I am concerned about the policy that has been recently implemented regarding student book charges.

When I began my employment at Iowa State University, I was delighted to see that an ISU student could charge their book needs to their university bill.

Recently, there has been a change in this policy because of something called “unfair competition or advantage.”

Well, here we go again; the needs of the students attending Iowa State University take “second billing.”

I fully understand that the campus bookstore has a bottom line to meet, but maybe the owner could have worked out something with the financial office for the students who receive financial aid.

The owner could have also looked into students who are employed on campus and worked out some form of arrangement. I’ve had students indicate to me that the store isn’t very “student friendly.” I observed in the Iowa State Daily that a number of students will have to purchase books at a later date. When I mentioned this concern to one of my colleagues, they indicated that the new student I.D. card could help the student with purchases.

I thought that the new I.D. card required students to deposit money into into an account prior to closing it for purchases. Students who don’t have resources to purchase books certainly don’t have money to deposit into a credit card account.

I hope that something could be placed into operation for the student who has limited resources.

I hope that I am just reacting to something that is not a big issue and students will be able to acquire the books they need for their classes.

Lyle E. Smith

MLO

College of Design