Mad over prices, students refuse to buy book
Globe and Mail
By ROY MACGREGOR
Monday, September 17, 2007 – Page A2
PETERBOROUGH, ON -- The sign, at first surprising, is soon understandable.
"Know the Daily Limit on Your Debit or Credit Card Before you come to the Cash."
The printed sign stands before the checkout at the Trent University bookstore, a typical
postsecondary outlet in that it is so busy at this time of year that an employee has to stand at the
doors and serve as fire marshal.
As one student leaves, one from the long line that snakes far down the corridor is allowed to
enter.
They groan, coming and going.
"Here goes another 125 bucks," a young woman says as she checks her backpack at the entrance.
"Jesus!" a young man says as he flips over a "used" book on organic chemistry: $113.50.
Textbooks, it must be said, have become the student equivalent of what gas prices are to
commuters, what prescriptions are to the ill who lack benefits.
There is a sense of conspiracy that cannot be proved, a sense of helplessness that cannot be
helped...
the price of textbooks can be the most infuriating shock to those paying the shot. To those who
cannot afford to pay the shot, it is much worse.
The reason so many of the stacked books are tagged "used" and seem in such good shape is that
many of them have hardly been opened - and often barely referred to by teachers and professors
who stamp "REQUIRED" over the stacks of texts that overflow even the floor space of small
bookstores like this at the start of each semester.
It is a serious issue - and not just Canadian.
According to a U.S. Government Accountability Office survey, textbook prices almost tripled
between 1986 and 2004.
Textbook rage has reached a point where the prices have become of interest to Congress. More
than half of the students involved in one national U.S. study say they have decided to go text-free
and damn the consequences. Often, there are none, as the "REQUIRED" book at times ends up not
required at all.
The theories about price hikes vary from reasonable increases in costs to far wilder notions that
include greedy publishers firing out new editions each year and instructors ensuring their own and
colleagues' books sell to those who are entirely at their mercy. But no matter the real reasons, the
very real result is to add a layer of mushrooming cost to those already having trouble making
tuition...
Full article: http://tinyurl.com/2frmyr
-------------------
Problems/Questions? Send it to Listserv owner: [log in to unmask]
To unsubscribe, send the following message in the text section -- NOT the subject header -- to [log in to unmask]
SIGNOFF SDOH
DO NOT SEND IT BY HITTING THE REPLY BUTTON. THIS SENDS THE MESSAGE TO THE ENTIRE LISTSERV AND STILL DOES NOT REMOVE YOU.
To subscribe to the SDOH list, send the following message to [log in to unmask] in the text section, NOT in the subject header.
SUBSCRIBE SDOH yourfirstname yourlastname
To post a message to all 1200+ subscribers, send it to [log in to unmask]
Include in the Subject, its content, and location and date, if relevant.
For a list of SDOH members, send a request to [log in to unmask]
To receive messages only once a day, send the following message to [log in to unmask]
SET SDOH DIGEST
To view the SDOH archives, go to: https://listserv.yorku.ca/archives/sdoh.html
|