Printing Money?

Wharton Reprographics officials insist they could could handle all the University's bulkpacks. So why do so many professors perfer the more expensive Campus Copy Center? No matter how many times University students have made the semi-annual pilgrimage to Campus Copy Center, it is always an exercise in financial shock as they must once again come to grips with high "bulkpack" prices. But the University runs a lesser-known alternative to Campus Copy -- the non-profit Wharton Reprographics, which takes orders from anyone with a PennCard. Professors give Wharton Reprographics mixed reviews -- some see it as a money-saver, others as an unfriendly and unreliable bureaucracy. "Frankly, I have never heard of Wharton Reprographics," Political Science instructor Scott Silverstone said. "Campus Copy provides efficient and friendly service." But price differences between the two can be substantial. The Daily Pennsylvanian asked Reprographics Assistant Manager Leroy Heartsfield to estimate a Reprographics' price for four randomly chosen Campus Copy bulkpacks -- without knowing the Campus Copy price. Heartsfield said the bulkpack for Political Science 114 -- "Germany After 1945" -- would sell for $32.12. Campus Copy sells the bulkpack for $65. The readings for Political Science 150 -- "International Relations in Theory and Practice" -- would sell for $32.26 at Reprographics. It sells for $60 at Campus Copy. The History 343 bulkpack -- "European Intellectual History, 1780-1870" -- would sell for $16.48 at Reprographics. Campus Copy offers it for $26.73. And the History 211 readings -- "Political Disillusionment" -- would sell for $8.94 at Reprographics. It is $10 at Campus Copy. Heartsfield's estimate excludes the price of Campus Copy's paperboard bulkpack covers. It does, however, include the price of Campus Copy's "spiderbinding," which costs $2 more than Reprographics usual packaging -- shrink-wrap, with holes punched for a three-ring binder. Campus Copy refused to grant the DP an interview or a price list for this article, and it would only give individual bulkpack prices in person. After being approached by the DP, Campus Copy owner Stanley Shapiro said, "I give an interview to [the DP] every year. I've been completely open, and I'm just tired of it." According to DP archives, Shapiro spoke to the DP once in 1995, on a different topic. Why the price difference? Reprographics spokesperson Gerard McCartney attributes it to the efficiency that comes with his firm's large size. "We're the biggest reprographics facility in Delaware Valley," he said. "We just have huge economies of scale." Approximately half of Reprographics' volume is bulkpacks. The rest consists of newsletters such as the Almanac, business cards and reports for clients ranging from student groups, faculty and administrators. Another difference between the prices is taxes. Because it is affiliated with Penn, Reprographics is able to get around charging its customers the 7 percent tax that Campus Copy must charge. In fact, the Campus Copy bulkpack is the only "education-related" product in University City that is taxed. The Penn Book Center and House of Our Own books, for example, are allowed by state law to sell course books without charging tax. Additionally, as a University-owned non-profit outfit, Reprographics does not have to pay copyright fees like Campus Copy. As long as it stays within the bounds of what the law calls "fair use" -- copying, for example, no more than a few chapters from a book -- Reprographics can copy at will. The one exception is business school casebooks, which are written explicitly for business classes and for which Reprographics pays yearly and per-item royalties. The last reason for the price difference is the simplest. Because it is non-profit, Reprographics is able to sell its bulkpacks at cost. All this saves money, but Reprographics' non-profit status, large size and affiliation with the University also gives it a bureaucratic image. "I have very limited experience with Wharton Reprographics," said Folklore and Folklife Chairperson Margaret Mills. The last two or three times she used Reprographics -- a "long time ago," she said -- it botched her order. She said she is pleased with Campus Copy's service and has no incentive to switch back. Her colleague Regina Bendix thinks differently. "The Wharton packs are cheaper, and given how much students pay already in books, and how much their parents or they themselves pay in tuition, room and board, price is a major issue," she said. Although Bendix said she often puts her class material on reserve in Van Pelt Library, when distributing bulkpacks she uses Wharton Reprographics because it's cheaper for her students than Campus Copy Center. "That is what students have told me when I started teaching here, and it was a student who recommended that I inquire with Wharton," she said. But according to Mills, Campus Copy will match Reprographics' price -- if you ask. "Campus Copy doesn't advertise this, but if you want 'Wharton rates' you'll get them," she said. Even without this knowledge, many departments -- especially in the humanities and social sciences -- clearly prefer Campus Copy. "Our whole department uses Campus Copy, just about," said a History Department staff member who requested anonymity. "Their service is better." She explained that Reprographics forces instructors to make the original photocopies of bulkpack material, while Campus Copy is willing to make the first photocopies directly from an instructor's books. Heartsfield said Reprographics will go out of its way for a customer on occasion, but it depends on timing. During peak periods, he said, "[Reprographics] may tell [professors] that it won't be ready when they want unless they help us out a little bit." Indeed, many professors who use Campus Copy praised its convenience. Others said they use it out of habit. History Department Chairperson Linda Lees uses Campus Copy "in part because I pass it on my way home. I've never had anything to do with Wharton Reprographics," she said. She admitted that "since I don't have anything to do with Wharton Reprographics, I don't know their prices." History Professor Thomas Childers feels the same. "I've used Campus Copy for years and years," he said. "They're very accommodating." And although Childers said he didn't know the price of the bulkpack for his History 430 course, he admitted that "it's expensive." Veronica Kent, the Anthropology Department's business administrator, agrees that Campus Copy is "much more reliable," noting that while the department prints its exams at Reprographics, it doesn't trust it for bulkpacks. But another member of her department -- Anthropology Professor Sandra Barnes -- disagrees. When asked why she uses Reprographics, she immediately responded: "price." She explained that she switched from Campus Copy at her students' request "The students have said, 'Please, it's cheaper.' I think they have a right to that," she said. And although she has had minor problems with Reprographics, Barnes said they were "nothing that's killing." But awareness of the price difference varies between professors. "I have a very good relationship" with Campus Copy, said Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Professor Roger Allen. "I've never felt the need to go anywhere else." He said he didn't know if there was a price difference. "I haven't actively done a comparison check." History instructor Denise Davidson, who did her graduate work at the University a few years ago and uses Reprographics, is acutely aware of bulkpack prices. "The last time I had to buy a bulkpack from the Campus Copy Center, it was $120," she said. "I thought that was absolutely outrageous." Reprographics is a bit less customer friendly --"they seemed slightly annoyed with some changes I wanted to make [to a bulkpack]," she said -- but well worth the cheaper price. And Political Science Professor Jack Nagel said he was "not looking for a change because Campus Copy has ideal service from my point of view." "The price is not something we look at so closely," he said. So is Reprographics pushing its price advantage over Campus Copy? No, according to Reprographics' McCartney. "We're not that commercial," he explained. Although Reprographics never turns away business, he said "it's not our goal to drive other people out of business, frankly. We're not looking to zap Campus Copy."

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