YSU BOOKSTORE Students protest outsourcing possibility

Students say outsourcing will mean higher prices.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Wearing red shirts and buttons stating S.O.B. -- Save Our Bookstore -- students sat in on a Youngstown State University Board of Trustees meeting Thursday.
Emily Eckman, Student Government Association president, said 30 to 35 students attended. The SGA had organized the silent protest to make trustees aware that students are against outsourcing the university-owned bookstore in Kilcawley Center to a national chain.
A committee considering the future of the bookstore is expected to have a report to university President David C. Sweet by month's end. The report will list pros and cons of three options: keeping the bookstore as is, outsourcing to Follet Corp., or outsourcing to Barnes & amp; Noble Inc.
Students have argued that outsourcing will mean higher prices.
"This is something we really hold dear," Eckman said. "We were accused of basing this on emotion."
Paying more
She said the group has gathered facts, one being that the price of books will increase by an average of $115 per student if a corporation takes over.
Eckman said the student group has collected about 2,035 signatures on petitions opposing the Follet and Barnes & amp; Noble options. She said faculty and staff have also joined their cause, with several signing petitions and about 10 attending Thursday's meeting.
The board did not address the bookstore issue at the meeting.
Eckman said she was aware that the issue was not on the agenda but that students wanted to make trustees aware of their concerns before they vote on the topic at upcoming committee and full board meetings.
She said a two-hour meeting with Sweet earlier this month left her feeling like the bookstore would be lost. Sweet could not be reached to respond late Thursday afternoon.
According to a survey on the Web site of Youngstown State University's Student Government Association, there is little support for outsourcing the bookstore in Kilcawley Center to a private company.
The Web survey asks "Should YSU sell out the bookstore to a private company?" Of 181 votes, 154 -- 85 percent -- are "no."
viviano@vindy.com