When Christian Marfil-Amatulli was elected president of the Associated Students Organization in the spring of 2008, he had some ideas in mind to put some money back into campus coffers and student pockets – most notably the Book Buyback and a newly introduced recycling program.
With the district-wide recycling program becoming old news and the end of the semester drawing near, it’s only fair to find out whether ASO will be able to implement the programs in a timely fashion.
The recycling program would bring in seven blue bins to place around the campus, similar to the program instituted at all nine Los Angeles Community College District campuses in the beginning of the fall semester.
The idea was that the first system could be improved because the provided cardboard containers could only be placed indoors due to rain. Though it seems beneficial, the rainy weather is already here and Paul Nieman, director of plant facilities, has yet to receive a schedule for when the bins will be placed around campus.
More progress has been made on the Book Buyback program, but whether or not it will make a difference will be determined at the end of the semester. Marfil-Amatulli said the ASO worked to remind faculty members of the Oct. 17 turn-in date in hopes of increasing the amount of returnable books.
Greg Osweiler, manager of the Bookstore, said 70 percent of faculty members have turned their requests in – an “extremely good” figure compared with other semesters – and he hopes for a total of 85 percent to 95 percent by the end of the semester.
If faculty members turned in their next-semester book requests on time, the Bookstore would be able to buy those books back from students at the end of the semester for almost half of what they originally paid, rather than the standard 15-percent refund.
ASO has made videos with the Bookstore, reached out to clubs and even hosted a contest to give the Book Buyback publicity and help promote timely turn-ins. Marfil-Amatulli said senators will also begin to hand out cards to students detailing which books can be sold back.
Students will hopefully enjoy the benefits of a more productive book-return system at the end of the semester, but the recycling program still awaits resolution.
(Jessie Lomeli)