I know I’m not the only college student who hates to stare at how expensive school can be. I imagine it’d be only worse if I had to do it on my own.
Aside from rising tuition, there are living costs, school supplies and perhaps the most frustrating sting, textbooks.
Every semester, after getting my books for a class, I wince when I look at the receipt. It doesn’t really matter where I get them; I’ve not had a bill under triple digits any semester I’ve been here.
I’ve tried to find textbooks in the Edmon Low before without success. Sometimes, if I’m fortunate, they have old editions somewhere.
But try as we might, there’s often no way for students to get around buying textbooks here.
Of course, when it’s time to sell, it’s not any better. I, along with many students, have had books that cost more than $100 and are not re-sellable or get taken back for so little money that it’s barely worth it.
Maybe the university has a model it could follow to help relieve students of the cost. Because when it comes to textbooks, the university down south has done something right.
Down in Norman, they finally have taken the first steps toward a solution for textbook costs. Starting this fall, they have textbooks for around 250 classes on reserve in their library, including general education classes and classes with high textbook costs.
Further showing their foresight on the matter, they only offer them on two hour checkout, with the possibility to check them out again. This prevents students from taking the books from the library long-term.
I’ve always wondered why research libraries didn’t stock at least one copy of the textbooks the professor’s were using. It’s always seemed illogical for the resources the professors are using to not be available in the library.
Now that it’s been done, maybe, just maybe, we might start to see steps in the right direction here.
Of course, it’s not a cheap proposal, and it doesn’t begin and end with the books. At OU, they urged faculty not to use new editions unless there were extensive additions. They are working to create electronic alternatives for textbooks.
According to Blake Rambo, OU President David Boren’s press secretary, it required a $200,000 fund to set up the system.
But while they may have more resources, it doesn’t mean their initiatives are out of reach, and nor should they be. If students had to pay less for textbooks every year, maybe the annual tuition increases wouldn’t sting quite as much.
Comparisons between OU and OSU are inevitable. It comes with having two large schools so close together. But when it comes to alleviating costs for students, OSU should strive to be like that school down south.
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The “free textbooks” program in the OU library is just another of Boren’s many illusions and publicity stunts. He has annually hijacked more money from students with escalating tuition, Boren is trying to look like he “cares.” The bitter truth is that for most sections — many with more than 100 students — there is only ONE textbook in the library. It can be checked out for TWO hours and not taken from the library. It’s all a hoax. I’m sorry that you were taken in by it. Ask some questions the next time you get a press release from the Boren gang.
I know that it can be checked out for only two hours and not removed. That was part of what made it a good plan. If such a stipulation wasn’t included in the original, I would have said that it should have been. Without those stipulations, the books would disappear in the first week and many wouldn’t return for quite a while, if at all. I clearly mention that portion of the policy in the column.
Secondly, Boren is not alone in getting more tuition. In terms of real dollars, the cost of tuition has risen significantly across the board. Tuition has risen at OSU significantly as well. I’d be surprised if you could find a major public or private university that hasn’t raised tuition in the past 4 years.
Neither of these things make it a hoax and I was well aware of both, so no apologies needed, I wasn’t taken in by anything.