Pass: Library extends hours for finals week

The extended hours at Founders Memorial Library will provide students with more than enough time to prepare for finals.

From Saturday to Dec. 13, the library will be open 9 to 2 a.m. for the upcoming weekend and 7 to 2 a.m. Monday through Thursday.

Arguably, finals week is the most stressful time of the semester for students. Compared to a selection of sources of stress, such as financial worries, family or relationships, about 77 percent of college students said the source of their stress came from school work, according to a 2009 poll by The Associated Press. Being stressed out over finals can have a huge effect on students in terms of passing the class or being physically unwell.

Some students become so stressed they have nosebleeds or “turn to unhealthy manners of alleviating stress such as smoking, doing drugs and drinking excessively,” according to a April 24, 2012, The Exponent article. Having a place to prepare for exams and prepare for the stress provides comfort for students, especially for those who have noisy roommates, commuting students who need extra time on campus or those who are simply unable to focus in their private living space.

Students could use the library’s extra hours for meeting and discussing their coursework in groups. Studying in quiet areas, as well as joining study groups, was strongly encouraged to improve the chance of earning higher grades in final examinations in a Dec. 2, 2013, news release by Florida International University. If students use their resources effectively they can survive finals week.

Fail: Book buybacks don’t give fair returns

Textbook buyback seasons are rip-off seasons for students because of the ridiculous prices some get back.

Most of the time, these campus bookstores pay students only a fraction of what they originally paid for their books.

There’s also the possibility of not getting any money back if the bookstore doesn’t want books, which happens if there’s a new edition, the store’s stocked quota of books needed for the next semester has been filled or the book won’t be used for future classes.

Campus textbook buyback events are horrible for students — especially for people, like me, who are counting on the money they get from those sales for future textbooks. Some students will take the bookstores’ offers, but students have other options to make more money back.

Students can find better prices and see how much they can get from them after checking sites like BookFinder.com, BuyBackTextbooks.com or Amazon.com.

Students can start selling their books to friends or acquaintances now, or, if they’re patient enough, they can hang onto their books until they can find someone to sell them to for next semester — granted, that only works if the professor is using the same edition for his or her class. All students have to do is ask their professors and see if they plan on using them again for the following semesters.

With a little planning, students can save themselves so much money with their textbooks instead of returning them quickly for nearly nothing.