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HE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAS
WWW.KANSAN.COM
THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2009
VOLUME 120 ISSUE 83
BOOKSTORES
Web sites offer cheap textbook alternatives
FAILING
BY MICHELLE SPREHE
msprehe@kansan.com
After a week of school, homework assignments are being handed out and to-do lists are growing. It's also time to spend hundreds of dollars on textbooks, if it hasn't happened already. With the gloomy economy, more students are turning to alternative bookstores in search of the cheapest textbooks.
Brandon Goodrich, Dallas fifth-year senior, says he usually buys his books at University Book Shop and sells them to Half Price Books, where he receives between $20 to $80 for one semester's worth of books. The store has about 2,000 textbooks, Kelly Cline, manager of Half Price books, said.
Another place students can turn to is Beat the Bookstore, located on Massachusetts Street. Shiren Kukereja, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, junior, bought a biology book for $78 at the Jayhawk Bookstore last week, but saw the same book for $10 less at Beat The Bookstore.
"I'll most definitely go back." Kukereia said.
How to calculate your GPA
"I'm on campus anyway, and the people are really nice," Redman said.
Katy Redman, Grand Island, Neb. junior, usually goes to the KU Bookstore each year because it's convenient.
Denise Keating. Beat the Bookstore co-owner, said her store experienced problems this semester because some professors didn't turn in their book request lists on time.
Edited by Melissa Johnson
Beat The Bookstore buys all of its books from students and the store guarantees to sell them back at the cheapest price in Lawrence, Keating said. She also said that if the store wasn't buying a book back but another store was, employees would tell students where to go.
Freshmen learn the hard way
Though there are several options for textbook purchases, some students prefer to go to campus bookstores.
Students can also turn to online resources to find inexpensive books. One Web site, bigwords.com, helps students by comparing textbook prices from multiple online merchants, for free.
"If I can't get the price I want it to sell for on Craigslist, I go to other sources on the Web." Underwood said. "It's kind of hit-or-miss. You can find some good deals on there."
Eli Underwood, Lenexa freshman, posted his algebra book on the site.
"It takes the difficulty out of comparing prices," Jeff Sherwood, founder of bigwords.com, said. "It only covers merchants with proven track records."
Students attempt to raise GPAs after first semester in college
Craiglist.com allows students to sell their books, or any other item, for whatever price they want. Sometimes, the exchange can be done in person, which cuts down on shipping costs and ensures the transaction is safe.
Weston White/KANSAN
Several freshman are learning how to better manage time and study habits after receiving lower grades than they expected last semester. The average GPA of a freshman male this year was 2.52, and the average freshman female's GPA was 2.76. The average GPA of College of Liberal Arts and Sciences students was 2.82, the lowest of all colleges at the University of Kansas. In state undergraduate students pay $260.50 per credit hour, compared to out-of-state undergraduates, who pay $542.40 per credit hour.
In addition to Web sites such as Amazon.com and eBay.com, students are also turning to Craigslist. com.
BY RACHEL BURCHFIELD
rburchfield@kansan.com
No, not at all.
If you ask Aric Kuntz and Kyle Vincent if they're happy with their respective grade point averages last semester, they'll both say the exact same thing.
Kuntz, Olathe freshman, blamed his 1.5 GPA on a lack of preparation for his classes. He was in the top 12 percent of his high school class at Olathe North High School, with a 4.02 weighted GPA. In high school, he didn't have to study; he said he just learned quickly. Then came college, and more specifically German 104.
"I was in German." Kuntz said. "It was the biggest headache ever. I found myself studying for that most often. That was where my semester ran into problems."
Vincent, Olathe freshman,
blamed his.75 GPA on laziness.
He said he struggled with attendance,
lacked focus and partied excessively.
"Ipartied too much, to be honest with you," Vincent said. "I didn't do a lot of homework, didn't go to class a lot. I really wasn't that into school, and I was only here for the party. I did not do great."
Both Kuntz's and Vincent's GPAs qualify them for academic probation, according to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences' College Student Academic Services. According to the CSAS Web site, any student who falls below a cumulative GPA of 2.0 is placed on probation, and failure to meet probation requirements results in expulsion from the University. To meet probation requirements, freshmen and sophomores must earn a 2.0 term GPA or raise their cumulative GPA to a 2.0 or higher, and juniors and seniors must earn a 2.5 term GPA or raise their cumulative GPA to a 2.0 or higher.
Marlesa Roney, vice provost for student success, said it would be hard work, but it would be worth it.
"Making the commitment to really focus on your academics is the critical first step." Roney said. "This is the time to ask questions, seek assistance and use the many
resources available at KU - office hours with your instructors, help sessions, study groups, tutoring, study skills workshops, time management workshops and the many other services that are available at KU.
One such service is the Academic Success Seminar, a class offered through the college. According to the CSAS Web site, the one-credit-hour class meets once every week. Enrollment is limited
to 15 students and is geared toward helping students learn to better manage their time, work with their strengths to increase academic performance, access resources around campus and improve their study skills. Neither Kuntz nor Vincent are enrolled in the class, but both said they would work hard to stay at the University, Kuntz said he would prioritize his time better and Vincent said he was planning to make a study
schedule that hed stick to. Both said they didn't want to leave the University they love.
"I do want to stay here, definitely," Vincent said. "Both my parents went here, and I've been a KU fan my whole life."
Vincent said his parents were upset
SEE GPA ON PAGE 6A
FINE ARTS
Regional theater festival visits Lawrence
BY JENNIFER TORLINE
jtorline@kansan.com
More than 1,600 theater students from nearly 100 Midwest colleges are on campus and in Lawrence this week for a theater festival that hasn't been at the University of Kansas for 20 years.
"It is a celebration of American college theater," Jim Peterson, technical director for University Theatre, said.
For the first time since 1989 the University is hosting the annual Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival for Region 5.
and ends Saturday, includes performances, workshops and competitions in acting, design and other categories.
The festival takes place in Murphy Hall and in several locations around Lawrence, including the Lied Center and the Lawrence Arts Center.
The festival, which began Sunday
bring $1.1 million to the local economy, Peterson said. The participants come from colleges in Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.
Peterson said more than 125 students, faculty and staff in the department of theatre and film had been planning the festival for more than a year and were volunteering at events, workshops and performances throughout the week. Some of the KU student volunteers
Participants are expected to
are also competing during the festival.
"It's a very exciting event to gather that many students, faculty and staff in all academic disciplines and bring them all together for this big celebration," Peterson said.
Spencer Holden, Topeka senior, is both a volunteer and a participant in the festival. He is one of 12 KU students participating in the Irene Ryan Competition, an acting competition named after the actress who played "Granny" on
"The Beverly Hillbillies."
Holden and his acting partner, Spencer Lott, Lawrence junior, performed a three-minute scene from the 1980s play "Eastern Standard" for judges in Monday's preliminary round.
Out of the 308 students competing in the preliminary round Holdren and Lott were one of 64 groups to advance to Wednesday's semifinal round. They performed
SEE FESTIVAL ON PAGE 3A
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