To Rent or Not to Rent?

By Kevin Kalunian

            With college tuitions increasing, parents and students must find more ways to cut corners where they can. One corner to cut could be the cost of a textbook.

            College bookstores aren’t just selling new and used textbooks, they’re renting them in an effort to lure students into stores with lower prices.

            In the struggle to stem the flow of student money to websites, such as Amazon.com, eBay.com, and bookrental.staples.com, college bookstores are pumping up textbook rental programs.

The option to rent books isn’t new, it’s been in place at some bookstores for a while. Since 2009, 250 college campuses have offered textbook rental programs.

            “I will buy used, or we will rent textbooks, definitely. It is a costs saving factor. Are you ever going to go back and use them as a reference tool?” said Shelly Littlefield, whose son Tyler attends Bristol County Community College in Fall River, Massachusetts.  

            Christian Kalunian, a 20-year-old Communication major at Curry

College, in Milton, Massachusetts has rented textbooks from the

college campus bookstore run by the Follett Corporation.

            “I have rented books at the Curry Bookstore multiple times and they were paid for by credit cards,” Kalunian said.

            He has rented both new and used books.

If it makes a difference, and you need a new book with that new book smell, then rentals can still live up and deliver a new book smell experience.

            “Depending on the major, or what the class was, if it was a new book to rent, it was maybe half price,” Kalunian said.

            The book rental program offers students unmarked college

textbooks, without the used book drawbacks, such as dog-eared, or ripped-out pages.

            “You could also get a book that is possibly missing pages and that’s got certain things highlighted, or underlines that are incorrect or not that useful,” Kalunian said.

            If Kalunian rents his astronomy course book, he must select a used rental because a new textbook is currently unavailable for this semester. The purchase price for the used book is $135.50. The rental option at the school bookstore for the same astronomy book is $90.25, and is due back when the semester ends. The savings is $45.25 or about 30 percent. Kalunian purchased the book used on-line at Amazon.com instead. It was classified in good condition, and cost $80.99, with shipping included.

            Matthew Brown, 20, of Norwood, Massachusetts, is a Communication major at StonehillCollege, in Easton, Massachusetts and rents books.

Brown said he is satisfied with the condition of the rentals.

            “Some of these books are so expensive,” Brown said. “The rented books are in good condition…but I don’t think they were brand new. The Stonehill bookstore keeps their books in great condition.”

            The textbook rental plans appear to be programs well suited for students with savings on their minds.

            Based on research in a National Association of College Stores report from 2013, about 87 percent of students say price is an important factor in deciding where they shop.  The study found 78 percent of stores surveyed offered a textbook rental program in 2011 through 2012. This compared to 68 percent in the 2011 survey, and only 9 percent in the 2009 through 2010 survey.

            While the statistics support that the college campus bookstore industry was slow to recognize the growing needs of students to save money, retailers, such as Staples’ on-line unit, and others have been taking advantage of this developing trend in the marketplace.

Benefits of the Arts and Human Health

By: Christian Kalunian

“Music has charms to soothe the savage beasts.” -William Congreve

Art can help you to stay healthy.

Music, dance, visual arts and other expressive activities are now being incorporated in therapeutic practices for ailments ranging from heightened levels of stress to cancer, and studies say it appears to be working.

            ShaneSavage-Rumbaugh, an art professor at Stonehill College, said art “is therapeutic by nature.” The arts, he said, have “always been shown to improve the health of individuals, especially with positive reinforcement.”

            Dr. Heather L. Stuckey and Dr. Jeremy Nobel conducted a 10-year study, from 1997 through 2007, released in February of 2010. The study focused on creative art, including the creation of sand sculptures, dance-movement therapy, music and composition, mythical storytelling and drawing activities, and wheelchair dance.  

            The study showed that patients who wrote about their experiences showed significant improvements in their physical health. Their stress levels dropped immensely, resulting in stronger immune systems and less trips to physicians.

            Visual art was used to help express what words could not, such as the diagnosis of cancer. Using this practice, patients were able to visualize their feelings, and become aware of how they were feeling. When asked to “draw” their disease, the colors and line structure were associated with emotions.

“Art is a refuge from the emotions connected with terminal and serious illnesses,” Nobel said in the study.

            This study also confirmed other studies on music, showing it is healthy for the development and recovery of the human brain. Music has the ability to help the healing process without the need for overly technological processes. Music lowered anxiety and helps stabilize emotional distress, as well as to “calm neural activity in the brain,” says both Dr. Stuckey and Nobel found in the study.  

            This comes as no surprise to professor Savage-Rumbaugh. “I find all forms of art to be extremely therapeutic and beneficial on several levels for people, whether it is to lower stress or to relax,” said Art Professor Shane Savage-Rumbaugh. His class collectively agreed that the arts are fun and relaxing. Students in his class said they enjoyed drawing and painting what they felt, but noted that it was “not as easy as you think.” “I try to keep my students focused on the process over the product. When they start to feel anxious and stressed about their projects, I try to real them back in to a more calm state,” Savage-Rumbaugh said.

