November 22, 2009
Comments by CraigS
Page 1 of 1
We will have to agree to disagree. In your hypothitical circumstance where the bookstores actually lose money, the bookstores contribute very minimally to the operating budget to the university, the services offered by the auxillary services may (and I emphasize may) have to be reduced, but in the grand scheme of the UM System budget of $2.5 BILLION dollars per year, this amount is very, very small. It's been a good discussion, but I felt that the opposite views should be represented and that's why I commented. Gotta raise some ruckus up around these parts! :)
On Student article criticizes textbook legislation
I'm not saying that that they should profit a bit from their textbooks at all. As I just said above, I have had the luxury of sitting in two classes where we did use the professor's book. Both were great experiences as well, and I have recommended and had friends take both professor's classes. I would take both classes, as well, again in a heartbeat.
There is no proof of your statement that the bookstores that are owned and operated by the University will have 'bad profits' or the University will "raise tuition" because of it. It is just a tiny bit longer of a process than that. The university isn't that irresponsible or irrational as you imply.
I have had plenty of economics classes in my time, with published profess
On Student article criticizes textbook legislation
In my three years of taking college classes, I have only had two classes in which we used their book. Both were small, supplemental books though, and one was a best seller in the mid-1990s on Walt Disney.
This is probably one of the most common mistaken beliefs, I think, in the world of academia. I agree that in technology/medical/science arenas, they do need the most current information. But when a professor can provide that additional material from a free source and choose an older book? Or why can't the publisher put out a small supplemental booklet with the updates so the professor can continue to chose the older edition (and purchase it from online, cheap sources) and allow students to purchase the new, updated information in a booklet or small book at a reduced cost.
These are the conversations that they should be having, to help transform the textbook world, and before these bills, they were not happening.
California, Washington and Oregon have passed similar laws as HB2048 here in MO. None of these have reported a rise in textbook costs because of the Transparency Acts passed.
On Student article criticizes textbook legislation
I also beleive that market forces are the true way to finding the cheapest form of finding textbooks, but I also believe that when the professors aren't getting useful information such as: copyrights of the same textbook, variations between the most recent editions and the second most recent, and even the price, this is a problem to the "market force" and ensuring the professors these rights, when asked, is the best way to help solve this problem.
I don't believe this will directly "lower textbook costs" for students. The books I purchase for my classes this summer and the fall will not be lower because of this bill. This is a first step into opening transparency into the system from the publishing standpoint. It's pretty common knowledge that a bookstore adds approximately 25% to the wholesale cost of a book to create the retail price. Some bookstores, such as the MU Bookstore, are owned by the University and all profits go back to the students via student auxillary services on campus. Also, the "mom and pop" bookstores are disappearing around the country, because there really is no money involved in the bookstore process anymore.
Used books and purchasing books via other sources are important for students, but when professors are picking the newest editions when there is just "wordsmithing" going on between the editions, the professors need to know the content differences. This is what the bill does. It's transparency from the publishers to the professors and students.
Professors should NOT choose a book just based on price, but if the older edition is nearly identical to the newest edition, then the professor should have the RIGHT to know the content differences. If these differences are nearly nonexistent or they can provide the new content from a free source, the professor should have the ability to make a decision of a book based on price and content. Right now, they just are given one option: new edition at a higher cost. Now, when they ask, they will be given an abundance of information and the publishers admit that this will NOT add a cost burden to their productions.
The Association of American Publishers (AAP) testified in favor of this bill, as well as other publishing companies, saying that this final bill will not raise the book costs, but yet accomplishes the desired effect of providing transparency. These "burdens" that Mr. Grana says the publishing companies will encounter are false, even by the publishing companies themselves.
Also, the bill had 40 cosponsors, including the Majority and Minority leaders in the Missouri House. Of both votes on the House Floor, the votes were unanimous, with no dissenting votes. The Senate had 1 "no" vote. It was overwhelming the the Missouri General Assembly approved this bill, and believed it would provide the needed transparency between the publishers, professors, and students.
On Student article criticizes textbook legislation
Interesting article, I will note however that it is from 2003 and I'd be interested in comparing the current prices with Amazon and the Amazon UK websites and others. I get my books from a combination of sources, at as cheap of a cost as I can find.
Most students however, aren't interested in finding the best deal and searching for them. That's why we need the legislation, because even 77% of professors, according to research by the Student Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), believe that legislation was needed for them to make the best decisions on textbook decisions. In our society, the students and parents shouldn't have to search overseas to try to find their textbooks for a reasonable cost.
The bill, which this article didn't point out, is three-fold.
1. Requires the publishing companies, when asked, to give the price that they will sell the book to the bookstore.
2. Provide the major content differences between the newest and second newest edition of the book, as well as the copyright dates for that specific book if there are numerous editions, dating back 10 years. Also, if the book is in any other format (online/PDF/any other form).
3. Universities, if and when feasible, must begin to form a method that financial aid/scholarships would also pay for a student's books, only after the aid has been applied to tuition and fees. Most of Missouri's public universities do this already.
You say this adds "another layer of legislation" but that's what is needed sometimes to correct a market that is backwards. When one group controls so much in a market to where it's costing much more than it should, the government should step in and help to fix the problem. That's what happened with this bill. No student should have to go overseas in a desperate search for cheaper textbooks, and I can't think of much of a better way for the government to step in to try to help correct the problem.
On Student article criticizes textbook legislation
The Associated Students of the University of Missouri, the student lobbying organization for the University of Missouri System (including 63,000 students) included this bill in their priorities as well as students from Truman State University. The Missouri Higher Education Consortium, which is comprised of the presidents of the student governments for all of the two and four year universities in Missouri endorsed the bill. My point: All Missouri public schools' student governments have endorsed the bill. Also, the Association of College Stores, representing over 3,100 college bookstores nationwide have endorsed the bill.
Also, the publishing companies actually testified in favor of the bill in the Senate, saying that the bill would help to lower student costs by adding transparency but not adding costs because of the regulations.
Heritage must not be aware that before this bill, there was virtually no "regulations" regarding college textbooks. Also, Heritage, how do you recommend buying the college textbooks for American universities from other countries when the professor picks the books? Do you have a source that students can utilize that is overseas and is the exact same book as our professor picked?
I think it's interesting that a student that is attending Notre Dame is chiming in on legislation in Missouri. Almost identical legislation has passed in numerous other states, and it has not added costs or problems. Too bad Mr. Grana wasn't in the Missouri capitol to really understand the mission statement of promoting "market solutions" to problems. I think that including students, universities, publishers, and bookstores in discussions in forming this bill promotes "market solutions" to the problems because everyone sat down at the same table.
On Student article criticizes textbook legislation
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