The Michigan Daily/New Student Edition - Thursday, September 7, 1989 - Page 6

The Daily: Once you start,
you won't be able to stop

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by Steve Knopper
Daily News Editor
For potential Michigan Daily
writers, the first step into the
Student Publications Building is the
second hardest one.
After you climb the graying
stone staircase and grasp the ping-
pong ball sized knobs at the corner
of the bannister, you find yourself at
the head of a huge, oblong, arched
room strewn with students running
amok.
Telephones ring. Associated
Press wire machines buzz. Mac-
intosh computers utter bizarre
techno-sound effects. Fingers click
computer keyboards. Fans whir over-
head.
Voices chatter everywhere. Edit-
ors argue about content. Reporters
politely throw out questions to
sources on the phone. Two political
science majors try to resolve the
Middle East conflict before deadline.
Somebody sings Van Morrison's
"Moondance" off in the distance.
Suddenly, you wish you were
somewhere else. At some other
newspaper office, on some other
campus, maybe. This chaotic room
can't possible house a newspaper.
But against your better judge-
ment, you take a few more steps
into the room, toward someone on
the telephone behind a desk at the
other end. You innocently try to
catch their eye, but they seem obliv-

A few people rush by, throwing
out polite smiles, which only make
you feel embarrassed because you
seem to be the only person who
doesn't know what's going on.
Then that person, still cradling
the phone on their shoulder, looks
up and asks you if you want to
write.
"Well, I was thinking, if it isn't
too much time..."
As soon as they look you in the
eye, size you up, and grin, you get a
strange feeling. Though you can't
possibly know it yet, something in-
side begins to think you've stumbled
into a trap.
The Michigan Daily has swal-
lowed you whole.
For the next few weeks, months,
and even years you will be a Daily
staffer. You may work 30 hours
weekly, covering protests, meetings,
and fires, or wander in a few times
every month to review movies or
records.
You may spend all your time at
the library researching George Bush
so you're prepared to take a stand at
the twice-weekly editorial board de-
bates that determine the newspaper's
opinion. You may traipse the cam-
pus looking for the perfect feature
photograph, or end up squatting at
Crisler Arena trying to snap Rumeal
Robinson at the tail end of a dunk.
Or you may end up talking with him
after the game.

You may come up with new con-
tacts - football coach Bo
Schembechler, University President
James Duderstadt, and even the peo-
ple who read your applications and
determine whether you get any fi-
nancial aid.
Soon, the Daily people - who
seemed in such disarray when you
first came in - have names to go
with the faces. They're from all over
- Detroit, Chicago, Portland,
Denver, New York City, Louisville,
Los Angeles.
The building, too, comes to life.
You learn about recent history, like
the time a former editor-in-chief once
traversed the entire 100-yard-long
newsroom without touching the
floor, or about the Daily's team for
any sport, the Libels.
You learn about famous Daily
achievements - like revealing the
names of the last two University
Presidents before they were an-
nounced by the University, and
breaking the story about basketball
coach Bill Frieder's resignation be-
fore any paper in the country. You
also hear about infamous Daily
bloopers - like the time the front
page sported a picture of the space
shuttle Challenger blowing up side-

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BILL WOOL)/Daijv
A Daily reporter is seen here hard at work on a breaking story. Doesn't he look happy? Isn't it amazing how he
can talk on the phone with a pen in his mouth? Only Cubs fans can know that trick.

date, D-Day, the Vietnam War, or
the days John F. Kennedy and Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr., were mur-
dered.
You read about Tom Hayden, the
former editor whose experiences at
the Daily inspired him to help form
Students for a Democratic Society in
the 1960s. Or Arthur Miller, who
graduated from the Daily to write
Death of a Salesman, or Chicago
Tribune writer Ann Marie Lipinski,
the most recent Daily alum to win a

quirer, Indianapolis Star, Detroit
Free Press, and hundreds of others.
Before you know it, you're an ed-
itor.
Through all the long day shifts
and night shifts, preparing copy for
the next day's newspaper, you
couldn't leave. Through all the frus-
trating journalism debates - ethics,
objectivity, affirmative action, gen-
der-inclusive language (like "chair"
instead of "chairman" and "first-year
student" instead of "freshman") -

you realize what it is: despite the
hard work and daily hassles, The
Michigan Daily is a swell place.
As graduation draws near, you
lean back from the screen, put your
hands behind your head, and rernem-
ber the day you walked in the door.
Yes, you decide, the first step
was definitely easier than the last
one will be-_ -- the one when you will
walk out the door for the last time.
(Ed. Note: If you would like to actu*
ally write for the Daily, then by all

ways. Pulitzer Prize. Or any of the recent you just couldn't leave. means we'd love to have you. Just
In the library, you pore through graduates who now work for the Something kept drawing you stop by our offices in the Student
the bound volumes of newspapers New York Times, Los Angeles back, again and again. Publications Building (420 May-
dating back to the turn of the cen- Times, Sports Illustrated, San Fran- Now, as you sit behind the nard) and boldly announce "I want
tury. You can look up your birth- cisco Examiner, Philadelphia In- Macintosh for the umpteenth time, to write." We'll do the rest.) 0
Student Book Exchange
Students respond to high book prices.


