Multimedia Reporting (Kuhr-Volek)

Every year, students express frustration when their bookstore of choice refuses to buy back certain used textbooks. Many students have little knowledge of alternative methods for selling these textbooks, though many are available in Lawrence and online.

The textbook buyback process depends on a number of circumstances, including the current availability of each textbook and whether or not professors are using particular textbooks at the time. It all depends on need. Mike Lickteig, textbook manager at University Book Shop, described this in detail.

"Timing is important," Lickteig said. "Sometimes, a book used in the fall won't be used until the next fall." When this happens, students are less likely to be able to sell their books at the end of the fall semester.

Occasionally, when one bookstore won't buy back a certain book, another bookstore might need it. Both the KU Bookstores and Jayhawk Bookstore will buy back books, and are located on campus. University Book Shop and Half Price Books are also available in Lawrence, located on 23rd Street. The websites for the KU Bookstores and University Book Shop also allow you to look up current buyback prices, so students can know what books they can and cannot sell.

Occasionally, students won't be able to sell back their books anywhere in Lawrence. Options are also available online, though some students have no knowledge of them. Ty Davis, Bonner Springs junior, looked to internet services like Amazon and eBay when he tried to sell his books. "I considered selling them online, but that proved to be too difficult," Davis said.

Davis wasn't aware of some of the other online services available. Websites like BooksIntoCash.com exist for the sole purpose of buying textbooks. At these websites, students can obtain quotes on the textbooks they wish to sell. Students can then mail their books off and receive a check in the mail to match the quote they received. There are also online exchange programs that students can use to connect with other students to buy and sell textbooks. One such program is included on the Kyou portal, and is available to any student with a valid KU online ID.

A new park is coming to northwest Lawrence. Thanks to a process called benefit district financing, the rest of the city won't have to pay a dime. Reporter Chris Bell has the story.

The city of Lawrence will gain a new park within the next couple of years. And as an added bonus, the city of Lawrence won’t have to pay for it.

Funding for the park will come from a process known as benefit district financing. The estimated $811,000 price tag for the park will be covered after the development of the park and the surrounding area is finished. The money will come from a tax applied to property around the park. The rest of the city won’t have to pay a dime.

“It’s the first time ever, I think, that the city of Lawrence will be gaining a park through benefit district financing,” Fred DeVictor, director of the Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department, said.

Benefit district financing doesn’t usually pay for parks. “That’s kind of a new concept for Lawrence,” Mark Hecker, Parks and Maintenance superintendent, said. Streets and other essential repairs often get paid for this way, Hecker said.

About 5 acres of land have been sectioned off in the Oregon Trail Addition for this park. The addition is located north of Sixth Street, close to the Kansas Highway 10 bypass. It is one of three additions that are being developed in that area. The park is part of a larger development plan that covers the entire Oregon Trail Addition. Landplan Engineering is in charge of the design and development of the park and the neighborhood that will be adjacent to it.

The park will contain playground equipment and landscaping, as well as walking paths and a pond. The pond will double as a drainage easement for storm water reclamation. The park will be accessible soon after construction is completed on the surrounding neighborhood.

The idea to build a park resulted from problems with the preliminary design of the suggested neighborhood area. The land that is currently sectioned off for the park was formerly a drainage easement used to collect excess storm water. The original plans for the neighborhood only had streets connecting through the north and south, around the easement. The addition of east and west connecting streets created a need to improve the look of the easement. Plans were then resubmitted to include the new design with a park.

Before construction can begin, a public hearing must be held to approve the area designated as the benefit district. A hearing has been scheduled at 6:35 p.m. on Tuesday, February 27, during the City Commission meeting. The purpose of the hearing is to gather public opinion about the proposed park construction and to establish the benefit district that will pay for the park.

It is uncertain when construction will begin on the park, but it is estimated to begin sometime later this year. This will depend partially on the results of the public hearing scheduled for next week. The surrounding neighborhood will also be under construction but the park should be done first.

“By the time streets and sidewalks get put in, the park will be built,” Hecker said.

Gamers have traded their video games since the birth of the gaming industry. Now, many retail chains and smaller, local shops are getting in on the used market to make a profit.

Stores like EB Games and Hastings allow gamers to trade in their old video games for cash or in-store credit. The store then sells those games at a discounted price to consumers who are looking to save cash. This allows the store to set its own profit margin by determining how much to pay for used games as well as how much the used copies cost.

Local stores like Game Nut and Game Guy also take advantage of this used video game market. Over 90 percent of the product each of these stores carry is used. Most of the product on the shelves comes from gamers who have traded in their old games for cash or credit.

“There is no money to be made in new products,” Gene Nutt, owner of Game Nut, said. The profit margin on new video game software and hardware is often about $5, he said. So while a new game may sell for $50, and a used game for $30, a store profits more from the used game because it was purchased from another gamer for $10.

Large retail chains take advantage of that profit margin for a large amount of their business. For GameStop Corp., which owns EB Games, used video game sales accounted for only 26.1 percent of sales in 2005, according to its annual report. However, those sales brought in 47.4 percent of its gross profit that year. This contrasts with sales of new software and hardware, which amounted to 56.6 percent of sales in 2005, yet only totaled 27.5 percent of GameStop’s gross profit that year, according to GameStop’s annual report.

