YSU Students oppose bookstore proposal

A report should be complete in three weeks.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Youngstown State University President David C. Sweet has told a group of students that the outsourcing of the university bookstore would bring in roughly $1 million to be used to help fund construction of a new $12 million recreation center.
But students against outsourcing are concerned that bookstore operations might be forsaken to fund a project that administrators had promised would be fully funded by private donations.
Administrators have touted the proposed 65,000-square-foot recreation center as being the first campus building that will be constructed entirely with private funds since Ward Beecher Science Hall in 1967. So far, $9.7 million has been raised.
Student Government President Emily Eckman said she supports the recreation center but that students must buy books and a student-friendly bookstore is imperative.
"I like to think we're here for education first," she said.
Walt Ulbricht, YSU's executive director of marketing and communications, said the "intention was to use private donations" to build the recreation center. Trustees also have approved $2 million in capital funds for construction.
What's being considered
Sweet brought up the possibility of using bookstore inventory to help with the recreation center fund when he met recently with a group of students, but there has been no commitment or decision, Ulbricht said.
"The university has the responsibility for exploring any possibilities for cost savings that could be used for student or instructor benefits," Ulbricht said. "I think it's a responsible review of options."
Eckman said students researched options for the store and discovered that outsourcing would raise the price of textbooks by roughly $115 per semester per student. The Save Our Bookstore group has gathered more than 2,000 signatures on a petition and held a silent protest at a recent trustees meeting.
The bookstore, in YSU's Kilcawley Center, is under review by a committee considering options to keep it as is or to outsource it to either Barnes & amp; Noble Inc. or Follet Corp. The president expects a report from the committee by the end of this month.
Plans for the recreation building include a fitness center, climbing wall, weight room, jogging track, racquetball courts and a spiritual meditation room.
It will be attached to the west end of Kilcawley Center and is expected to open in fall 2005.
Among major private contributions to the recreation center fund are $2 million from the John S. and Doris M. Andrews Trust; $1.5 million from John and Denise York; $1 million from the Ward and Florence Simon Beecher Foundation; $750,000 from Anthony and Mary Lariccia; and $500,000 from D.D. and Velma Davis.