by Ann Eveleth
Daily Staff Writer
A common complaint among
students is about the amount of
money they spend on textbooks.
They can sell back the books, but
only for a fraction of the original
cost.
A new competitor, however, en-
tered the Michigan textbook market
last winter to answer those com-
plaints.
Previously the market had been
dominated by Ulrich's, Michigan
Book and Supply,(both owned by
the Nebraska Book Co.), and the

Michigan Union Bookstore (owned
by Barnes and Noble). In it's first
term of operation, the Student Book
Exchange-Textbooks For Less
(SBE) became a popular alternative.
"Last term over 500 students
sold books, and over 500 bought
books (at SBE). We took in over
2,200 books and sold more than
two-thirds of them," said David
Krone, SBE President, and co-
founder.
"My freshmen year I went to
Barnes and Noble to sell back a $15
book, and they offered me one dollar
for it," said Krone,"I thought there

The Student Book Exchange was founded last winter. Its goal: tosbe a
place where students can buy and sell books at reasonable rates.


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should be a place where people could
both buy and sell their books at a
fair market value."
After thinking about the prob-
lem and hearing complaints from
other students, Krone decided it was
time to organize SBE, and with the
help of Steve Bleistein, SBE vice
president of external affairs, and
Teresa Raymond, SBE vice president
of public relations, the exchange be-
gan to take shape.
SBE works through con-
signment contracts signed by stu-
dents who wish to sell their books.
If the books are sold, the student re-
ceives 85 percent of the resale price.
Four percent pays for sales tax, and
11 percent pays for expenses, and
expansion. All labor used by SBE is
on a volunteer basis.
"The students decide what prices
to charge for their books, but we
recommend prices to help make
them competitive," said Krone,
adding "Basically paperbacks can be
resold at about 60%, and hardcovers
at about 70 percent. This way
they're limited by the market, not by
a profit margin."
"My favorite story is of one per-
son who tried to sell back three
books to bookstores and they offered
him a total of six dollars. Then he
came to SBE and sold two of them
for over $30, and still had one left,"
said Krone.
SBE first sought student orga-
nization recognition, then asked the
MSA Budget Priorities Committee
for publicity money, and were
granted $325. They also sought
funding from other organizations,
and receiving funds from the LSA
Student Government, and the
Alumni Association.
"We were given the publicity
money from MSA on the assump-
tion that we would not make any
money, but since we made money.
we ended up not using it," said
Krone:
The next step was to find a

space to operate in, and SBE sought
to use the Pendleton Room in the
Michigan Union. Their request was
denied.
"We wanted to get a space in
the Union so we went to the
scheduling office, found that a space
was open, and went all the way up
to Frank Cianciola, the Union dire.
tor, who said we couldn't use it be-
cause of an unwritten agreement
with Barnes and Noble," said Krone.
Bill Dion, manager of the
Michigan Union Bookstore (Barnes
and Noble) refused to comment.
"We took it to the Michigan
Union Board of Representatives, anSd
they voted not to give us space, bat
we have the right to appeal and we're
going back for another presentatitiE
this fall," said Krone.
SBE then found a space in the
basement of the Michigan League in
which they held the book exchange
last term.
"We'll be at the League again
this fall," said Krone, "it (the base-
ment) does the job now, but it won't
continue to as we get more popular,
which we will because we're helping
people where they're hurt most."
Paul Rosser, general manager
of Ulrich's, said that SSE has a fev
advantages that the bookstores don't
have, like the fact that they have
lower expenses, and are buying
books back at the beginning of the
term when people know which
books are being used.
"Our biggest problem is not
knowing which books are bein.
used, and we also try to have enough
books on hand. SBE doesn't have to
do that," said Rosser.
This fall SBE will be at the
League to take books on consign-
ment September 6 thru 8, and to sell
books September 8 thru 10. g
Krone intends for SBE to be
around for a long time. They are
presently filing for corporate status,
and non-profit status.

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THE ECUMENICAL CAMPUS CENTER
FOR
INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING
-Are you interested in Global Understanding,
Peacemaking, and Ethics?
-You are invited to visit the Ecumenical Campus Center and
participate in its programs and activities, including:
" Fall Picnic-For new and continuing foreign students and
scholars, at Island Drive Park, Sunday,September 10, at
noon.
" Tuesday Lunch-Speakers and lunch at the International
Center, every Tuesday noon, beginning September 12
throughout the school year. Topics on current world, na-
t.: n , ) i r . :.. _ :f s : .ne

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