critic page 11

NEWSSept. 16, 2011 The Critic, Page 11

Rent-A-Text: A Year LaterBurning, Breaking, Boiling is a Bust

COLLEGE NIGHT

OCTOBER 3RD

STAY TUNED FOR SPECIALS

Sarah Aube

Critic Staff

Since the program beganlast fall, book rentals at theLSC bookstore have becomemore popular and more readilyavailable, with only minorproblems.

“At first I was a little appre-hensive because I wasn’t sure ifhighlighting was allowed or ifI’d ever remember to bringthem back on the right day,”said LSC senior Dani Drown,who rents as many books as shecan from the bookstore. “Butit’s really worked out in myfavor because most of thebooks I rent, I don’t want tokeep. It’s saved me a lot ofmoney.”

Anita Little, manager ofthe bookstore, states thatrented books can be written in,highlighted, and pages can bebent. She actually recommendsthat the students write in their

rented books to put down theirname and patron ID number sothe book can be identified if itis lost or stolen.

Reasons that a studentwould be turned away at thetime of the return and be madeto be full price would be if thebook had water damage, a bro-ken binding, or, as Little hasseen in more extreme cases,torn out or burnt pages.

Little compares the returnpolicy to that of a rental car: “Ifyou don’t bring it back or bringit back damaged, you have topay for it.”

One of Drown’s favoritenew features for the rentalbooks is the sticker that isplaced on the front of thebooks reminding studentswhen to bring them back, “be-cause at the point at the end ofthe semester our brains aren’treally working anymore.”

Of all the books that wererented out last fall, the first se-mester of this program, only

nine books were charged forthe full price. Some of thesebooks were too far damaged tobe returned, while some stu-dents just never brought themback.

In order to rent books stu-dents need to create an accountonline by filling out a shortform, be at least 18 years old,have a government issued ID,and present a credit or debitcard which would be used ascollateral.

“It was such an easyprocess that I barely even re-member it,” said Drown.

Little said the only reasonthat anyone would be denied arental is if they had problemsrenting in the past, such asdamaging or not bringing abook back.

LSC junior Phil Alexandersays he’s tried to sign up a totalof four or five times, and is notable to rent books because ofhis rental account being “in-complete”. Last year, after try-

ing multiple times, he was fi-nally able to rent books and hereturned these on the due datewithout any problems.

However, this year he hasgiven up after refilling the formout twice and still being toldthat his account was incom-plete, even after receiving con-firmation e-mails about his newaccount.

“I was much more patientwith the program last year, be-

cause it was the first year,” saidAlexander. “Now I have toorder off EBay or Amazon be-cause new books are too expen-sive.”

While there are still someslight wrinkles in the program,it is continually growing atLSC. This semester there are137 titles available to rent; stu-dents renting these books aresaving 50 percent of the origi-nal prices.

Peter NuteNews Editor

With levels of unrest anduncertainty at an all time highlast year regarding the school’sfinancial crisis, followed by theretirement of President CarolMoore in April, students andfaculty alike weren’t sure howLSC was going to recover.

Despite the panic buttonbeing pushed so fervently lastsemester that it nearly worethrough, it appears as thoughmembers of faculty, as well asthe student body, have easedtheir fingers from thismetaphorical button, sat back,and taken a deep breath.

“The level of stress hasbeen reduced, and people seemcalm,” said professor of Educa-tion, Timothy Sturm.

Sturm, who has met withGold personally, showed hisconfidence in ChancellorDonovan’s decision to bring inGold on an interim basis, stat-ing: “I’m impressed with him…given his work with unions andlarge groups of people, I thinkhe is capable and has the rightskills for the job. He’s the typeof person we need to stabilizethe college.”

English professor Elaine

Razzano echoed similar senti-ments regarding the hiring ofGold. Razzano, during hertenure at Lyndon State hasthree presidents come and go,but remains positive about therecent hire.

“I’m pleased with the de-cision to hire President Gold.I’m hopeful because he listensto people and has touched on alot of things I was hoping tohear, including how to dealwith the benefits and chal-lenges on an increased studentbody.”

Sturm stated that he is im-pressed by the new freshmanclass, stating that they seemmotivated and “interested inbeing in college.”However, hehopes for a higher graduationrate. “The big incoming class isgreat; it helps us pay our bills.But we have to help studentspay their bills in the future.”

Sturm was surprised athow quickly the problems withthe financial deficit ended, andwonders “how much of it wasreal, or fabricated to achieveanother goal?” But with manyof these issues set aside fornow, he looks forward to doing“what we do best, which isteaching students and prepar-ing them for the future.”

Bright Future at LSC

Photo: Sierra WillenburgStudents get rental books for half the price.

Comic: Shera Howe