the other press llews Section Editor: Eileen Velthuis February 19, 2003 books? ” n selling books back. y else for 75 percent.” is idea took off. lained. December 2001, ents. rotest at the NTREAL (CUP)—Checking into a hotel be enough of a hassle without a protest out- But when a hundred anti-FTAA activists barricaded the front doors and are facing off st police and security guards, even the most rmined tourist might be deterred. otestors opposing the Free Trade Area of the ricas (FTAA) gathered last Friday afternoon ide the Ritz Carlton Hotel, where Canadian e Minister Pierre Pettigrew met with his incial counterparts to discuss the upcoming agreement. ose to one hundred activists sang songs, beat s, and barred the main doors to the Ritz ton with slats of wood taken from their signs placards, forcing a number of people to find nate entrances to the building. query of “how do I get in?” from a guest at itz was greeted with a shrug by first-year law nt Jared Will, who was optimistic about the onstration’s effect despite the relatively small ber of people present. u've seen the amount of media here. They've inly noticed why we're here,” Will said. rters from CBC, The Globe and Mail, and Montreal Gazette were on scene. tudent-run textbook website is gaining popularity, will it change the way students buy and sell their ast year, Kwantlen University College business stu- t Mike Robson was fed up with the price of college books and the small percentage of money received obson says that last year he placed posters all over his ol, telling students that he would “buy their used books for 50 percent of the original price (as opposed 0 percent at the bookstore) and resell them to some- ventually the volume got to be so high, that I seri- ly considered starting a website, with an online data- ..-not really a new idea, but the alternatives at the were very weak and not managed properly,” he the site was launched as entvalue. This past October, Robson renamed and lunched the website as hopes of changing the way students buy and sell r textbooks—or at least making it a better deal for obson is a student himself; and believes people Id get a fair price back for their books. He claims ti-F TAA demonstrators block hotel trance, condemn trade minister oN de | FEY Meow eileenv@telus.net sed Textbooks at a Fair Price? udent-run website one way to sell your books students can save up to 35 percent by using BC Bookworm rather than using the current systems such as used book buybacks. Most schools have their own systems for buying back textbooks. At Douglas College for instance, at the beginning of each semester the bookstore holds a few used book buyback days at each campus. Another option for buying or selling books is the textbook consignment store run by the Douglas Students’ Union out of the New Westminster campus DSU building. While each option will get students a portion of their money back, Robson says that the free, student-to-student system on his website gets them the best price back on their books. According to Robson, when he launched the site Kwantlen’s student association was very helpful in adopt- ing it almost immediately and by putting a link to BC Bookworm from their site. For Robson, that was just the beginning. As a way to get the word out about this unique, free site, which has just recently registered its first 100,000 hit month, he has tried contacting schools and student unions all over the province about the ben- efits of fairer prices for students. “T’ve contacted pretty much every school in BC. And it’s not like I just called them once and then forgot about it. It’s always the [smaller] schools that are really accom- modating. The big schools don't really want to talk about it...they don’t want to know that there’s no~ middleman hiking up the price [at BC Bookworm.” ] Robson said he con- tacted the Douglas Students’ Union and [ is waiting to hear * from them about linking his site and \ theirs, like Kwantlen’s Student Association did. Local student Alexis Lesperance does- nt like the book buyback systems that local schools cur- rently offer. “T can't believe the schools give such a low price back. Tuition’s already high enough without worrying about the price of books.” Lesperance thinks the student-to-student buy and sell system, like BC Bookworm, is one way to get better value out of your books. “I'm definetely going to use it next semester. That's way better than the book buyback, a much fairer price,” she said. Ritz The demonstration, which began at 12:30p.m. and continued past 2:30p.m., was generally peaceful, although one protestor was shoved vio- lently by a hotel security guard who was helping a person enter the hotel. Throughout the protest, hotel security guards removed the wooden obstructions holding the doors closed a number of times, but the slats were quickly replaced by demonstrators each time. At 1:45p.m., two Montreal police officers moved protesters away from the hotel entrance and began to escort people into the building who had been deterred by the barricade. Concordia Student Union Executive Member Yves Engler, who was present at the demonstra- tion, singled out Minister Pettigrew for being inconsistent in his message about Canada’s involvement with the FTAA. “Pettigrew has this tendency to say one thing to one crowd and one thing to another. He's two- faced. At the end of the day, he’s one of the biggest proponents of neo-liberal ideas,” said Engler. The demonstration was organized by the Montreal-based Solidarity Network to Stop the FTAA. IN \ Douglas College omneris. Celebrates the Unsung Heroine Awards Friday, March 7, 2003 On International Women’s Day, celebrations at Douglas College will honour our Unsung Heroines. Do You ... who have gone out of their way to make others feel welcome, or who make life easier for others at Douglas College or in the community? We want to honour these women. Nominations are open to ANY women at Douglas College or in the surrounding community. Names of all nominees and award winners will be announced at our annual dinner on Friday, March 7th, 2003 and in Douglas College and community publications. Know Women... stud When ! firs feel sn weit. Please submit names and the reasons for nomination in writing, by e-mail or fax to: & Douglas College Women’s Centre, Room 4810 g 700 Royal Avenue, New Westminster, BC, V3L 5B2 2 e-mail womctr@douglas.bc.ca fax 604-527-5095 by Friday, February 28, 2003 Brey y sux € eau For more information call € Come Carly Tey a ate) 6 dou Ce