Professors across the country are joining students in a fight against rising textbook costs, with nearly 500 university math instructors signing a letter that asks a major publisher to help alleviate the problem.
"It’s gotten to be really a racket," said Gerald Folland, a 30-year math professor at the University of Washington who signed the letter.
Even local community college students are feeling the pinch.
"I found out I need another book I hadn’t expected," said Corey Henning, an Edmonds Community College student who plans to pursue an electrical engineering degree. "How do I come up with another $80 for another book?"
Henning looks at half-price bookstores as a cost-saving option.
But the publishing company said textbook prices are what they are because the company has to keep textbooks current. They also tout recent textbook alternatives that are cheaper.
The professors who signed the letter were prompted to take action by a study released earlier this year by the California and Oregon branches of the Public Interest Research Group.
The report, "Rip-off 101: How the Current Practices of the Publishing Industry Drive Up the Cost of College Textbooks," concludes that students will spend an average of nearly $900 on required textbooks in the 2003-04 school year.
"The fundamental problem is that, for years, almost all major publishing companies have revised their textbooks in often trivial ways about every three years," said Tom Duchamp, who has taught math at the UW since 1979.
An additional survey by the Washington branch showed students here are spending roughly $639 a year on books.
"It’s a little different here, because a lot of students are sharing books within a group," said Rachel Liston, a UW student who is working with the Washington Public Interest Research Group, or WashPIRG. "So there’s definitely some creative stuff going on to try to save some money."
The professors said they are satisfied with the instructional content of most books, but they outlined their major concerns in a letter to Thomson Learning, a large textbook publisher based in Stamford, Conn.
Their concerns include:
Thomson Learning spokesman Adam Gaber said new editions are needed to make sure course materials stay current. And in math books, where the core instruction rarely changes, the problems and examples must be updated frequently "to help ensure the integrity of homework assignments, quizzes and tests."
Gaber said Thomson conducts extensive market research to make sure it is providing materials that people want and need.
"If there is no demand for a product, then we don’t bother offering it. It’s as simple as that," Gaber said. "Anyone who states otherwise quite simply doesn’t know what they’re talking about or fully understand this market and how it works."
Thomson recently launched the Advantage Series, a no-frills option that includes fewer illustrations and unbound or three-hole punched versions, that sells for about 25 percent less than the hardback books. Fewer than 30 titles were available in the format this school year.
Carrie Brennan, UW’s campus coordinator for WashPIRG, hopes the support of the professors will prompt a change.
"Having all these top professors from across the country coming out and saying they’re going to stand up for their students is really a big deal," Brennan said. "We’re hoping to continue putting on that pressure."
Reporter Victor Balta: 425-339-3455 or vbalta@heraldnet.com.
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