If community college were a person, its middle name would be flexibility. Flexibility with undecided majors, age groups, work schedules, people who have children and just flexible education options as a whole.

Why is it then that the biggest pocket-emptier on campus, the student bookstore, has one of the most rigid policies in regard to students on this campus?

The policy states that if you unwrap or open a new book it can’t be returned as new. This means that even if you walk out of the bookstore, unwrap the book, find out you got the wrong one and walk back in the next second, the value of said book has diminished significantly.

Here is the current LMC policy on book refunds and exchanges:

“All exchanges & refunds must be accompanied by an original, current semester receipt. Deadlines are printed on the receipt. Textbooks must be in original condition.”

Procedure is important — it makes sense. There are ways things should and shouldn’t be done in order for things to go smoothly. However, when dealing with the thing the average community college student needs the most flexibility with —their money, or lack thereof — we would think that the bookstore could be considerably more understanding.

Don’t get us wrong; we get it, kind of. In all fairness, the bookstore lets everyone know about this policy when the book is being purchased; we just don’t agree that the punishment fits the crime. Say you have a professor who ends up telling you that you don’t need the book at all, that it’s just a formality to get the course approved and squared away. Or say you decide to drop the class you bought the book for.

Which brings us to another ‘Dolores Umbridge-esque’ policy that should go away: the fact that the deadline for refunds and exchanges is Feb. 1, yet the deadline to drop classes for this semester and still receive a refund is the fourth and the deadline to drop classes without a “W: on the transcript is the seventh. Why doesn’t the bookstore make it easier for students and match up the deadline to return books with the deadline to drop classes?

We understand that the bookstore is a business, a business we actually love — for the most part, those lines are frightening. And how can you not love reasonably priced snacks and drinks? But this policy has to change.

What reason could the bookstore possibly have for these rigid policies? It takes just a couple small steps and date changes to ease a huge financial burden for students.

We call for more flexibility from the bookstore with the two things students arguably need the most, books and money.