pes U Over the Edge Dec 6, 1995

New Guide Saves Students Money on Textbooks

College and University
students who are sick of high
textbook prices can find the
cure in Catalyst Press’s new

Textbook Tips: Money-

Savin trategies fo
Students. “Students could

save as much as 75% of what
they spend each year on
books,” says author Jack
Banks. “Methods for getting
free textbooks are included
along with lots of other
insider tips I learned while
selling texts for the
publishing industry.”

The guide is officially
endorsed by the Canadian
Federation of Students, who
call Textbook Tips “an
effective consumer guide”
that “provides students with
useful strategies for lowering
their textbook costs.” The

United States Student
Association has also endorsed
Textbook Tips, calling it “an
invaluable tool for every
student who is on a tight
budget” and “a weapon
against something which is
perceived to be inescapable
and unbeatable—the
textbook industry and their
ever-rising prices.”
Textbook Tips supplies
tactics for buying and selling
books through campus stores
and wholesalers. Strategies
are also given for advertising
and selling used books on-
campus and on-line, with
advice on using the internet
to connect with students at
other schools. Students will
learn how to avoid being
caught in the publishers’
“trap” of revising texts so

frequently, which makes
selling used books more
difficult.

Textbook Tips provides a
backstage tour of the
textbook selection process,
revealing how publishing
companies influence
professors’ choices. Students
are shown how they can
influence professors to
provide better alternatives
for students that can
dramatically lower their
costs.

“Publishing companies just
keep raising their prices,
squeezing over $2 billion per
year from a captive market,”
says Banks. “Students feel
that they’re being ripped off,
but they really don’t
understand what they can do

about it. Textbook Tips

shows them how to take
action politically and as
consumers to force changes to
a system that exploits
students.”

Retail textbook sales are
falling—evidence of a
growing “quiet revolution” of
students angry about high
textbook prices. As John
Lorelli from the Santa
Barbara City College
Bookstore notes in the Sept.
15, 1995 issue of Campus
Marketplace, “They are
making the ultimate
statement they can in a
consumer society by not
buying a product over which
they have no choice, no
alternatives, and whose value
doesn’t seem proportionate
to the extremely high cost.”

Students should order
Textbook Tips directly from
Catalyst Press, as the guide is
not available in campus
stores. Bookstores and their
suppliers—textbook
publishers—may fear that
Textbook Tips could provoke
a consumer backlash leading
to lower sales. Catalyst Press
will sell the guide directly te
students and eliminate the
bookstore mark-up.

To order, send cheque or
money order for $8.95
(includes tax & shipping)
with your return address
clearly marked to: Catalyst
Press Inc., Suite 262, 3044
Bloor Street West, Toronto,
Ontario, M8X 1C4.
Telephone and credit card
orders are not accepted at
this time.

Headstones Interview

By Simon
Who can spit
farther than a llama?
Only Hugh Dillon, the
lead singers for the
Headstones. The night
started off with the
Walk. They were the
opening act, so the
crowd wasn’t very
enthusiastic. I got a
chance to talk to the
lead singer, he liked
our little town, but he
was “sicker than a
dog”, so he took off
right after his set was
done. The next band
was the _ Barstool
Prophets, a_ well-
known band to UNBC.
They did a lively set
with songs like “Short
and Curlies” a song
about the lead singers
pubic hair. Then, as
the bar people were

singing away to
Offspring and Green
Day, the music
suddenly died and
Hugh Dillon appeared
on stage, swearing and
spitting. The
Headstones had
arrived. Their set was
incredible, and boy,
was it loud. I don’t
mean ‘loud’ as it was
hard to hear your
friend, I mean ‘loud’ as
in I couldn’t hear
properly for two days
after. They finished
their set and then did a
two song encore, one of
which was an Abba
cover. . After the
concert, we got an
interview with the
Headstones, this was

weird. We entered the.

dressing room at the

Generator, which is a
six by six cubicle,
where we were face to
face with the most anti-
PC band I know.
During the interview,
there were fights,

spitting contests and
even a full moon. I did
find out, however that
the band agrees on two
things, boxers over
briefs, and Coke over
Pepsi. Both of these I

a  — -———
a = Yn aa eS
aK a) Da a) CS! -
“ — Ks 4 ¥

agree with. Hugh

Dillon leaves us with
this message, “See ya!”
‘This concert was a
great one, if a little
hard on the hearing.

Photo by C. Rowe