USS: An

Russ Stewart has been the : ager of the UPEI Book- re for eight years. He . also an active and .~ cerned citizen, being a . o- of Charlottetown ty Council. In the

. terv. .

th

, much was learned about

e operations of the

kstore and of Mr.

wart's opinions on

Vic matters. This inter—

ewer found Mr. Stewart

be very open and sincere his opinions, unlike

:1 y politicians who often only a minimum, so no

9 can find fault with

ir~ statements. Mr.

wart, on the other hand, ould rather be criticized

r his Statements, than

ntinually say 'no ccment' d I commend him for his

o- ess.

Russell Stewart was born d raised in New Glasgow,

.8. After high school he

rked with the Woolworth

mpany for 15 years, ughout the Maritimes.

fter having spent some

ixre in Charlottetown and

ummerside with the Wool—

nrth stores, Russ moved

ck to P.E.I. in 1969. He

rated his own business ' (harlottetown for a

uple of years before

G ' 9 over as manager of

e UPEI Bookstore.

Many stuchnts wonder what

uses large increases in .00 prices each

- a new shipment comes

, how much of a mark-up

‘ made at the Bookstore,

(1 who receives profits

‘0: the Bodcstore. Mr.

" art was very willing to

“ up these matters.

t‘ bookstore is owned and

rated by the University

d any profits made go

flectly into the

versity account. However,

. Stewart revealed, that

the average, the Book—

re operates at a loss.

' profit is made on text-

ks; rather, the money-

" ' g articles are the

ssories:

_.‘ (i «3‘; a. ' -«

eople Profile: By _ Active Member

cigarettes, confectionary, magazines, etc., which ‘ account for 50% of sales. There is an average 25% mark—up from the price paid to the company to the price which the Book— store duarges students for textbooks. However. this is only enough to cover shipping charges of both books being sent to the Bookstore and of unsold books being sent back to the publisher. For example, $5,000 worth of books were sent back last week alone. mus, mark—ups on text cooks only cover the expenses. Mr. Stewart agreed that prices of textbooks are increasing by leaps and bounds. For example, one textbook which, in the spring of 1978 cost $19.95, increased to $24.75 in June and was approximately $28.00 this fall. Mr. Stewart explained the main reason for the increases was the low value of the Canadian dollar. With approximately 75—80% of the textbooks coming from the U.S., the increasing exchange rate for the dollar, plus shipping-charges,- . plus charges wliidl-mustz-be paid to Customs all combine to raise the price of our text books. I asked if there weren't more Canadian publishers which could supply some of the text— books, to help reduce costs. But Mr. Stewart said, regretfully, that there ' aren't. Even McGraw—Hill Canada buys many books from their head office in New York. Mr. Stewart's cpinim is that the market in Canada for publishers isn't as big as that of our southern

neighbour and that perhaps,

"Canadian publishers aren't as aggressive". the Maritimes there are only a few small publishers. Mr. Stewart does some business with

a cotpany in Halifax. He also distributes/many things for the Island company, Square Deal Publishing, owned by Resth 6001. Mr. Stewart feels we've already hit

In

hardest part of the

price increases, but that

we can probably expect another 20% increase next fall. We can take some consolation from the fact that Mr. Stewart tells us

if the Bookstore wasn't owned by the University, . but was a private enterprise, prices would be 10—20% ‘

higher. '

Besides being a. business— man, Mr. Stewart is active in civic life. He is one of Charlottetown's 10 aldermen on City Council. His 3-year term began in January, 1978. In the little more than a year that Mr. Stewart has been on Council, he feels that he hasn't accomplished as much as he would have liked. He says it requires a lot of patience to put up with hindrances to get something. I asked him if recent controversy over cutting down trees to widen University Avenue, of whid'1 he is in favour, is an example of that.

He replied that he could understand conservationists' viewpoint, but that widening of University Avenue is a necessity to keep the downtown area alive, by bringing

traffic in. He feels this is one of the most major needs» for Charlottetown today - improvements to University Avenue. He

feels this is more important than the planned construct— ion of a bypass which, in his opinion, would not be used that much.- Also, it has been suggested that a mall would be built on the new bypass, and Mr.Stewart feels the Charlottetown area doesn't need more malls. A major department store, such as Simpsons, The Bay, or Eaton's, would be more of an asset for Charlottetown, he says. They would perhaps keep more money

in Charlottetown, by encouraging citizens to shop here, rather than going to Moncton and Halifax for the these same stores. He says some people may criticize . these national chains, but they do create money and provide jobs.

Mr. Stewart feels the move of the D.V.A. to Charlottetown will be a definite benefit, in that . it will add $15,000,000 to our economy and provide jobs. When asked if

Charlottetown can accommodate

the influx of people , that accompanies this move,

Mr. Stewart said the only problem could be traffic, but the new Parking Garage will be a help, and he feels a second bridge, parallel

to the present one across the Hillsborough River

would be a big help. This is now in the planning stages.

Mr. Stewart enjoys being involved in public work. Before being cn City

of (ammunity

life

Council he was on the Unit

3 School Board. In Council he' s on the Charlottetown Regional Planning Board, alcng with officials from thirteen municipalities

in the Charlottetown area. He's also on such committees as Recreation, Public Works, and the Tree Committee.

Mr. Stewart finds that

work associated with his position only takes up 4—5 hours per week, less than he had expected. At this point, he says he wouldn't run again for Aldermen when his term expires, but he says that feeling may diange.

()1 the subject of the future of UPEI, Mr. Stewart said he likes its smallness, as it is now, but would like to see perhaps 200 more students coming here. He feels the possible incorpor— ation of a Veterinary School with the University would be a great asset both to UPEI and. Islanders in general, since agriculture is our number one industry.

The Bookstore, besides being owned by the University,‘ thereby reducing prices of textbooks, also provides part-time jobs for five

UPEI students .

'Ihey work an average of 8—10 hours per week and can arrange their sdqedule around their

classes. When asked if he

found any differences between operating a busineSs in the usual down— ' town business sector and being manager of a business on campus, Mr. Stewart said he found the Bookstore much more enjoyable; the students he meets being the main reason for this. He likes 'to watch someone who may cote towork forhimas a Freshman grow and. develop during their years at UPEI.

Mr. Stewart is a good

example of growing relation- ships beoween UPEI and the community, which are so important for the Univer- sity's growth.