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Volume 71, Issue 69,
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
News Students save by shopping online Web sites offer better deals on textbooks by may leave shoppers open to identify theft by RACHAEL SEELEY
Some UH students are fed up with high textbook prices and are trying to save money by purchasing their books online this semester. Online retailers such as www.amazon.com and www.half.com are giving the UH Bookstore and The College Store a run for their money by offering used texts at lower prices. "If I can avoid it, I don't buy books (on campus), because the books that they sell in the bookstore for $20 you can get online for $3," history graduate student Courtney Demayo said. Most of the students here are working class students who are saving money and can't afford to spend $500 on books a semester." Some books, like the textbook Abnormal Psychology: An Integrative Approach, by David Barlow and V. Mark Durand, required in Professor Babcock's PSYC 4321 course can be found online for less than it is sold for in the UH Bookstore. On Sunday, Amazon.com had a used copy of the textbook selling for $69.50 before shipping, $15.80 cheaper than the UH Bookstore used price of $85.30. Likewise, a used edition of the Broadcast News Manual of Style, required for COMM 3316, sold for $2.95 on Amazon.com the same day, $20.90 less than the UH Bookstore used price of $23.85. A used copy of ACCT 2332 text Managerial Accounting, by James Jiambalvo, sold for $70.90 on Amazon.com or $27.50 less than a used copy in the UH Bookstore. "I buy all of my books from Amazon.com because it is much cheaper," English junior Krista Kuhl, said. "The entire time I have been a student here, I have never bought a book from (a campus) bookstore." For students willing to wait an extra few days to receive their books by mail, shopping online can provide an affordable alternative to buying on campus. But there are some students who shy away from online vendors. Business post-baccalaureate student Mark Sheridan said he does not buy online because he is afraid that it makes his personal information vulnerable to theft. "I just don't want to put my stuff out over the Internet," Sheridan said. Textbook prices have been steadily increasing all over the country. A report published by TexPIRG in February 2005 found that textbook prices have increased at nearly four times the rate of inflation for all finished goods since 1994 and that textbook publishers engage in practices that artificially inflate textbook costs like bundling textbooks with CD-ROMs or frequently issuing new editions. "I think some of these textbook publishing companies ... could probably afford to be a tad bit more considerate," said David Rosen, Student Government Association College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Senator 2 and political science junior. Rosen recently wrote an SGA bill that passed unanimously last November that forbids professors from charging students money to access quizzes online. Access codes for online quizzes are often sold at the on or near-campus bookstores bundled with class texts, making it difficult for students to purchase used texts. "We're all scrambling around eating Ramen Noodles, driving used cars and living in dorm rooms; we don't have that much money to go around," Rosen said. Biochemistry and Russian studies senior Jared Pinkston skipped the book purchasing process all together by borrowing from the library. "I just go down to the library and rent (the book) over and over again," Pinkston said. You can get older editions and the professors don't care ... the actual material rarely changes or changes so slightly that the professors don't care." Send comments to dcnews@mail.uh.edu |
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