The Current

Issue date: 3/10/08 Section: Opinions

Our Opinion

Most students know the cost of textbooks has become out of control, and we accept that as a fact of life, but no longer.

The ever growing cost of higher education is finally getting some attention.

State Rep. Jake Zimmerman, D- Olivette, introduced the Textbook Transparency Act, or HB2048, to the House Higher Education Committee on Tuesday.

Affecting only public universities and institutions, this bill would require publishers to make wholesale prices, revision history and a variety of formats for textbooks available to faculty when they are choosing the books required for their classes. Revision history would also be available to students during the time of purchase.

Publishers would also be required, under this bill, to make textbooks and any supplemental material available separately when offering the materials bundled together.

Bundling was originally designed to reduce the price of textbooks and supplemental materials. However, as many students do not use some of the supplemental materials bundled with textbooks, it has actually caused increased prices.

The Textbook Transparency Act will allow for students to only purchase the supplemental materials if they are necessary.

The Associated Students of the University of Missouri supports the bill and testified on behalf of it at a committee meeting.

We at The Current applaud ASUM's efforts, and although the bill will help ease the price of books, the bill should be amended to include the option of renting books.

Schools that allow for this option of renting textbooks have proven to keep the costs down of buying textbooks.

The University of Central Missouri offers the option for students to rent textbooks for many of their general education classes.

For instance, College Algebra is one of the classes UCM offers textbook rentals to students. According to http://www.ucmo.edu, the cost of rental is $36 per textbook. The cost of the College Algebra textbook at UM-St. Louis is $113 used or $150.65 new.

As many students sell back their books for a half of the price they paid for it, rentals would alleviate some of the burden of textbook prices

Many UM-St. Louis students save money on books by purchasing them online through Web sites such as http://www.half.com or http://www.amazon.com.

The easiest way to look up and purchase textbooks is by using the ISBN number, which the UM-St. Louis bookstore does not list on its Web site.

Although authors and titles of textbooks are provided, if campus bookstores were to list the ISBN numbers online, it would make the process of ordering textbooks through alternative Web sites easier.

The Textbook Transparency Act is a step in the right direction that will allow students to better afford materials essential to attending college.

However, much more can be done to help the situation.

"Our Opinion" piece reflect the majority opinion of the Editorial Board: Paul Hackbarth, Editor-in-Chief; Carrie Fasiska, Managing Editor; Cate Marquis, A&E Editor; LaGuan Fuse, Sports Editor; Tom Schnable, Assistant Sports Editor; Jessica Keil, Co-Features Editor; Ryan Scherr, Co-Features Editor; Shannon McManis, Design Editor; and Matthew Hill, Photo Editor.

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