           

Boyntons road to Stonehill

By Matt Brown

Sam Boynton grew up in Whitefield, Maine, a town of 2,500 he joked may have more cows than people.

His nearest neighbors were a half-mile away and Boynton, the middle child of three, credits sports in keeping his small town close.

“Because there wasn’t much to do in a small town, sports were the only way to stay busy,” Boynton said.

The one sport he fell in love with was basketball. “In middle school I loved playing basketball because I was known as the Shaquille O’Neal of Whitefield Maine because I was the same size then as I am now,” Boynton said.

Boynton, 26, graduated from the University of Maine-Farmington and spent two years afterwards as the associate head coach. From there, he moved out west to Eastern Washington University located in Cheney Washington and served as director of basketball operations for two years. Boynton came to Stonehill in 2013 and is in his second season as the head assistant coach with the men's basketball team.

“I knew I wanted to be a coach when I was in high school after watching film with coaches and filling out scouting reports on other teams,” Boynton said.

He chose to coach in college because of the maturity level the players have. He said he likes to see the impact he can have on 18-year-old players as they transition through college.

“My college coach had a really big impact on me, and I would love to do the same for my players,” Boynton said.

As an outsider looking in, you may think Coach Boynton just blows the whistle at practice. However, he now gets to fill out the scouting reports himself, break down the film, while also leading study hall to make sure his players keep their grades up.

Although coaching is his passion, Boynton said, just like other jobs there are positives and negatives in the profession.

“Being a college coach takes up most of my free time. “As a 26 year old sometimes I feel like I don’t have a social life out side of basketball,” Boynton said.

When he does have some time to himself, he enjoys watching movies and hanging out with friends in Quincy, Massachusetts, where he lives.

            “The most frustrating part as an assistant coach is that sometimes the ideas I have do not get to play out because it is ultimately the head coaches decision,” Boynton said.

 In the future he can see this changing.

 “I would like to be a head coach at some point, whether that is at the NBA level, Division I or Division III, I would be just as happy,” Boynton said.

For now he said he is happy with the job he has at Stonehill, a college with a population more than his hometown.

“It’s a little bit ironic I guess. Stonehill and Whitefield both have 2,500 people. One of my favorite parts about Whitefield was the sense of community that you felt. You genuinely felt like the people in the community had each other’s best interests. I also feel a lot of that within the Stonehill community,” Boynton said.

 

Working hard on and off the field

  By Matt Brown      

   Athletes spend hours on the court, field or ice, but they may need to spend just as much time on classwork.

            Athletes at Stonehill are required to attend three hours of study hall per week. The study hall times are set to work around practice and class schedules.

            “Study hall has been great because instead of going back to my dorm to take a nap after practice, I’m forced to sit down for an hour or two a couple times a week to get my work done. I have help of coaches while I’m there to ensure my success in the classroom,” said basketball player Pierce Cumpstone.

            According to the Division II Academic Requirements Committee, a student athlete must maintain a minimum Grade Point Average (GPA) of at least 2.0 in order to be eligible to participate in sports. In 2016, the minimum GPA will be raised to 2.2.

            When student athletes are struggling in a specific class, it is important get help in order to keep their GPA above the minimum.

            Coaches can play a major role in the success of their student athletes.

            “ When I was struggling with calculus, I was able to go to one of the coaches who had a basic understanding of the class and he helped me with preparation for the exam,” said Cumpstone.

            Stonehill basketball team coaches said they take pride in how well their players perform both in the classroom and on the court, Assistant Coach Sam Boynton said.

            “Each player meets with a coach once a week to go over what is due. They tell us when papers, homework and exams are and we set it all up on a master schedule. We also require them to do study hall three hours a week,” Boynton said.

            It is important student athletes maintain the desire to work hard in the classroom. If one player cannot stay above the mandatory GPA, the team may suffer and has to compete without him, he said.

            While playing sports teaches you life lessons, the education you receive is the most important part of the college experience.

“You have to want to learn and succeed in the classroom.  You have to make sure you manage your time and not waste it during the day. You have to be efficient as possible in anything you do,” said Stonehill basketball player Carter Smith.

            Smith said after playing college basketball, he will be looking for a job and he needs to prepare for that time.

            Education comes first for the majority of student athletes.

Of the thousands of students athletes at the Division I level, 82 percent graduated in 2011. Seventy
 two percent of Division II athletes did the same, according to NCAA research. Less than two percent of college athletes make it to the professional level according to the media company Al Jazeera.

            One athlete quoted in an NCAA commercial made the point that education is important. “There are over 400,000 student athletes and just about all of us will be going pro in something else,” he said in the commercial.