The Journal

Issue date: 3/23/06 Section: Opinion/Editorial

Anna C. Forder

Show of hands: Who uses the supplemental CDs, workbooks and Web sites that students are forced to pay for when buying textbooks? I have this suspicion that, like me, most college students pull all of the extras out of their textbook and never see them again until it's time to sell the book back at the end of the semester. Then, they go rooting around their dorm room, the trunk of their car and the bottom of their closet in desperate hopes of finding the CD they didn't want so they can sell their $150 textbook back to the bookstore for $40.

Does this sound familiar? I am tired of forking over money for interactive CDs and study aids I will never use.

A proposal was introduced to the Illinois legislature recently that, if passed, will immensely benefit Illinois college students. This bill would allow students to choose whether to purchase supplemental materials with their textbooks. That's right. It would be optional to purchase all of the accompanying CDs, workbooks and the rest of the crap no one really uses.

Illinois Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, a Democrat, began the initiative because he felt that publishers gouged prices on college textbooks. Quinn and fellow Democrat Illinois Rep. Naomi Jackson just announced their plan to support this bill at the beginning of March. Their plan is to offer Illinois college students the opportunity to scrap all the extras.

I love this plan. Missouri legislators need to propose a similar bill for Missouri. We all know how expensive textbooks are, but here's something that may actually help cut the cost. It isn't a huge step, but it is a step toward letting publishers know that we're tired of the outrageous prices for textbooks.

In the last 20 years, textbook prices have increased by twice the rate of inflation, according to the United States Government Accountability Office. That alone negates textbook manufacturers' argument that they're not price gouging. One of the biggest reasons for this dramatic price increase is all of the extras that publishers are creating as supplements to the textbooks. Those supplemental materials are great for students who actually use them, but what about those of us who are forced to pay for something we don't want and know we won't use? It doesn't make any sense.

In addition, most college bookstores require these materials to be returned with the textbook if students want to sell back the book at the end of the semester. What are the chances of me, or any college student for that matter, keeping track of an unused CD for 15 weeks? Hence, the mad dash to locate all of the supplemental products at semester's end.

The best way for students to let their state representatives know they're serious about implementing a similar plan in Missouri is to write or e-mail them. The Illinois bill on which the idea is based is HB 4867. The state representative for Webster Groves is Democrat Russ Carnahan. If enough students bring this idea to his attention, maybe he'll consider it as well.

Kudos to the Illinois legislature for considering this initiative. Let's hope Missouri does the same, so we can all depart with the supplemental materials we don't use, instead of departing with our cash.


Anna C. Forder, a senior journalism major, is a staff writer for The Journal.

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