Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012, January 08, 2004, Page 4, Image 4

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    ,**M*Bj
Textbooks authored
by the University's
professors — many of
which yield royalties
for the writers - are
assigned in a broad
range of University
departments.
Lauren Wimer
Photographer
DILEMMA
continued from page 1
she said. "I think it's a valid criticism.
I sort of signaled the students that it's
not the reason I was using the book."
Johnson said he's had colleagues
who, like Sheehan, do the "most con
servative and safe thing" by not ac
cepting royalties for their books. John
son himself assigned reading that he
contributed to as an author, but in his
case he used a college press that does
n't charge for use of the material and
pays no royalties.
"I haven't had to deal with that
moral dilemma," he said.
Biology Professor Emeritus Frank
Stahl authored a book about genet
ics, which he used for 12 years. He
said that in order to avoid the ques
tion of accepting royalties, he had it
printed by the campus press and
only charged enough to cover pub
lishing expenses.
"1 think that's the ideal way for a
professor to publish a book for his
course," he said. "It strikes me as the
obvious thing to do. I don't know
why professors in general wouldn't do
what I do."
Journalism Professor Kyu Youm
was highly critical of professors who
receive royalties on the textbooks they
assign to students.
"I think it's professionally unethical,
r—-—.
and that kind of thing should not be
condoned, unless his textbook is the
best in the whole world," he said.
"Some professors are using their text
books because they are ego-inflated."
Youm said teachers should distrib
ute their royalties to students, espe
cially when an instructor collects
money from a book assigned to as
many as 400 of his or her students. He
said professors owe students an expla
nation as to why their book is used,
especially when the cost is in the
$100-dollar range. Youm himself
worked on a text he assigned to his
class, but he said he ensured it was the
most affordable book available.
Still, other professors don't have to
worry about the question of accepting
royalties — they simply don't have
wads of cash flying at them.
Associate Journalism Professor
Tom Wheeler wrote a book for a class
he teaches on manipulating media
photos, but he doesn't expect to get
rich from its publication because the
subject is a relatively new field.
"This is not the kind of book that's
going to be widely adopted in every
journalism school," Wheeler said.
Vice President for Academic Af
fairs Lorraine Davis echoed those
same sentiments, adding she wasn't
concerned that professors may col
lect royalties.
"Some people believe that professors
should not assign their own
textbooks because of the royalties that
are attached to it" she said. "Those are
not usually significant."
Students have conflicting perspec
tives on the practice.
"The ones that have their royalties
go to a foundation I don't mind,"
sophomore Nicole Leseney said. "But
the ones that have the royalties go
back to them is a rather large conflict
of interest."
Dale Fishel, a senior studying envi
ronmental studies, said there is no
guarantee to students that the book is
worth the price when professors as
sign their own textbooks.
"1 th ink if they put us in a position
where we have to buy their books
they ought to be reasonably priced,"
he said.
Brian Swarts, a graduate student
of international studies, said he's
never had a professor at the Univer
sity assign their own text, but he's
known teachers at universities who
have. He said it doesn't matter who
the author is if the textbook is a rele
vant, quality book.
"I think it's part of their job," he said.
"I don't think just because they make
money off of it, it becomes unethical."
Contact the people/culture/
faith reporter
at jaredpaben@dailyemerald.com.
CLASS SUPPLIES ON SALE ■ 10<>/o DISCOUNT ON ALL BOOKS.
Don’t stress out.
Stop running all over town. Go to the UO Bookstore
today and get everything you'll need for winter term.
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
BOOKSTORE
www.uobookstore.com
Non-profit bookstore owned by students, faculty and staff of the University of
GADGETS
continued from page 1
digital audio player that records up
to 36 hours in real time, has 16
hours of battery life and can store
more than 600 hours of digital mu
sic. Besides a backlit remote control,
Trist said the best part about the
player is the microphone port,
which he plans to use for recording
live concerts.
"It's absolutely the best gift I got
in a while," he said. "Plus I get to
share the music with friends."
With a 20 GB hard drive, the Iriv
er IHP-120 can make quick USB
transfers to Macs and PCs, has a
built-in FM tuner and can be found
at http://www.mp3mall.net for the
sale price of $399.99.
Digital bartenders and recorders
aside, digital cameras have also seen
a recent rise in popularity as con
sumers opt for more file storage, less
blurry pictures and no cost for film
development.
Hiilawe Mitchell worked as a
sales representative at Dot Dotson's
during the holiday break. Located at
1668 Willamette St., the camera
store sold almost twice as many
digital cameras this Christmas com
pared to last year, Mitchell said.
"We really couldn't keep them on
the shelves," she said.
One of the most popular cameras
sold at Dot Dotson's this Christmas
was the Canon A80, a well-made,
compact digital device with 4
megapixels for less than $400,
Mitchell said. Besides being a rela
tively inexpensive name brand, the
Canon A80 is also more ideal for
frequent travelers because it takes
AA batteries, she said.
Although other models and
brands proved popular over the hol
idays, Mitchell said the Canon also
sold the most because it remained
well-stocked. If other camera com
panies had been able to keep up
with demand, Mitchell said, other
digital models would have sold
more as well.
"It's changing the face of pho
tography as we know it," she said
of the recent vogue in digital pho
tography. "And prices of digital
cameras are going down."
Contact the business/science/
technology reporter
at caronalarab@dailyemerald.com.
CAMPUS
BUZZ
Thursday
Chamber Music Series, 8 p.m., Beall Concert
Hall. I Musici de Montreal will perform, and music
Professor Robert Hurwitz will give a pre-concert
talk at 7:15 p.m. in Room 198.
Sustainability Practices Workshop, today through
Friday, 9:30 a.m., Room 130, Baker Downtown
Center South Building.
Find fun stuff in the ODE classifieds:
COMICS
YOUR DAILY HOROSCOPE
THE CROSSWORD
S'tf Ml I'MTION
199 E 5th Ave • (541) 484-1334
Come see our suslu-go-round
and open grill
Sushi Starting at $1.75
We serve
tempurai
udon\
yakisobai
teppanyaki|
teriyakil
lunch box specialsI
and more..}
I Take out available i
Lunch M—F 11:30—2:30 • Dinner M-Sat 5:00-10:00 • Sunday Closed
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