Spring Break
The Daily OrangeGroup to fight rising book costs
By Mackenzie Reiss
Posted: 1/27/08, 11:26 PM EST Section: News
At a table outside of Schine Student Center, the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), surveyed 80 students on the cost for their textbooks this semester, some with totals up to $700. Of those students, 35 agreed to pose for a photograph holding a whiteboard with their total monetary loss.
One sign read, "I spent… $362.96 on textbooks. *Note. Last dollar I have."
NYPIRG will send these photographs to Jim Walsh, a New York congressman, in an appeal for his support for the College Opportunity and Affordability Act (HR 4137), said Tom Hackman, a senior economics and political science major, who works for NYPIRG.
If passed, the bill would allow students to purchase individual items normally packaged with other material, which would reduce the textbook cost. In addition, textbook publishers would be required to reveal pricing information to professors before they place their orders and note any changes made between editions.
"We understand that these books are specialized in some cases, and we understand that publishers and authors all have to make a living, but doing it in unfair ways that don't exist in other book markets is kind of crazy," Hackman said.
Should his estimates be correct, the bill will be passed into law by the end of this year.
"NYPIRG is going to make sure [the bill] has a better shot by doing call-in days to local congressmen," he said.
Until Congress reaches a verdict, students should consider taking their business off campus and onto the Web, Hackman said.
"I paid about $530 for textbooks this semester," said Lynnette Agostini, a senior environmental studies major.
Agostini is not the only one emptying her wallet in the name of education.
Nationwide, textbook prices have risen at more than twice the rate of inflation since 1987-1988, according to a United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) report from 2005.
With a constant increase of new editions, often with few changes, the average shelf-life of text editions is just three and a half years.
One sign read, "I spent… $362.96 on textbooks. *Note. Last dollar I have."
NYPIRG will send these photographs to Jim Walsh, a New York congressman, in an appeal for his support for the College Opportunity and Affordability Act (HR 4137), said Tom Hackman, a senior economics and political science major, who works for NYPIRG.
If passed, the bill would allow students to purchase individual items normally packaged with other material, which would reduce the textbook cost. In addition, textbook publishers would be required to reveal pricing information to professors before they place their orders and note any changes made between editions.
"We understand that these books are specialized in some cases, and we understand that publishers and authors all have to make a living, but doing it in unfair ways that don't exist in other book markets is kind of crazy," Hackman said.
Should his estimates be correct, the bill will be passed into law by the end of this year.
"NYPIRG is going to make sure [the bill] has a better shot by doing call-in days to local congressmen," he said.
Until Congress reaches a verdict, students should consider taking their business off campus and onto the Web, Hackman said.
"I paid about $530 for textbooks this semester," said Lynnette Agostini, a senior environmental studies major.
Agostini is not the only one emptying her wallet in the name of education.
Nationwide, textbook prices have risen at more than twice the rate of inflation since 1987-1988, according to a United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) report from 2005.
With a constant increase of new editions, often with few changes, the average shelf-life of text editions is just three and a half years.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
j mellett
posted 1/28/08 @ 4:26 PM EST
Why not buy access to your books online?
www.coursesmart.com sells access to most required textbooks.
You get exactly what you want immediately--no old edition, no international edition, no beat up, marked up books. (Continued…)
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