For the smaller stores, the profit margin of used games is what keeps the store running. Unlike the large chains, which have buy and sell prices set by a corporate office, a small store chooses its own criteria when pricing used games. Game Nut bases its sale prices on the newest retail for the games it carries, taking anywhere from 20 to 50 percent off that price, Nutt said.

Game Guy manager Brian Harris said that the store prices are set based on reputation and information taken from the internet. The prices are always under retail, unless the game is hard to find, Harris said.

Smaller stores also have an advantage against the larger retail chains. These small stores often carry older game systems and software that the larger chains have stopped selling, like Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, and Sony Playstation. These items appeal to collectors and those who long for the glory days of 8-bit gaming.

Jacob Burghart, Kinsley freshman, said he prefers Game Nut over the larger stores. “They’re a little expensive.” Burghart said. “EB Games, they don’t have, like, anything below 64 or Playstation.” The term ‘64’ refers to Nintendo’s old game system, Nintendo 64.

The smaller stores also offer other services to gamers besides the used game trade. Game Guy offers console and disc repairs, as well as a rental policy for their games. “A lot of people like to touch stuff before they spend money on it,” Harris said. Game Nut also offers disc repair. Both stores buy and sell used DVD movies.

Game Nut is located at 844 Massachusetts St., and has been in business in Lawrence for a year and a half. Game Guy is located at 7 E. 7th St., and has been in business for nine years.

A psychology study has shown that the intensity of happiness is directly related to the importance of events detracting from it. KUJH-TV's Chris Bell has the details.

Out of the 26,773 students who are enrolled at the University of Kansas, 81.6 percent live off-campus. Some of these off-campus students have found that they can study better now than they could when they lived in the dorms. KUJH-TV's Chris Bell has the story.

Between going to class and working a part time job to pay the bills, off-campus students don’t have as much time to study as those who live on campus. However, some students have found that living off-campus actually aids their study efforts.

In the fall of 2006, the University of Kansas had 26,773 students enrolled at its Lawrence campus according to the Office of Institutional Research and Planning. On-campus housing only accommodated 4,922 of those students. This leaves the other 21,851 students, 81.6 percent of the student body, living off-campus.

Adam Keehbauch, Kinsley senior, juggles a full load of classes and a pizza delivery job with his daily study time. “I just make sure that I have a good balance between work and study, to where I can pay my bills but also be able to get the grades that I need in my classes,” Keehbauch said.

Keehbauch started his career at the University in McCollum Hall before moving to an off-campus apartment and then into a house. He said that living off-campus has helped him to study more often. “There were a lot more distractions on campus,” Keehbauch said. He said noise was a big issue when living in the dorms, as well as the large number of people. “It seems like every other day, somebody else is doing something and they’ll invite you along,” he said.

Clark Kebodeaux also says he gets more studying done since he moved off-campus. He lived in Stephenson Scholarship Hall before moving into an apartment. Kebodeaux, Olathe junior, said living with four people made it a lot easier to study than living with 50 people. “It was very difficult to study at Stephenson,” Kebodeaux said. “Here, it’s a little easier to get away if you have to.”

It’s not always easy to get work done when living off-campus. Christina O’Riley, Hopkins, Miss., junior, said moving off-campus after her freshman year increased the number of distractions she faced when studying. “We had our own apartment, so it was kinda like our party space,” O’Riley said. “It seems like I studied more when I lived on campus.” She also said the classes she had taken since moving off-campus affected the time she put into studying. “If I was taking the same courses as I was taking freshman year, I would have studied more.”

Keehbauch also admitted that when he first moved off campus, he occasionally had a difficult time convincing himself to go to class. “Sometimes it can be a little more difficult to get to class,” he said. “You gotta wait around for the busses or you gotta walk to class.” He said that sometimes it seemed easier to stay home and go back to sleep instead of go to his classes. “I’ve kinda developed a discipline to go to classes now,” Keehbauch said. “I’m getting to that point where I need to be going to classes.”

The University has many programs to help students who need help studying. The Academic Achievement and Access Center, or AAAC, offers seminars to students to help them improve everything from note taking and other study skills to time management to ensure time is allotted for studying. Dawn Tato, program assistant for the AAAC, had some tips specifically for students who were moving off-campus for the first time.

“Setting up a schedule of study time is important,” Tato said. She said it was best for students to treat studying like going to class. She also advised that students get involved in study groups where they can be held accountable for getting their studying done. Finding a comfortable study environment was also important, as working in a comfortable environment increases productivity. She also said that students who live off-campus and work should talk to their employers if they feel like work is cutting into their study time. She advised that employers willing to offer flexible hours, or those willing to allow students to work on homework during downtime, would help busy off-campus students get the time they needed to study.

The Freshman Sophomore Advising Center has a page of links to information regarding study skills and seminars given at the University to improve those skills. The Center is also available to students for advising appointments and could offer advice to students who have trouble studying off-campus.