High textbook prices rip-off or not?
Bookstore policy frustrates students
By KAREN KANGAS
Of the Emerald
"Essentials of Life and Health"
"Human Biology and Behavior"
"German Review"
$8.05
$12.55
$8.95
"Physical Science in the Modern World" $13.45
That comes to $43.00, please.
Sigh.
The cost of textbooks is a constant source of frust
ration to students. At the University, many students
wonder if the high prices are due to the campus
bookstore s corner on the local textbook market.
"I can't say whether the (bookstore s) prices are
fair or not,'' says James Brauer, a pre-med major. "I
don’t know of any other place that sells the books I
need, so I can’t compare prices. The bookstore
pretty well has a monopoly, so they can sell the
books at just about any price they want.’’
Otto Henrickson, manager of the bookstore's text
book operation, explains that, though the store does
have a corner on the textbook market, it is a nonprofit
organization and mainly interested in helping the
students
"Our primary purpose is the textbook operation,”
he points out. “It's existence is an absolute necessity
to the student, so this is where we give the breaks to
the students.”
The "breaks come through a ten per cent dis
count on all texts. When the bookstore purchases a
number of books, it gets a buyers discount from the
publisher This discount is usually 20 per cent less
than the suggested selling price (list price) of the
texts. If a bookstore sells the book at the list price, it
would make a 20 per cent profit The Universty Book
store, however, splits its 20 per cent discount with the
students and sells texts at a ten per cent discount.
Henrickson explains, "If a book has a list price of
$3.95, |ust about every bookstore in the country
would sell it for $3.95. The University store, how
ever, would buy the books at the discount price of
$3.16 each and sell them for $3.56.
The ten per cent the store keeps goes toward
expenses — transportation, building mortgage and
employe salaries.
“Theoretically, at the end of the year, the store
breaks even,” Henrickson says. “In no way do we
make any profit off of textbooks.”
Students aware of the bookstore’s nonprofit status
still question the high price of texts.
Henrickson explains that publishers base their
prices on the amount of work taken to compile the
book and the production costs.
Jack Maddex, history professor, says publishers
raise the price of books aimed for course adoption
because they think they have a captive market.
They don't expect anybody to buy these books other
than students who are assigned them for a course.”
Frustrated by these prices, students often become
angry with their professors for assigning expensive
texts Maddex says that, though professors consider
the price of texts when compiling reading lists, they
tend to let the quality of the books be the deciding
factor
Obviously you want the books that are going to do
the job best,' says Maddex, “but it’s responsible for
the professor to try to figure out how much he or she
is asking the student to spend.”
Prof. James Klonoski, political science, says he
doesn't look at prices when compiling a book list, but
limits himself to paperbacks oniy and assumes this
will keep the price down.
The problem of cost also concerns students when
they sell their used texts back to the University Book
store. One student terms the buy-back system a
"rip-off. Harvey Ando, a biology major, refused to
sell his used texts to the bookstore because of the
“raw deal he feels he will get. “At the University of
Hawaii they (the campus bookstore) used to buy
back books at one-fifth the original price,” he says.
Henrickson believes students will get a good deal
if they bring their used texts to the University Books
tore. "If students want the best deal, I think they
should come here,” he says. “We buy books at half
the original price and sell them at three-fourths (of the
original price) less ten per cent all the way through.
Those prices are a universal rule-of-thumb."
' w- * min
GET YOUR PIECE AT
Monty’s!
DART COMPETITION
EVERY MONDAY
GET THE POINT?
IKS*
ON FRANKLIN
Across From Williams Bread
SAVE TIME! CALL FIRST
485-6166
STUDENT SPECIAL!
1/2 PRICE PIZZA
EVERY TUESDAY THRU OCTOBER
With Student I.D.
Limit One Per Customer