... from this class. Left in are my notations and comments. Lots of typical first-story problems (adherence to AP style, breadth of sourcing) but lots of good stuff, too (a neutral expert, good background data and anecdotal stories from interviews).
(name redacted)
JRN 200
10/14/13
Slug: Textbooks
The cost of textbooks has been burning holes in student’s
pockets for years.
However, according to Dr. Mark J. Perry, a professor of
finance and business economics at the University of Michigan-Flint, changes are
on the horizon.
With new startups and ways to obtain information in today’s
world, the unsustainable textbook market ‘bubble’ and ‘cartel’ USE DOUBLE QUOTE MARKS AND NOT SINGLE MARKS
HERE as Perry likes to put it, is deflating.
According to Perry, a frequent writer on the textbook
industry for the American Enterprise Institute, textbooks prices have raised
812% SPELL OUT PERCENT, PER AP STYLE
since 1978.
“I’ve been a college professor for 20 years now,” Perry
said. “So I’ve been aware of the textbook industry and I’ve been writing on a
blog about it for seven years…A few weeks ago, I walked into the bookstore and
looked at the prices of the books these days and it’s just remarkable how much
they’ve gone up. It just seems outrageous.”
With some textbooks costing over $200 dollars, JUST $200, WITHOUT THE WORD DOLLARS, PER AP
STYLE and students sometimes spending upwards of $1000 $1,000, PER AP STYLE a year on textbooks, it leaves some people
wondering where all this money is going and how it’s gotten that way.
According to the National Association of College Stores,
only about 21.6% SPELL OUT PERCENT, PER
AP STYLE of the profit off of a textbook goes towards the textbook store,
while a whopping 77.4% SPELL OUT
PERCENT, PER AP STYLE goes back to publisher.
And in a chart created by Perry, when compared with the
rising costs of other services, it can be seen just how staggeringly outrageous
the prices of textbooks have raised. For example, medical services have gone up
575% SPELL OUT PERCENT, PER AP STYLE
since 1978, house prices, 325%, SPELL
OUT PERCENT, PER AP STYLE and the consumer price index, 250%. SPELL OUT PERCENT, PER AP STYLE
“It used to be that there was a lot of competition between a
lot of firms,” Perry said. “But now it’s all gotten consolidated down to a few
main publishers, which means less competition…A lot of mergers has also speeded
up the publishing cycle. What used to be 4-5 years between new editions has now
become every two years.”
The fact that the
prices of these textbooks has risen so much has put many college students in a
bind, and has had them scrambling to find ways to save money.
One way in which some students try to gain back some of
their money off of their used textbooks is by selling them back to the store
they bought it from. However, as sophomore Michigan State student Chris Dasbach
has found out, that isn’t always the best option.
“I remember buying three textbooks for $400 and I went to
sell them back and only got $20,” Dasbach said. “I decided from there that I
would only rent textbooks because buying them is so much more.”
“It makes you mad,” freshman MSU student Elizabeth Bond said
of the textbook stores buying textbooks back for so little. “Because you know
that they are going to sell them for three times as much.”
However, Perry has often compared the textbook industry to a
bubble, saying that with all the alternatives sprouting up today, like renting,
the time for textbook companies to nickel and dime students is coming to an
end, and that the unsustainable textbook bubble is now deflating.
One site that Perry points to that is giving the standard
textbook company a run for its money is a company known as Boundless Learning.
Founded in 2011, Boundless.com offers students an online
collection of information for as little as $19.99, advertising that ‘it’s not
your assigned textbook, it’s better, with everything you need to know, plus
built-in study materials.’
Another startup online textbook company Perry has pointed
out is one called Flat World Knowledge.
With this other alternative to the standard textbook
industry, Perry says that students can now download an eTextbook version
similar to that of a standard textbook that would normally be around $179 for
as little as $35.
Also, black and white BLACK-AND-WHITE
IS HYPHENATED hard copies of textbooks are available for print for as
little as $45 from Flat World Knowledge, with individual chapters for sale as
well.
Case in point, it’s because of new start up textbook
companies like Boundless and Flat World Knowledge that gives Perry reason to
believe that the standard textbook industry is becoming increasingly
unsustainable and is on the way out, especially once more people learn of these
new gateways.
“We’re in the early stages of what economists call ‘creative
destruction’,” COMMA GOES INSIDE SINGLE
AND DOUBLE QUOTE MARKS Perry said. “It’s exciting in a way with new
startups entering the industry challenging the status quo. We’re heading toward
a market with more firms and more competition. It’s good for the students.”
Word Count: 750
Sources:
Mark J.
Perry, Ph.D, Professor of Finance and Business Economics, University of
Michigan-Flint
202-419-5207 mjperry@umflint.edu
Chris Dasbach,
student and textbook purchaser, Michigan State University
248-961-9355 chrisdasbach@gmail.com
Elizabeth
Bond, student and textbook purchaser, Michigan State University
734-347-6537 bondeliz@msu.edu
National
Association of College Stores
ASSIGNMENT GRADE: (grade redacted)
INSTRUCTOR COMMENTS: A GOOD START, BUT DID
WE TRY TO INTERVIEW BOOK STORE MANAGERS AND TEXTBOOK PUBLISHERS? WHY NOT
CONTACT SOMEONE AT THE NAT’L ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGE STORES AND SEE WHAT THEY
HAVE TO SAY. ASK A PUBLISHER HOW THEY CAN JUSTIFY SUCH HIGH PRICES, AND IF THEY
FEAR NEW COMPETITION.
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