Discuss “Campus stores annually lose money to theft”

Bookstore officials do not raise textbook prices just to inflate their pocketbooks. Last fiscal year, the University Shoppe, campus art store, and Entropy lost over $150,000 in stolen textbooks, souvenirs, and other merchandise. Store officials said that while lamentable, this figure remains relatively constant from year to year.

“It’s a fairly consistent number,” said Patricia Clifford, director of Campus Services, “but it doesn’t do the campus any good.”

The three facilities sold roughly $5.6 million in goods last year. Typically, the amount of stolen products, or shortage, makes up about two percent of this figure. This number does not deviate from the amount a typical retail store loses to stealing in a fiscal year.

The National...