Calculators will be cheaper next year

By John McDonald

Engineering students can count on buying their Schulich-sanctioned calculators from the bookstore next year. The calculators–to be used in all ENGG quizzes, midterms and final exams–will be sold through the bookstore, rather than the faculty of engineering.

“It’s great that the calculators could be cheaper next year, considering they are currently selling them above the suggested retail price,” said second-year engineering student Luke Prudence.

The faculty of engineering is working with the university bookstore to sell Schulich-sanctioned calculators next year.

“We’ve worked with the faculty of engineering before, currently we sell first-year drafting design kits that cost less than buying components individually,” said University of Calgary Bookstore manager Brent Beatty.

Although Beatty noted they have yet to discuss the cost of the calculators with the vendors that will sell them.

“We are not in the business of selling calculators, we want [someone else] to sell them outside the faculty,” said SSE director of students Dr. Lynne Cowe Falls.

The faculty has sold the calculators for $15 at the Engineering Student Society offices.

“The faculty sold calculators this year for the sake of convenience, we needed to have calculators with the Schulich logo and our supplier was able to get them to us within two weeks,” she said. “We needed to make sure all 1,500 students would be able to get one.”

The cost associated with the calculators is predicted to be less than what the faculty currently sells them as a result of a move to the bookstore.

“Hopefully we will be able to bundle the calculators with Classroom Performance System clickers which first-year students need to purchase anyways,” she noted.