This isn't Political- it's about education.

[El Roranous]

I was reading about Obama's plans for Higher Education and I must admit he is right on.

Form the article-

Criticized the cost of college textbooks and professors who assign their own books. In an appearance in Texas, he said: “Books are a big scam.... I taught law at the University of Chicago for 10 years, and one of the biggest scams is law professors write their own text books and then assign it to their students. They make a mint. It’s a huge racket.”

Here is a link to the article-
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/11/05/obama




I personally have always had a problem with teachers that do this. They write a text book and rearrange it every semester so that a new edition has to be purchased by the students. It's absolutely wrong in my opinion. Coupled with the high cost of college itself, students are being put into heavy debt just to have the necessary supplies to complete a course.

I have had to purchase books that were $150 each! There is no reason for the price to be so high. My main worry is that they will change to digital books in the future and then you won't even be able to resell those later.









Please don't delete this thread. I think it's actually important to discuss problems we have in America.

 

[Shropt]

 

[El Roranous]

I don't understand why this thread would be locked. This is about problems accessing higher education. I am sure a lot of folks here can relate to how unnecessarily expensive college is these days or to how much debt they were left in as a result.

Furthermore, I think this thread has the potential to help those that are newly entering the realm of higher education.

 

[Shropt]

It will start as a thread on education and quickly become another political thread.

If you have to start the title with "This isn't political" then it probably is.

 

[Darth Loki]

I agree Rory. I had a Psych prof. who pulled this and it is so lame. Then we had to do a report based off of something in his book and say why we loved it. Talk about a self absorbed ********

 

[El Roranous]

I suppose you are correct. Everything involving a social present day issue is political. Well, hopefully people can keep their cool. If not, then it should be deleted.

 

[LordAzrael]

Seem to be pretty good points to me. I wonder if Ann Althouse knew about these points before she voted for him ?

 

[El Roranous]

I agree Rory. I had a Psych prof. who pulled this and it is so lame. Then we had to do a report based off of something in his book and say why we loved it. Talk about a self absorbed ********

I had a couple professors pull this stunt with me. What is sad is that at the end of the term their books were worthless because the book store knew a new edition would follow. You also can't sell them online because they are course specific.


It really is a scam in my opinion.

 

[Shropt]

So what is the solution? Force teachers to use an already available book? Force teachers to give the books for free?

 

[El Roranous]

I guess my main point is that I really hope something can be done about this and the other issues that jack the price of college up.

At my school you have to pay to park also. I believe it's $80 or more dollars a year. This should be included in my already astronomical tuition. Also, the extra amount of students let in each year depletes the schools resources. The classes are so packed you have to fight to get the course you want every time. Now, they offer more classes on line so that they can eat up even more of a professors schedule.

It's sad that I never met the head people at my college either- why, because they were never available.

It's all about money and profit and I really think that's not what colleges should be concerned with.

 

[hoodonit00]

Well, I'm going to melt the board down and say that..... I agree. It is a racket that universities can charge so much for books. Especially the pittance you get for them when you try to resell them.

 

[El Roranous]

So what is the solution? Force teachers to use an already available book? Force teachers to give the books for free?

Personally, I don't think professors should be allowed to release a book and use it for their own class. Especially if they insist upon revising them each year. If they think they can add to an already written text then they should include power point slides for free to their students.

Honestly, I think text books should be included with the price of the course.... and I don't think the prices of said course should increase much to facilitate this plan.

 

[Shropt]

The problem is there's 2 problems here:

1) How do you control what professors teach? If you control the book, you control the message.

2) How do you control the extra cash flow from selling/buying books and new editions?

 

[El Roranous]

Well, I'm going to melt the board down and say that..... I agree. It is a racket that universities can charge so much for books. Especially the pittance you get for them when you try to resell them.

Wow, there is something we can agree on. Very cool.

 

[El Roranous]

You know what's funny? One time I tried to sell my books back to the college book store and each time they scanned the book they said "Oh it appears this book is not going to be used next semester.... would you like to donate it to us? You can throw it in that bin over there." I looked over and saw an over-flowing black trash can. There were books spilling over the top of it and even some haphazardly tossed on the floor next to it. That was the day I decided to sell my used textbooks online. Best move I ever made.... till I figured out another system.

 

[El Roranous]

Another system I would like to see implemented but I don't really know how it's possible is for the income of your parents not to be counted on your federal aid application if they do not really contribute to your education.

Every time I applied for financial assistance I had to find my dad and go through a 2 month process of getting him to sign my forms. In the end I always got dinged on assistance because the government would count my fathers "expected education contribution" which in reality was always $0. The government expects your family to help with college costs but that is certainly not always the case.

I should have gotten emancipated at age 17 but well, you don't know everything when you are young.

 

[hoodonit00]

Wow, there is something we can agree on. Very cool.

Shhhh, don't tell anyone. I have a reputation of being a RichardHead to uphold.

 

[El Roranous]

Shhhh, don't tell anyone. I have a reputation of being a RichardHead to uphold.

Your secret is safe with me.

 

[El Roranous]

The problem is there's 2 problems here:

1) How do you control what professors teach? If you control the book, you control the message.

2) How do you control the extra cash flow from selling/buying books and new editions?

1) I have had some great professors and I have had some terrible ones. Usually the great ones were great because they had a passion for teaching and were committed to helping students achieve their goals. They re-energized the want and glory of learning in students and made the material accessible, fun, and interesting. I think a good mix of material in a college course is essential. Not completely one sided. If a professor uses his own text then all you have is one side to the story. I really loved it when teachers would add on or completely disagree with the textbook. It was supplemental.

2) I think the entire textbook industry has gotten out of control and mad with profit. Not knowing the insides and outs of the industry I can not really elaborate but I do support an investigation of the industry. I also think a system needs checks and balances. Just like I think our system needs both Democrats and Republicans because they keep an eye on each other and also help keep things balanced.

 

[Cocoboloboy]

I had no idea that teachers were doing that. That does sound like a huge racket. At the very least there should be a way to regulate the usage of books that are written by teachers for their own courses.

Maybe the schools should start their own clothing line and enforce a dress code requiring students to where them too.