2008 Woodie Awards
Students can combat textbook prices with new trading forum
By: Jennifer Ginger
Issue date: 4/26/07 Section: Opinion/Editorial
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If I continue to be unjustly compensated for my textbooks, I may have to turn to a dark life of hustling.
As the semester comes to an end, I anticipate my journey to sell back my books to the bookstore. I walk into the bookstore aware of an unfortunate situation. I may receive a 25 percent return from an $80 book, or I may receive nothing at all.
I can almost picture the clerk nonchalantly tossing my book aside saying, "I can't accept this." Why not? My book meets the requirements for buy backs. It contains no physical abuse, highlighter marks or Post-it tabs. Just because it's spring 2007 and the professor no longer wants the 2007 edition should not be a valid reason to let me depart from the bookstore without any extra money. If the bookstore won't buy back my book, I wouldn't object to a consolation gift. I like hugs.
Perhaps professors should reimburse me, preferably with a few extra dollars for my emotional suffering. Some professors instruct students to purchase a book with no intention of referencing the book throughout the semester. My money is being wasted.
Professors who do not teach by a book should at least tell students they don't need textbooks to advance in the course. Better yet, they should assign reading in the book they require. By the time I realize I haven't opened a book I purchased for a class, it's two months into the semester and weeks past the refund date. It could be argued that it is the student's responsibility to obtain further knowledge on a subject, but who willingly opens a five-pound book if no reading is assigned?
I don't want to browse eBay, or any other auction site, to find a low price for my textbooks. I want to walk into the bookstore and conveniently find the books I need. I'm lazy; it's the American way. Unfortunately, in this case convenience doesn't always benefit my lifestyle.
Why should students be placed in a position where they feel the need to reach the bookstore before their classmates to sell back books? Those unlucky enough to be in section five of a popular course like Mass Communication may as well not try to sell the book back. However, selling back books might spark excitement in classmates as they share their tales of how much they received for a book. There should be Polaroid cameras at every register to commemorate the excitement or disgust on students' faces when told how much or little they will receive for a text book.
As the semester comes to an end, I anticipate my journey to sell back my books to the bookstore. I walk into the bookstore aware of an unfortunate situation. I may receive a 25 percent return from an $80 book, or I may receive nothing at all.
I can almost picture the clerk nonchalantly tossing my book aside saying, "I can't accept this." Why not? My book meets the requirements for buy backs. It contains no physical abuse, highlighter marks or Post-it tabs. Just because it's spring 2007 and the professor no longer wants the 2007 edition should not be a valid reason to let me depart from the bookstore without any extra money. If the bookstore won't buy back my book, I wouldn't object to a consolation gift. I like hugs.
Perhaps professors should reimburse me, preferably with a few extra dollars for my emotional suffering. Some professors instruct students to purchase a book with no intention of referencing the book throughout the semester. My money is being wasted.
Professors who do not teach by a book should at least tell students they don't need textbooks to advance in the course. Better yet, they should assign reading in the book they require. By the time I realize I haven't opened a book I purchased for a class, it's two months into the semester and weeks past the refund date. It could be argued that it is the student's responsibility to obtain further knowledge on a subject, but who willingly opens a five-pound book if no reading is assigned?
I don't want to browse eBay, or any other auction site, to find a low price for my textbooks. I want to walk into the bookstore and conveniently find the books I need. I'm lazy; it's the American way. Unfortunately, in this case convenience doesn't always benefit my lifestyle.
Why should students be placed in a position where they feel the need to reach the bookstore before their classmates to sell back books? Those unlucky enough to be in section five of a popular course like Mass Communication may as well not try to sell the book back. However, selling back books might spark excitement in classmates as they share their tales of how much they received for a book. There should be Polaroid cameras at every register to commemorate the excitement or disgust on students' faces when told how much or little they will receive for a text book.
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