Students fight book costs

Marisa O’Neil

A student group, backed by 500 college professors, announced

Wednesday that it is putting further pressure on textbook publishers

to lower costs or make cheaper alternatives available.

At a UC Irvine news conference, members of the California Student

Public Interest Research Group said that the average student pays

about $900 for textbooks each year. They accused one textbook

publisher of driving prices up and releasing newer, costlier editions

more frequently than necessary.

“It’s time for them to get their head out of the sand and admit

there is a problem and engage in an open dialogue with students and

faculty,” said Jared Wigginton, of the UCI student group.

Students at the news conference singled out Thompson Learning

Inc., which publishes a calculus textbook that costs $122 on their

website. The student group has sent the publisher letters, including

one signed by 500 faculty members from 100 colleges, urging them to

take student costs into account.

“People who are poor and having a hard time making expenses don’t

need to spend that much on textbooks,” UCI math professor Howard

Tucker said at the news conference.

The group also called into question the company’s practice of

pricing books differently in other markets. In Canada, they said, the

same calculus textbook costs the equivalent of $96 and just $59 in

the United Kingdom.

That’s because students in those countries would never stand for

the high price American students accept as something they feel is an

unavoidable part of college life, Tucker said. If students here made

faculty members aware of the high textbook costs, he said, professors

could choose other methods.

For his math classes, Tucker has created source materials on his

website. Students don’t have to buy any textbooks.

The group’s other main concern is that the publisher is releasing

newer editions before new material justifies major revisions. Jamal

Siddiqi, a UCI math major, said he used the fourth edition of the

calculus book and saw few changes in the new fifth edition, despite a

roughly $40 price difference.

“Is it really fair for students to pay extra for a few extra math

problems?” Wigginton said.

Wednesday’s announcement followed a study about textbook costs the

California Student Public Interest Research Group released in

January. A month later, Thompson Higher Education announced that it

was releasing a series of lower-cost textbooks.

A spokeswoman denied at the time that that the line was a result

of the study. But UCI students feel like their voices and letters are

being heard.

“At least we’re on their radar,” said 22-year-old sociology major

Jamie Dow.