2 | January 26, 2011

Opinion The Rambler | www.therambler.org

Music industry needs to embrace change Global music piracy causes battle? There might not be any mon- tend its creative touches to its busi- ture of music by depriving the in-
$12.5 billion in economic losses ey left in record sales, but there will ness model. dustry of the resources it needs to
and costs 71,060 U.S. music in- always be money in music. On its website, the Recording find and develop new talent.” Get
Jonathan Resendez dustry workers their job each The music industry needs to work Industry Association of America real. There will never be a better way
Multi-media editor year, according to the Institute harder and pioneer. It needs to ex- writes, “piracy undermines the fu- to find new musical talent than the
jresendes@mail.txwes.edu for Policy Innovation. Internet.
The figures add up. During an And if an artist feels stiffed be-
interview with NPR’s On the Me- cause the label can’t pay for his pri-
dia, journalist Rick Karr said that vate jet to take him to a show 200
The music industry needs to snap major record labels sold about miles away, he can write a song
out of its 1990s, pipe-dream hopes $13 billion in music in 1999. about it. Maybe it will get a million
of making the majority of its money The drastic decrease in revenue downloads.
through record sales, and reinvigo- is the result of a generation of peo- A possible solution might be the
rate the ways it generates revenue so ple discovering they can now get thing technology can never replace—
it can save itself and everyone who for free, something they’ve always the live performance.
depends on it to make a living. wanted and always paid for—music. If the record labels can find a way
As our culture changes the way it Instead of trying to intimidate with to make it easier for artists to perform
receives countless forms of informa- its litigious sword of no-danger (no and make it affordable for people to
tion, news and entertainment—the one’s going to pony up $10,000 a pi- attend, there’s money to be made.
providers must also change the way rated song if successfully sued), the They could also follow in the foot-
they hope to receive compensation. music industry needs to reinvent the steps of Wal-Mart or Apple. One
The prosecution of those who down- ways it makes money. makes products so cheap it causes
load and share music files over the Newspapers and media organiza- nausea and the other makes products
Internet is not only a waste of time tions don’t sue people who get their so exclusive and expensive it makes
and money—it’s a negligent slap in news from web aggregators. And one sick.
the face to all the positive things file movie studios’ lawyers aren’t knock- Both companies do have one thing
sharing does and can do for the in- ing on Hulu’s door, so why are re- in common. They didn’t whine—
dustry. cord labels still fighting their online they got innovative.

Used book sales drive prices higher, not lower

make money on the release of there is nothing about this system
a new or revised edition, so we that is illegal. That does not make
cannot fault them for occasion- it right.
Barry Grubbs ally updating the book. The In the case of Texas Wesleyan,
Opinion editor used book seller buys the book the bookstore’s profits translate
bgrubbs@mail.txwes.edu back from the student for next directly to the college through a
to nothing, and immediately contract that provides for TWU to
re-sells the used book at an in- receive a percentage of total sales.
flated price. Each time the book There is nothing wrong with the
By now, most Wesleyan students is cycled through the system, the agreement, but the re-selling prac-
have received a list of books for the used book seller increases his or tices seen in our bookstore or any
spring semester, and many have her profit margin. other business serving the aca-
purchased them already. This process is a tug of war be- demic community are not focused
If you are like me, you have tween the authors of important on serving our best interest.
learned to expect sticker shock at textbooks and the opportunist we To turn their backs on the stu-
the campus bookstore. Needless to call our college book retailers. The dents in the name of higher profits
say, I’m glad I’m graduating at the people who likely lose the most are is disgraceful.
end of this semester because I can the students who are caught in the If you think renting the books is
no longer stomach the sky-rocket- middle. the answer, you may be right, but
ing prices of college textbooks. They must either buy the books it is only an answer for the student
Sure, I am renting as many as new at a high price or buy them who places no value on the books
possible. Most of us have to rent if used, sometimes in questionable in the first place.
we want to afford the books at all. condition, at a ridiculously inflated The rental concept was literally Photo illustration by Barry Grubbs | Rambler Staff
I have researched the issue of ris- price. born out of the tragedy we call the After a trip to the bookstore, there is not much left in students pockets.
ing textbook prices, mostly out of Even the complimentary copies used textbook business.
personal outrage, and I have come of new books which are usually The textbook industry was once able education of our students, I leyan’s SGA create some type of
to the following conclusion: the provided to professors by the text- a business built on necessity and cannot support them. textbook scholarship to assist stu-
used book market is the problem— book publishers are showing up for served a noble cause. When a high- I hate to scream about a problem dents in purchasing their college
period! sale in greater numbers. That is just er profit for book sellers becomes without making room for solu- textbooks. That would be money
Authors and publishers only an unethical money grab. Sadly, more important than the afford- tions. I would be happy to see Wes- well spent.

