Echo Times

Issue date: 12/9/09 Section: Op/Ed

Media Credit: Miles Ranno What steps have you had to take to afford textbooks at College of Marin?

Wouldn't you be disgusted if you knew the average college student will spend around $900 on textbooks this year?

According to www.maketextbooksaffordable.com, a Web site that gathers information from universities on the cost of textbooks, since 1992 textbook prices have risen at four times the rate of inflation. How can we afford the price of academic success when faced with these exuberant prices on textbooks?
The average community college student in California carries approximately 12 units per semester. Each unit costs $26, adding up to roughly $600 to $800 annually. This would mean that an average student is paying more for textbooks than their tuition.

Sickening news!

Why are textbooks so ridiculously expensive? According to the Make Text Books Affordable website the number of textbook distributors has been slashed within the last decade, leaving a lack of competition, which naturally keeps costs competitive. Students have no actual say over the textbooks they are required to purchase for each class. In some subjects the content has not changed in years, however publishers will still print new editions. When the professors adopt the new edition, the students are then forced to purchase the latest textbook. This practice has sabotaged the used book industry, as new editions are printed every two years according the Web site.

Public Interest Research Group or PIRG, a nonprofit organization, is rallying students across the nation to assist in making textbooks affordable and easily accessible. PIRG is currently supporting legislation which, once passed, would require publishers to compete against each other to ensure lower cost for textbooks.

At College of Marin we have a hard-working student who is also the activities director for the Associated Students of College of Marin, Greg Franklin. He has been pushing to bring a chapter of PIRG to the college. And after a long and tedious process, he raised the funds to bring a PIRG representative to our campus on Dec. 3 to educate the students on what can be done to improve the cost of textbooks.

Franklin is striving to get everyone on board with the affordable textbook project. However, large corporations, (like Barnes and Noble, Inc., which runs the bookstore at COM), keep a close eye on profit margins. He still is looking at every angle to get their support. "This is not an overnight ordeal," he stated.

What can I do?

Students acting together can take the power away from the publishers. If the students unify and look at the larger picture, an affordable textbook program may be implemented at COM. "Look outside of ourselves and ask not what PIRG can do for me," said Franklin. "It's not what they are going to do for me but the next group of people coming in."

In the interim, the student body should implement a textbook rental program and voice concerns to the professors. Also check out an affordable alternative publisher, Flat World Knowledge, at www.flatworldknowledge.com online.
Get involved or be disgusted.

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