Textbooks costly but vital The Michigan Daily-Thursday, September 6, 1979-Page 11JA By ALAN FANGER To survive in this world, everyone must obtain food, shelter, clothing, and rest. If you're a University student, add a fifth item to that list-books. And just as the purchase of food, clothing, and shelter is a task of utmost importance, so is that first purchase of books and supplies every University student :makes, usually within a few days after their arrival in Ann Arbor. Those seemingly harmless objects -constitute a potent influence on one's existence in Ann Arbor. Regular atten- dance and vigorous note-taking are usually'insufficient to swiftly guide the aspiring doctor, lawyer, or engineer through several years of intensive career training-instructors often bombard their students with .endless amounts of outside reading, and the more risque sorts who attempt to avoid it often find themselves searching for :ways to crawl out of the academic pit. FACED WITH the task of perusing the many hardbacks and paperbacks, buying books becomes an important event, one which is rarely taken lightly. Three campus-area stores comprise the bulk of the textbook market. Follet- ts, at State Street and North University, 'Ulrich's, at South University and East University, and the University Cellar in the basement of the Michigan Union all carry course books and supplies. ; But the typical student is drawn to bookstores by obligation, not choice, according to Cellar manager Tom Ott. He says the staff of the student- controlled outlet places its emphasis on getting students to purchase course books. IN THEIR effort to attract the large market of book buyers, each store tacks a discount on to most of the books they sell. Folletts manager Richard Am- merman said his store takes five per cent off the price of new books and 25 per cent off old copies. "We try to get as many used books as possible," said the Cellar's Ott, whose store operates on the same discount system. "As new textbook prices go up, the more used books we have, the greater the absolute savings." That type of marketing philosophy has paid off for the Cellar, whose share of the market, according to officials at each store, is nearly 60 per cent. BUT PRICING is not the only route the Cellar has traveled to market suc- cess. Its location near several large residence halls and full-fledged adver- tising campaigns have apparently speeded its drive to dominance. "We have a hard time getting the freshmen," said Ulrich's general manager Tom Musser. "When they come here for orientation, they get more exposed to the State Street side of town. The groups are usually told about the Cellar. "We get more of the upperclassmen," he continued. "Most of the off-campus housing is in this area. But if we can get anyone into the store, I think we can keep them." EACH STORE has developed its own method of conducting the book selection process. Follett's places its books on shelves according to divisions and course number, the Cellar normally lumps related fields ("hard" sciences, "soft" sciences) together, and Ulrich's operates with a "clerk" system, in which the buyer simply hands a list of books to an employe who picks them out from among several racks. "Since we have a lot of reference tex- ts, and such a limited amount of space, we went to this system, and I think it's a lot smoother than the others," Musser said. Book buying in an expensive process. Textbooks, depending on the retailer, usually run between $12 and $20, while supplementary paperbacks, lab manuals, study guides, and other text references most often fall in the $5 to $12 range. It is not uncommon to dole out more than $100 for books in a single trip to one of the stores. BY MOVING to the selling side of the market, one can defray the costs of the original purchases. All three outlets buy back used books from their owners, although the asking price for most any book is usually less than one-half the price at which it was originally bought. Books aren't the only bookstore items that are attractive to buyers. The name "bookstore" fails to cap- ture the full purpose these businesses serve. Ulrich's beckons the art lover to decorate his or her room with the many posters and lithographs which hang on the walls and from the ceilings; Follett's arouses Wolverine patriots with an awesome array of Michigan buttons and bumper stickers; the Cellar racks contains many different types of memo boards and toiletries. All three stores fill their shelves with the latest and greatest of the best-seller list. Selected book prices Course Econ. 271 French 101, 102 Journalism 202 Math 115, 116, 215 Philosophy 201 Political Science 160 Speech 100 Author, Title Davidson, Fundamentals of Accounting Follett's Fanelli, Aulourd'hui Nelson & Teeter, Law of Mass Communications Thomas, Calculus Copi, intro. to Logic Organski, World Politics Ehninger, et al Principles and Types of Speech Communication $13.25 $15.20 $18.95 unavailable $12.30 $ 9.98 Ulrich's $17.45 $13.25 $16.20 $20.95 $14.20 University Collar $16.10 $13.25 $15.20 $20.85 $14.25 Daily Photo by LISA KLAUSNER A STUDENT EMERGES with more than she can handle from the Univer- sity Cellar, one of the three major retailers handling textbooks in the campus area. Iy THE CRACKED CRABw $12.95 unavailable $10.50 $ 9.95 Campus labor groups push for settlements, official recognition O rp qE r" - -'' i i SEAIFOOD SPECIALTIES COMPLETE BAR FACILITIES f _\ (! By PATRICIA HAGEN A confusing array of acronyms label the various groups of campus workers. IWW, GEO, OCC, AFSCME, UMMRA, HOA, MNA-these organizations represent the thousands of people who attend to the complex day-to-day details that keep the University functioning. While some of these groups are long-established locals, other associations are not recognized as unions by the University. The UMMRA, OCC, and GEO are attempting to win the authority to represent a segment of University em- ployees at the bargaining table. IN EFFORTS to draw up a contract for the newest labor imion on campus, negotiations between the Board of Direc- tors and the employees of the University Cellar bookstore dragged on through the summer. The 70 employees in the store-located in the basement of the Michigan Union-have been represented by the Industrial Workers of the World Local 660. Negotiations have been hindered from the start by a basic disagreement about store structure. The employees contend the store has been, and should continue to be, run collectively with the operational decisions made by the employees in each department. They want a contractual guarantee of such input. Representatives for both sides say they would like to reach a settlement as soon as possible, but both agree a set- tlement is unlikely before the start of fall term. See TAs, Page 17 1 611 Church Street Ann Arbor, Mi. 996-2747 intoxicatingly cozy cuisine. Ffff- MUG OF CLAM BROTH or BEER "Lot's of Crustacean's & Fishey Things" I S- CONE of FRIED CLAMS or FRITTERS Mon-Thu IIam-Ilpm Fri-Sat Iam-midnight, Sun 5pm- 1pm 769-8591 112 W. Washington, between Main and Ashley i i Aura Sounde and Entertamnnmente Company 5 JACOBSON'S 40 E. LIBERTY-ANN ARBOR D z -Q (at the corner of Liberty and Maynard) PHONE 662-5623 OPEN-Mon.-Sat. 10a.m.-10 p.m. Sun. 12-6 AURA souNDE A4 1 LIBERTY ST. _- CHARGE IT! 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