Helvetica sans-serif>At the beginning of every quarter, students at Ohio University can feel the steely, monopolistic grip of the bookstores tighten around their wallets. As sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, students are assured of paying through the nose for something so vital to their education — books. And, turning the knife in an already bleeding bank account, some bookstores are arrogantly either shortening the time students have to return books for a full refund or requiring proofof a dropped class.
sans-serif> Some of the stores say they have to cut students off so they aren’t tempted to shop online for their textbooks. But that is the only logical move when a student on a limited budget is confronted with astronomical prices for less-than-stellar books. What reason is there to buy a book on microeconomics for $70 that will be useless to the student in 10 weeks and will net him or her only pennies onthe dollar at buyback?
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sans-serif> This is only one deficiency in the stagnant system that is the textbook industry. Shortages are commonplace because the stores plan on a certain number of books sold back by students. But that number varies wildly, especially when the store buys back that $120 book for a measly fraction of the sticker price. The stores prey on incoming freshmen, who don’t know any better and buy their booksat the stores’ grossly inflated prices.
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sans-serif> Granted, textbooks are expensive to write, produce and ship, but that cost is unfairly passed on to students. If the idea behind public education in Ohio is that it be available to everyone, the high prices of textbooks are effectively slamming the door in the face of a majority of students. So-called “public” education is no longer public; it is becoming even more reserved for the well-off studentswho have the money to pay for books.
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sans-serif> As a public service, the state and its universities should subsidize the lion’s share of textbook prices. If the government was forced to pay for these over-priced doorstops, students might see a change in their professors’ policies. Textbooks required for a course would be of a higher quality and, if required, would actuallybe used.
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