Don’t mess with Wesleyan What question would you like

The mainte-
nance department
decompose because of the
plastic in the filter.
to ask the new President?
should not have What do new students
Melissa Bates to spend so much and their families think
Staff writer time picking up when they come to this
mdbates@mail.txwes.edu litter. Students, campus and see a bunch of “ What will you do differently than the old president?”
faculty and staff trash? - Cassandra Hebert,
should have more Students, faculty and staff freshman,education
pride in this cam- should also know that with
Cigarette butts, soda cans pus and should throw their the new citations fees being
and fast food wrappers— trash in the proper recep- instituted, anyone caught
these things are everywhere tacle. littering will receive a fine. “ What can you do to improve campus security?”
you look on campus. If the maintenance crew The citation issued for on- - Rebecca Hebron, junior, finance
For such a beautiful did not have to spend an campus littering comes with
campus, Wesleyan is very hour a day picking up lit- a minimal fine compared to
ugly. There’s litter all over ter, they’d have more time some off-campus fines for
the campus—some blown to fix other things all over littering, which can reach “ When are we going to get new dorms?”
in from the surrounding campus. up to $500 in Texas. - Krzysztof Szpringiel,
neighborhood. One of the most unsightly According to dontmess- sophomore, political science
Some of it got blown out spots, that I’ve seen, is the withtexas.org, approxi-
by high winds or pulled out designated smoking area by mately 827 million pieces of
by wild animals, and some the Armstrong Mabee Busi- litter accumulate on Texas “ How important is the history of this university?”
of it is there because stu- ness Building. Even though roadways each year. - Stephanie Darbo,
dents are not putting their I am a smoker, I always Think about that number. senior, political science
trash in its proper recep- drop my cigarette butt into Litter harms not only the
tacle. the cigarette receptacle. planet but also the wild and
The maintenance depart- So, why is the receptacle not-so-wild animals that “ When can we renovate Stella Russell hall?”
ment spends the first hour surrounded by cigarette roam this campus. - Garrett White,
of each day driving around butts? Is it really so diffi- Please don’t throw your freshman, exercise science
picking up litter. The cam- cult to walk two feet, lean trash on the ground. Find a
pus is divided into 13 quad- over and drop the cigarette trash can. If you see trash,
rants and, according to the where it belongs? pick it up. It doesn’t mat-
maintenance office, each Here’s a gross tidbit, ac- ter whether it’s your trash “ When are we going to get elevators in The Village?”
maintenance worker, picks cording to dontmesswith- or not. Have some pride in - Daniel Reiser,
up an estimated eight gal- texas.org.: it can take a ciga- your school. Keep it beauti- junior, political science
lons of trash each morning. rette butt up to 20 years to ful for everyone.

The Rambler
Shauna Banks, editor-in-chief
Barry Grubbs, opinion editor
Eliana Mijangos, sports editor
Meisa Keivani Najafabadi, photo editor
Stephanie Mejia arts & entertainment editor
Jonathan Resendez, multimedia editor
Erica Estrada, graphic designer/cartoonist
Wendy Moore, faculty adviser
Dr. Kay Colley, faculty liaison
Member of the Texas Inter-
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