they only sell in large quantities
and we can't afford to buy them
(large quantites). We have to buy
the cheapest.”
Because of previous losses
from shoplifters, book-bags,
backpacks, and purses are sup
posed to be left outside of the
store in designated cubicles.
However, Simmons has allowed
purses to be left inside by her
desk. Since students have ex
pressed concern over having
their purses stolen, Simmons has
said that she will be responsible
for any purse which she
witnesses being left near her.
(Continued, pg. 8)
Inside...
Along the Color Line pg. 3
The Deeline of the Democrats pg. 3
Remember Maleolm X pg. 4
Wellness: The Key to
Living Healthy pg. 6
On the Career Front pg. 8
Artist Elizabeth Catlett
Honored At Spelman
by Lori Boyer
Artist Elizabeth Catlett was
honored by Spelman College
Jan. 24 for glorifying the living
learning tradition. Mrs. Cathlett
was the convocation speaker and
afterwards witnessed the dedica
tion of a lounge in the Living-
Learning Center in her name.
Mrs. Catlett received a
bachelor’s in art cum laude from
Howard University and a
master’s in art from the State
University of Iowa. Her sculp
tures and prints have won top
prizes and awards since 1941 in
the United States as well as
Mexico, Cuba, Germany and
Great Britain.
"I stand before you as a very
ordinary person," began Mrs.
Catlett, “I am not of the excep
tion, I am of the fortunate.” She
went on to urge the audience
not to feel superior or removed
from their less fortunate
brothers and sisters, but to get to
know them. Only by knowing
them can one find out the true
basic necessities of life, she said.
Lives would be more fulfilling
if chosen professions and
professionals were more con
cerned with helping people,
Mrs. Catlett said, than with
making money. When money
becomes the center of living,
people lose the significance of
life. “We are busier leading a
plastic life than a meaningful
one,” she said.
Mrs. Catlett is a member of a
public arts workshop in Mexico,
where she has been a citizen
since 1962. The artists of the
group use their artwork to help
the people of Mexico. Leaflets
are made to help sell the crops
and illustrations are used to help
teach the illiterate. Similar efforts
could be used to “tap and
nurture the talents” of black
children, she said.
“We are the intellectuals who
should make a better world,”
Mrs. Catlett said. The black race
has the potential to be the
newsmakers, the authors, the
music makes and the scientists
this world needs, she said. “We
are the teachers and the
educators who should open up a
world of knowledge for our
black brothers and sisters and
others. We must create through
black experience as only we
(Continued, pg. 10)