home news sports culture ideas up-to-date

You are viewing
Volume 38 Issue 9
February 13, 2001

To return to the current issue please click here.

Greed targets students

LEGEND'S VIEW
MESA LEGEND
Submitted February 13, 2001

College students are constantly strapped for cash. We sometimes count change in our car ashtrays and in between the cushions of our couches just to foot our lunch bill for the day. Bills mount, tuition bleeds us dry, rent is due, the car payment is due, insurance is due – everyone somewhere needs money from us.

Then comes the beginning of a new semester when we have to stock up on the required textbooks for classes, textbooks that some teachers don’t even require you to crack open once.

A student with 12 to 14 credit hours can pay hundreds for books, new or used. Editions for books are constantly being renewed, which means books bought may not be valid for resale next semester. Textbooks are non-optional and prices are high. We have to fork over the cash, no questions asked.

While standards for publishing and the quality of materials used in textbooks are undoubtedly high, the prices of said books shouldn’t overwhelm a student’s typically thin budget.

One of the most common math books sold to students this year, "Beginning Algebra 2nd ed." by Martin-Gaye, costs $85.50 new and $64.25 used at MCC’s Follett-owned bookstore – this price remains the same at Follett bookstores throughout Arizona, as Follett has established book prices along with textbook publishers.

That same book costs $77.25 new and $57.95 used at The Textbook Co., "the textbook store across the street" as their slogan states, on Southern Avenue.

MCC’s bookstore charges $50 for a new copy of "The St. Martin’s Guide to Writing, 6th ed.," by Axelrod, a common English 101 textbook. A used copy is $37.50. The Textbook Company charges $46.95 for a new copy of the same book and $32.20 used.

But after money is paid for a new book, why resell at $40, or $50, or $60? The needed profit has been made, so an expensive resale for a used book must be highly profitable for the parties involved.

Furthermore, the students selling back those books may get $16 to $20 on the spot. While The Textbook Co. is the smart choice for textbook shoppers, selling your used books to "the store across the street" is just as un-profitable for students as it is at our Follett store.

The Textbook Co. is fully independent and store owner Bill Roe establishes prices on a 20 percent profit margin. MCC’s margin is 25 percent. Roe attributes his store’s lower prices to pure competitiveness which, thankfully, gives us students a cheaper option.

MCC, however, has welcomed a corporation such as Follett onto our campus so Follett can reap the monetary rewards. All the while, students pay hundreds in tuition fees.

Follett, furthermore, owns bookstores on community college campuses throughout the state in Scottsdale, Chandler, Phoenix, Tucson, and Prescott and campuses throughout the nation.

The established prices for textbooks are high because the demand for those books in the market is high – we understand this and accept it.

Textbook publishers, however, use this opportunity to cash in, knowing that we have no choice but to pay the established price. It’s capitalism in its purest form.

Lowly students just trying to scrape by for an education are the victims of this obviously lucrative industry. But capitalism is the basis on which American economy is based. Lowly students shall not argue with that.

For capitalism to make its way onto a college campus is wrong. Education is coming at an awfully high price.

The textbook industry is a big moneymaker – looks like everything will eventually fall victim to ruthless capitalism, including education. Education isn’t free.

Back to Top | Previous Page | Home