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OSPIRG continues battle
against textbook publisher
A widespread campaign
seeks review of pricing
by Thomson Learning
and other book publishers
By Steven Neuman
News Reporter
OSPIRG is taking continued action
against what it deems as "a publisher's
prominent refusal to stop driving up
textbook costs."
At a rally last week, the student-ac
tivist group released a list of 540 math
professors, department heads and
graduate students from more than
100 schools who have signed a letter
urging book publisher Thomson
Learning to reconsider its current text
book policies. The letter was sent to
the publisher April 6.
Thomson Learning/Brooks Cole,
a division of the Thomson Corpora
tion, is the publisher of "Calculus:
Early Transcendentals," by James
Stewart, a book that the Oregon Stu
dent Public Interest Research Group
claims is one of the most widely
used calculus textbooks. The pub
lisher released a new fifth edition of
the book in 2003.
Speaking on the steps of Fenton
Hall to a sparse audience, Corinne
Cox, OSPIRG's Affordable Textbooks
Campaign Coordinator, said Thom
son had made little to no changes in
the new book from the fourth edition
released in 1999.
"Unfortunately, the only significant
'Thomson Learning says
there are a lot of new
features in edition five...
Is it really necessary for
students to pay $40
simply for new exercises?"
Corinne Cox
Coordinator, OSPIRG
Affordable Textbook Campaign
difference between these two text
books is the price," Cox said. "The
new fifth edition goes for about
$122 while the fourth edition can be
found for $20 to $90, depending on
where you look."
In U.S. dollars, the same text sells
for the equivalent of $95.78 in
Canada and $59.36 in Britain, ac
cording to OSPIRG.
"Thomson Learning says there are
a lot of new features in edition five,"
she said. "In reality, they've changed
some of the problem sets, consolidat
ed some of the sections together and
moved others around, and they also
added a CD-ROM. Is it really neces
sary for students to pay $40 simply for
new exercises?"
Cox said that in the past, new text
book editions were released every five
to 10 years. Now they are released
every two to three years.
Thomson Learning spokesman
Adam Caber told the Emerald in Jan
uary that the add-ons merely respond
to expressed faculty and student
needs.
"Both students and professors de
mand more and more access to tech
nology to improve teaching and
learning," he said via e-mail. "While
these additional resources greatly en
hance the value of textbooks, they
also drive up the costs of developing,
maintaining and supporting the
modern textbook."
In the letter, OSPIRG supporters
requested the publisher not release
new editions unless significant
changes are made. OSPIRG also
wants Thomson Learning to make
pricing more transparent and even
handed, provide more information
to faculty members up front about
future plans for publications, and
provide an online version of the cal
culus textbook.
Mathematics GT. Peter Dolan said
he had to wait weeks on more than
one occasion to finish buying his
books because he had to save the
money to buy the rest.
"I know many other students who
are in a similar situation," Dolan said.
"I also know students who had to buy
an expensive new version of the exact
same book, and it was hardly any dif
ferent from the previous one."
Math Professor Peter Gilkey said
the mathematics department didn't
have much choice in choosing the cal
culus textbook.
"... When the old one goes out of
print, or goes into a new edition we
have to write a new syllabus anyway,
and the students have to buy new
books anyway," Gilkey said. "That's
the only reason we change text
books."
Gilkey also expressed a distaste for
new editions.
"1 hate them," he said. "When you
first write a book you're really en
thusiastic. The second edition you're
still really enthusiastic and you fix
all the bugs. By the time you get to
the fifth edition you're bored with it;
it's an economic chore and it gets
worse because you add a little extra
neous material."
Senior mathematics major Tim
Ryan said the number of new edi
tions doesn't make sense for a sub
ject like math.
"None of the math in these books
has changed in the last 100 years,"
he said.
Cox said OSPIRG hopes the letters
will force Thomson to change its poli
cies, but the overall goal is to get as
many publishers as possible to sign a
code of ethics.
"The bad news is that Thomson
Learning has completely dismissed
student concerns and has refused to
admit that there is even a problem
with textbook prices," Cox said.
"The good news is that today over
500 professors from over 100 of the
largest and most prestigious univer
sities across the country have joined
in our effort."
. Cox said if publishers will not lis
ten to students she hopes they will lis
ten to faculty.
Dolan said although he has little
understanding of the nature of pub
lishing and selling within the text
book market, he believes the current
policies are unjust for consumers.
"Maybe with a little more public
awareness the companies who are
honestly trying to balance profit
with product will be able to provide
lower-cost alternatives that can still
compete with those companies who
have exchanged content for gim
micks and effort for unethical prof
it," Dolan said.
Contact the business/science/
technology reporter
atstevenneuman@dailyemerald.com.
TOBACCO
continued from page 1
indicates that the University sanctions
smoking and/or chewing, which con
tradicts messages about the dangers of
its use," the report states.
Junior political science major Re
bekah Lebwohl, a former Peer Health
Educator, said that the University is
the only school in the Pacific-10 Con
ference to profit from tobacco sales
on campus.
"It's an embarrassment," Lebwohl
said. "We hope to get tobacco sales off
campus. We feel it goes against the
mission of the University and the
EMU."
The EMU Board has voted against
the recommendation in the past, but
Lebwohl hopes this time will be dif
ferent because more student activists
are involved in the push to end tobac
co sales on campus.
Lebwohl added that it isn't just an
issue of smokers' rights on campus
but also a question, of the rights of
non-smokers to breathe healthy air.
According to Staight, CAB is not
currently working to ban smoking on
campus, but she said that there are
several models available for smoke
free campuses. She said that they are
currently working, however, to ex
pand the "10-foot rule" so that people
must be more than 10 feet away from
a building before smoking.
Staight added that the University
Health Center currently has a grant to
provide nicotine patches and gum to
students to help them quit smoking.
Since the beginning of the service
in fall 2003, 345 students have been
provided with nicotine products, Leb
wohl said.
Lebwohl encourages any student
who wants Erb Essentials to discon
tinue tobacco sales to attend the
Wednesday meeting and possibly
even testify for the recommendation.
Contact the crime/ health/
safety reporter
at lisacatto@dailyemerald.com.