El Vaquero

Issue date: 4/13/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Richard Kontas Ben Smith informs students and faculty about the rising costs of textbooks.

Representatives from California Public Interest Group (CALPIRG) gave Glendale students a presentation on April 6, about the high costs of college textbooks and suggested how to bring the costs down.

CALPIRG is an organization that focuses on issues dealing with higher education, the environment and other social issues. In California there are eight UC chapters and a USC chapter as well as chapters at in the community college level.

The representatives, Campus Organization Director Ben Smith and Pierce College student Abraham White, presented CALPIRG's research on why textbook prices are so high. According to the studies, book costs are high due to the publishing company releasing new editions of the books to prevent a large market in used book sales, which are more economical for college students.

"I've never heard a student say 'oh, that was a cheap book,'" said Hoover Zariani, Director of the Service Learning Center. Zariani said that if GCC becomes involved with CALPIRG, it will help with the cost of books.

According to Smith, publishing companies say that CALPIRGS's studies are biased and college faculty are really at fault. However, the Government Accountability Office conducted its own research and found that the publishers were setting textbook costs unreasonably high.

Publishers have the ability to release new editions of textbooks as often as they want on a subject that may have not made a significant change in a hundred years such as calculus. However for classes such as computer diagnostics and science, which are constantly changing, CALPIRG suggests manuals to be published instead of textbooks.

"Shakespeare hasn't changed," said White in regards to the publishers and the release of new editions.

Professors from various colleges have reported to CALPIRG that mistakes found in older editions, which were pointed out to publishers, were never corrected in the new editions. New editions also lack noticeable changes. In many new editions the only change made is an added sentence or chapter.

"They come out with new editions to destroy the used book market," said Mike Allen, President of the Faculty Guild. "The bookstore is run by the student government; they should find ways to save money for the students."

Continued...

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