Re: Wages, small businesses, etc.

[Bob Hoffmann <escape@alt-escape.com>]

At 10:53 AM 01/14/2000 -0800, Douglas Whitney wrote:
>An anonymous "concerned member of the community" just provided my family 
>with a
>flyer purported to have been sent by the Uof I bookstore to each office and
>faculty member on the campus. The flyer says:
>
>" Only the University of Idaho Bookstore gives all its profits to the
>University.

It's funny, I didn't know that the University Bookstore was considered a 
profit center.  Nor did I know that the University was a for-profit 
institution.  I thought that their goal was education.

I believe that university bookstores are under pressure from new textbook 
suppliers, particularly Internet-based book dealers.  Students can achieve 
significant discounts by going online and ordering books.  And in my 
opinion, anything that helps students (honestly) save a few dollars on 
their costs is for the higher good of education.

The supposed flyer probably reflects only the insecurity of Bookstore 
management as it finds its monopoly on textbooks threatened.  Without 
additional evidence, I wouldn't hold the University admin responsible, and 
I wouldn't base any donation decisions on the flyer.  Perhaps the Bookstore 
can look at ways to reduce costs, such as organizing a purchasing 
consortium with WSU and other universities, so the consortium could bargain 
with suppliers for reduced prices.


Bob Hoffmann
229 East C St., Suite B
Moscow, ID  83843  USA
Phone: (208) 883-0642
Fax: 1-800-683-3799
http://www.alt-escape.com