Tuesday Jan. 28,1986
Black Ink
7
Price of textbooks soar
to proiide scholarships
Academic Excellence
And Then Some
by Deirdre E. Booker
Staff Writer
Most UNC students complain
about textbook prices, but like it or
not they have to buy them.
Many students fault the Student
Stores for textbook prices, however,
according to Student Stores Manager
Rut Tufts, the book publishers are to
blame.
“Book prices are set by the|
publisher. Years ago, publishers were
willing to forego big profits for the
sake of academic enterprises. They
were their own bosses. Now it has
changed. They (publishing houses) are
now owned by shareholders and
conglomerates,”
All “profits” from Student Store
items such as textbooks, college
insignia articles and other academic
supplies goes to the Student Stores
Scholarship Fund.
“The Student Stores Scholar
ships are awarded to students on the
basis of need,” Eleanor Morris,
Diretor of Student Aid, said. “The en
tire Student Stores “profit” goes
toward scholarships. This applies to
other campuses in the UNC System
also.”
About $290,000 went into the
Student Stores Scholarship Fund last
year.
But when most students purchase
books, they are concerned only about
the prices, not scholarships.
Tufts said that the Student Store
is the first to agree that the textbooks
prices are too high.
“We have chosen to combat
prices by selling used books. When we
have an order to use the books for the
next semester, we sell them as used,”
Tufts said. “When students sell books
back and they will be used next
semester, students usually get half
the paid price for them.”
“If we don’t have an order for
them, a wholesale clearing house will
buy them from the Student Stores
who will in turn buy them from
students,” Tufts said.
These are usually the books
students get $.25 and $.50 for, he said.
“If a wholesale house will pay us
(Student Store) say $4.50 for a $20
book that will not be used next
semester, the Student Store will give
the students say $4. Four dollars is
better than nothing. Students end up
getting the best end of the deal,”
“I think students need to avoid
an adversarial enemy when it comes
to books. By and large, professors
don’t want to see their book choices
dictated by students who want to
save money. Is it more important that
you save $5 on a book that does not
have enough information or to buy the
more superior book that may be a
little more expensive?”
Students are most likely to get
better buyback prices at the end of
the semester, he said.
“Students should come in at the
end of the semester, particularly at
the end of the spring semester. It is
the biggest buyback time,” Tufts said.
“Students shouldn’t come at the end
of exams. If you wait until the next
semester, we take books as
wholesale.”
Rape Crisis Center needs
more minority volunteers
by Kenneth Harris
Special Projects Editor
The Orange County Rape Crisis
Center needs minority women and
men volunteers to act as counselors
for rape victims in order to achieve a
racial balance among the counselors
and victims.
“We need for the center to be like
those who need our services, said
Mary Ann Chap, director of the
Orange County Rape Crisis Center.
The center worked with 132
clients in 1985. Of the 116 whose race
was known, 46 or about 40 percent
were non-white, according to Chap. Of
the 64 current volunteers at the
center, 10 or 16 percent are non-white.
Chap said the training session,
scheduled from Feb. 1 through March,
is intended to familiarize the person
with the different aspects of sexual
assault and the different agencies that
work with the center.
TYaining involves 30 hours of
classroom and practical instruction.
One aspect of training is determining
whether the volunteer is a good
listener. Chap said most peolpe have a
habit of looking at their watch or
tapping their feet when listening to
someone. But the training teaches the
volunteer to have eye contact and to
lean forward while listening.
Before she agrees to train some
one, Chap said she must conduct an
interview. During the interview, the
volunteer, or “companion”, must
commit to six months of service with
the center. Students are allowed to
return after summer vacation if they
are interested in the program, she
said.
continued on page 8
by Laurie Denise Willis
Editor
College can be tough, especially
at UNC. Motivation to succed,
however, has led Chip Tillman and
Benita Banks to academic excellence.
Tillman, a senior biology major
from Highpoint, graduated from the
School of Science and Mathe in
Durham. Banks, a senior chemistry
major from Raleigh, graduated from
Enloe High School.
Both said they have enjoyed
their years at UNC and they have
participated in numerous extra
curricular activities.
Tillman, a Morehead Scholar, has
been an assistant attorney general for
the past two years. He is in the
Fellows Program, on the Chancellor’s
Committee of Student Conduct, on
the Studen Legal Services’ Advisory
Board, a member of the Black Student
Movement, a member of Alpha Phi
Alpha fraternity and president of the
Mu Zeta Chapter, a member of the
Order of the Old Well and a member of
the Order of the Grail (an honorary
society which requires a 3.0 g.p.a. and
leadership qualities).
Tillman has tutored for the
Minority Advising Program, was a
Big Buddy through the Campus Y his
junior year and received the
Chancellor’s Award, the Ernest L.
Mackie award that year.
Banks is a member of Alpha Chi
Sigma, a co-ed chemistry fraternity, a
member of the BSM and a member of
the Academic Affairs Committee, a
BSM subgroup. She was a volunter at
C.A. Dillion Juvenile Center through
the Campus Y her freshman year and
she was a minority advisor her
sophomore year.
She received the Omega Psi Phi
excellence award her freshman year.
The award is given to the black
freshman with the hightest g.p.a.
Banks also received the Pre-
Professional Health Society Achieve
ment Award her sophomore year and
again her junior but it was named The
Office of Student Government
Achievement Award. (A g.p.a. of a1
least 3.0 is required).
Tillman and Banks agree that the
freshman year is crucial to academi
success at UNC, especially for blacks
And they gave similar reasons t
explain why blacks as a group don’t dc
well academically.
“I think it’s a matter of discipline
in that a lot of blacks don’t spend th
time that they should in studying
because there are so many othei
things to do socially on this campus,’
Tillman said.
“As a freshman you meet lots d
friends and it’s hard to get into the
mind set of studying and giving study
Ghip Tillman
photo by Tammi Foust
Benita Banks
photo by Tammi Foust
ing the amount of emphasis it needs,”
he added.
Tillman said he averaged study
ing four hours a day his freshman
year.
Banks said her studying has
slacked off since her freshman year
but she still studied three hours a day.
“I think a lot of blacks during their
freshman year don’t take school as
seriously as they should to be success
ful at this particular university.”
She cited other problems blacks
face their first year.
“I think coming to UNC is a big
adjustment and the school doesn’t
meet fully the needs of black students
and for that reason blacks need to
take the initiative because if they
don’t they’ll be lost in a crowd,” she
said.
Tillman said blacks need to take
full advantage of the many oppor
tunities afforded by UNC. “People
should try to develop their fullest
potentials because no one’s gonna
push them.”
He said he didn’t know why
blacks “sit back” and don’t participate
in extra-curricular activities and
organizations. “I think the mechanism
is in place like the M A Program,
summer bridge program and
tutorials, but it’s just going to take a
renewed effort and commitment on
the part of all of the black students to
help each other develop,” he said.
Banks said she thought some
blacks just don’t take the initiative to
get involved. “Sometimes people don’t
realize how much impact they can
have in a particular organization and
so they just don’t participate in it.”