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•Volume
58,
Number 14f — Loyola Mary mount University - February 9, 1981- —
Inside
El Salvador— Country in Turmoil _ _ .........2
Dennis Dlugos, Loyolan News Editor, analyzes the current
problems of El Salvador in his continuing examination of that
country. The historical perspective of the situation appears in
the Loyolan’s National section.
Students dissatisfied with
LM U bookstore operation
Readership Responds......... _ _ 6-7
The Loyolan readers react to a controversial letter by
writing their own opinions, both positive and negative.
by Candi Carlyon
“The bookstore? It’s too ex¬
pensive, it’s unorganized and
its policies demonstrate that
they just don’t care about
students....The bookstore is one
big ripoff....The bookstore never
has the books you need, the re¬
fund policy is ridiculous, the
buy-back policy is even more
ridiculous, they charge more
than other stores and it’s pretty
unorganized.
“The bookstore? It sucks.”
These comments were made
by LMU students asked about
how they felt about ‘our’
bookstore. Although students
interviewed had almost nothing
positive to say, administration
sources defended the operation.
Clyde Meyers, University
Business Manager, stated that
he had not heard any such com-
plaints concerning the
bookstore. “I would want to
know of any specific examples
of books that were not in, or
books that cost more here than
at other stores,” he said.
“Of course, the store can’t
compete with stores like Sav-on
which deal in much larger
volumes, but the price of books,
I believe, is pretty much set by
the manufacturers,” Meyers
said.
Gregg Davidson, bookstore
manager, agreed with Meyers.
He indicated that price of books
is rapidly increasing, but that
this represents publishers’ in¬
creases, not bookstore ripoffs.
When asked that prices
charged at LMU were in some
cases significantly higher than
the suggested retail price
printed on the books, Davidson
stated this was also due to the
rapid increase in manufactures’
prices. “Even though a book
says $4.50 on it, we may be pay¬
ing our distributor for the book
based on the assumption that it
will sell for $6.50.”
Although Davidson declined
to comment on either the
average markup of textbooks or
the overall profit made at the
LMU operation, both a faculty
member and an ex-bookstore
employee agreed that books
were marked up approximately
40%.
“It’s a matter of priorities,”
stated Davidson, “These kids
don’t complain when they spend
$40 for Eagles tickets or $150
for Columbian Gold. If you’re go¬
ing to attend a good private
university, as Loyola is, you
have to figure books as part of
that educational expense.”
Davidson stated the
bookstore operated with high
overhead, minimizing actual pro¬
fit. He said, “You also have to
consider the cost of the lights
and the wages we pay our
employees.”
However, Elvin Watts, Univer¬
sity Controller, said that the
University, not the bookstore,
pays all utilities and
maintenance on the opera¬
tion— the bookstore pays the
University a rental fee and a
commission on its sales.
“Almost ail the money we get
from the bookstore goes to pay¬
ing these expenses. We hardly
break even,” Watts said. s
Davidson also denied there
was any problem with textbook
availability, He said that on the
Monday before classes started,
the bookstore had on its shelves
95% of all titles requested by
faculty members last November
1.
A student who works in the
store, however, when asked if
many students had problems
with their books not being in
stock during the first week of
classes, said, “Oh yes, it hap¬
pens all the time.”
Davidson said many books
are unavailable at the start of
classes due to faculty delays in
ordering the texts. He said that
in the past the store has had “as
many as 10% of all book orders
turned in late, but there weren’t
nearly that many this time.”
In some cases, books that are ,
not in stock at the beginning of
Valentine’s Day _ ........... _ ...... _ ... _ _ _ 8-9
A number of writers weave their feelings about February 14
in tittle vignettes on the Feature pages. Terry Traebel’s art¬
work adds a^special touch to the emotion of the day.
Few distributors wiil inform
the store of unavailable titles
until a complete order is mailed,
which is often right before
school begins, according to
Davidson.
The manager suggested that
faculty members consult the
local publisher’s representative
to confirm text availability
before deciding which books to
use.
n Instructors, according to
Davidson, can consider
availability when selecting tex¬
tbooks, but the bookstore can¬
not— it must order specific
books. If one text becomes
unavailable, another one cannot
be substituted by the store.
Prior to November of 1977, the
campus bookstore was
operated by the University. For
the last three years, the store
'has been operated by United
College Bookstores, a sub¬
sidiary of United Art. The firm
began operating college
bookstores 17 years ago and
now has 35 concessions nation¬
wide.
Business Manager Meyers
said the University lost money
when it operated the bookstore
mainly because of inefficiency
and high theft rates.
The system used by the cur¬
rent operation of using
(continued on page 4)
Fr. Willis Egan is buried;
friends remember professor
by Dennis Diugos
and Tony Loren
The Mass of Christian Burial
was celebrated for Fr. Willis
Egan, S.J., professor of theology
at LMU and former chairman of
the department, last Wednesday
February 4 in Sacred Heart
Chapel.
Egan died early Sunday morn¬
ing, February 1 at the UCLA
Medical Center after a Six
month battle with cancer of the
esophagus.
Burial took place at Santa
Clara Mission Cemetery on Fri¬
day February 6.
The principal celebrant of the
Mass was Fr. Richard Vachon,
S.J., Associate Dean of Loyola
Law School. Vachon was
described by homiiist Fr.
Charles Casassa, S.J.,
Chancellor of LMU, as “the
closest and most devoted friend
Willis had among the Jesuits.”
Casassa stressed in his homi¬
ly the meaning of the Mass of
Christian Burial. It is no longer
referred to as simply a ‘funeral
Mass’ since it is a celebration of
hope and faith— a celebration of
the life of Fr. Egan and the hope
that is found in the life, death
and resurrection of Jesus
Christ. The emphasis of the
Mass is no longer on death, but
on life and resurrection. Black
vestments have been replaced
by white.
The readings, Casassa noted,
were chosen to reflect the life of
Egan. One of the readings noted,
“I begin to see how true it is that
God shows no partiality. Rather,
the man who fears God and acts
uprightly is acceptable to him.“
This statement, according to
Casassa, in essence reflected
the life of Fr. Egan. “He reached
out to everyone, Christian and
non-Christian, believer or non¬
believer. While the Church did
not always keep Peter’s obser¬
vation in mind, Fr. Egan did.
“He was engaged with discus¬
sion and dialogue with non-
Christians long before the Se¬
cond Vatican Council. Such
discusssions were an integral
part of his vision of an impartial
God,” Casassa said.
At the Vatican Council, held
from 1962 to 1965, the Church
formally and explicitly recogniz¬
ed the need to work with non-
(continued on page 4)
The LMU campus bookstore is currently the target of student complaints concerning overpricing, unavailability
of books and poor service. United College Bookstores, a private corporation apart from the University, currently
operate the store. Their 3% year lease expires in May.
Lions Fall to Pepperdine............. _ ..... _ .....
John Fitzsimons sadly reports another defeat
Lions, this time at the hands of the Waves, 106-89.
_ 14
for the
February are out of print. In such
cases, the instructor may be
forced to make changes in the
course itself.
Some faculty members ex¬
pressed their discontent at the
fact that they often are not
notified a book will be
unavailable until classes have
already started.
Such lack of notification is
usually due to one of two
reasons, according to David¬
son— either the faculty member
was sent a notice during
January and was not on cam¬
pus, or the bookstore itself was
not aware the book would not be
delivered until shortly before
classes start.
Fr. Willis Egan. S.J.
