University students who are tired of losing money from bookstores' profitable policy of buying and selling books at what seems to be unreasonable prices, have another option to turn to --the book co-op.

Students can both save and make money through the Undergraduate Student Government and the Association of Residence Hall Students book co-op this week from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the HUB Fishbowl.

"I just bought one (book) and it was $10 cheaper (than the bookstore)," said Masha Vigdorchik (sophomore-computer science). It was her first time at the book co-op and she was taking full advantage of its options, buying as well as selling.

But Connie Dang (senior-premedicine) was not as lucky.

"It's the first day of classes and since the books I want aren't here, then I'm not going to keep coming back -- I'll just go to the bookstore," she said.

The co-op, which will collect and sell books until Thursday, has some negative and positive aspects.

In the past, the program has not been as successful. The big difference this year is the collection table in East Halls, where many students have participated by giving books. As of yesterday morning 250 books have been collected, compared to last year's total of 750.

Daryl Nelson (senior-finance), who was browsing through the tables yesterday, said he will probably sell his books to the co-op as he did last year. He said selection would be even better if more students used the program.

The co-op is a process benefiting University students, said Mark Sosnowsky, a town senator who has been helping with the program. Book owners can sell their used texts to the co-op, and others can buy them for a cheaper price than the bookstores offer.

"This is a way to give students money within the student body," he said.

When bookstores buy used books from students, they give them 50 percent of the original price and sell the books back for 75 percent of the new price, agreed Sosnowsky and Tom Fankhauser, manager of the text department at the Penn State Bookstore on Campus.

For example, if a book was sold to a student for $10, it will be bought from the student at the end of the semester for $5. The bookstore will then resell the book for $7.50.

Fankhauser said this is the standard across the country and in the downtown stores. He added he is not worried about the competition if the co-op becomes more popular.

"It (competition) makes us work harder. We work head to head with the stores in town, " Fankhauser said.

The campus bookstore provided course text lists free to program organizers. Giving books to the co-op is not a guarantee they will sell. Those books that are not sold are given back to students or to the bookstore. The bookstore can then send them to other stores across the country.

USG and ARHS use $1 from each sale to cover the cost of advertising and the room in the HUB, but it is non-profit.

"It's what students make of it, they have to come down and it's a great service," Sosnowsky said.