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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 30, 1991)
\ . • i . . . „• r. -• e affl"". ' . ,. . & a x »>.' i?^ . .• ■ I --- -------- -Y -g USLlLy -g p^stc-1 90/62 I ■ J _ yh^jggCE^ J Today, partly sunny with I I M^g^gH ■ ^F" «•: |^B ^ northeast winds 5-10 miles I Cl ^B |Plj|fe v^<$\ per hour- Tonight, mostly ■ V ■ ■ ■ J ^ clear. Saturday, mostly sunny JL ^|^^|^/JLCJL^JlVCJLJL l IL-f f.^. ,_J «*»*»n""»'°»«0» Pizza vs. books Publishers defend soaring textbook prices .I By Wendy Navratil Senior Reporter College textbook publishers, deemed the reproachable vil lains behind the high price tags on textbooks, argue that those prices do not translate into big profits for them. Two college textbook publishers credited the high production costs of effective texts and competition from the used book market with the prices students rant and rave over at the start of each semester. Textbook prices are not high, they addea, when compared to other costs facing the college student and con sumer. Lynne Williams, vice president and director of sales, marketing and fi nance at St. Martin’s Press in New York, said textbook prices are not high in relation to other costs college students seem more willing to accept. “In relation to tuition, blue jeans and pizza, I don’t think textbook prices are high. And a book lasts an entire semester — a pizza doesn’t.” Richard Mastrovich, manager of customer relations at John Wiley & Sons in New York, said he didn’t believe textbook prices were “out of line with other consumer prices.” The Consumer Price Index, used to calculate the annual rate of infla tion, indicates that college tuition costs between 1980 and 1990 increased faster than the cost of school books and supplies, said Merlin Erickson, re search associate at the UNL Bureau of Business Research. However, increases in both tuition and the cost of school books and supplies between 1980 and 1990 far exceeded the rate of inflation as de termined by the CPI, he said. “School books and supplies” is the category of the CPI that includes college textbook prices. Prices for school books and sup plies increased about 138 percent from 1980 to 1990 while college tuition increased about 146 percent, accord ing to estimates Erickson made based on the CPI. In that same 10-ycar pe riod, consumer prices increased only 58.6 percent. Mastrovich and Williams said changes made in the design and con tent of textbooks explain price in creases. In recent years, Mastrovich said, changes in teaching methodology have prompted extensive use of more elabo rate textbooks by both faculty and students. “Today, there is much more leach ing done in the classroom as opposed to lecturing,” Mastrovich said. “There’s much more of a hand-holding ap proach.” Mastrovich said instructors are taking into account different students’ learning habits — they attempt to present the material to students through a variety of channels. Publishers, including Wiley, whose largest market is math and science books, have responded by adding videotapes, si ides, transparencies and lecture notes to the textbook package they offer, “Faculty arc relying more on the text because the supplements make it easier for the student to assimilate the material,” Mastrovich said. Williams said added color, more graphs and highlighted boxes, as well as computer software, study guides and solutions manuals serve to make learning outside the classroom easier for students. An effect is higher production costs for the publisher — costs that arc passed to students in the form of higher text prices, she said. Despite price increases, profit for publishers — including St. Martin’s, whose core publications are in Eng lish and literature — has declined over the years, Williams said, par tially J>ecause of competition from the used book market. “The more used books out there, the fewer books we sell. We have to spread our costs over fewer books — that raises the prices.” Mastrovich said that although prices would have increased even without the development of the used book market, books would be “considera bly less expensive today” if used bodes were not competing for the market. “In the last 20 years, the lifetime sales of any book has diminished by a minimum of 40 percent. You can no longer take your costs and average them over the same percentage of units.” INCREASES IN TEXTBOOK PRICES 1980 English Anthology- $12.95 Sociology- $15.95 Western Civ.- $16.95 Chemistry- $1 Accounting- $17.95 Calculus- $23.95 AVERAGE CO* IT $16.63 1985 English Anthology- $21.95 Sociology- $25.00 Western Civ.- $25.95 Chemistry- $36.95 Accounting- $34.95 Calculus- $39.95 RAGE COST $28.ZZ. ^990 ^ I English Anthology- $31.95 I Sociology- $26.25 Western Civ.- $41.87 Chemistry- $56.25 Accounting- $48.35 Calculus- $60.00 AVERAGE COST $41.06 | Source: Nebraska Book Co. SCOTT MAURER/DAILY NEBRASKAN ' *+ ^ Mastrovich and Williams noted increase profits for publishers. xher factors that indirectly increase -- he price of textbooks, yet do not See BOOKS on 6 Communist Party suspended by Supreme Soviet. Page 2. Not just your average trees. Page 6. Season opener for volley-, ball approaches. Page 8. INDEX Wire 2 Opinion 4 Sports 8 A&E ' 11 Classifieds 14 Grant allows GLS A to make improvements By Roger Price Staff Reporter A grant has allowed the UNL Gay/Lesbian Student Associa tion to concentrate more on providing services and less on raising money, one member said. Kendal Garrison, an undeclared junior, said a $5,470 grant from the Chicago Resource Center has enabled members to devote more time to group efforts. The grant will make up more than two-thirds of GLS A’s S8,920 budget. The grant will be used to finance a part-time staff member for the asso ciation’s resource center at 342 Ne braska Union, to buy more library materials for the center and to help cover administrative costs. This is the second grant GLSA has received from the Chicago Resource Center. Last year, it received $4,590 and used the money for similar pur poses. “We don’t have to concentrate all our efforts on fund raising anymore just to gel by,” Garrison said. Tammy Taylor, a senior art major and GLSA representative, said that with the money received last year from the foundation, GLS A was able to expand its library by 50 volumes and maintain subscriptions to three periodicals. “Before, the subscriptions would often run out until we had the money to get them again,” Garrison said. Taylor said the grant also has al lowed the association to form a speak ers bureau on gay and lesbian issues. GLSA also gets funding through T-shirt, button and flower sales, do nations, and a dance. The association nlso has applied for grants from the funds allocation committee and the Woods Charitable Foundation. The Chicago Resource Center, a well-known foundation within the gay and lesbian community, distributed grants in excess of $350,000 in 1990, Taylor said. Other organizations that received grants through the resource center in 1990 included the American Civil Liberties Union, National Lesbian Task Conference, National Gay and Les bian Task Force, Lambda Legal De fense Fund and the American Indian Gay and Lesbian Group. Grants also were given to local gay and lesbian organizations across the country. -- —* Righty tighty, lefty loosey Tom Marquez, an employee of the Mighty BlueGrass Shows, on Thursday prepares “The Spider" for today’s opening of the Nebraska State Fair. i New program offers options for transfers Agriculture college’s plan adds up to easier transition By Heather Heinisch Staff Reporter_ Anew program at the College of Agricul tural Sciences and Natural Resources will make it easier for community col lege students to earn a university degree. The 2 Flus 2 program is a joint credit-hour plan that allows community_ college students to transfer up to 66 credit hours toward a bachelor’s degree in agri cultural science. The program allows stu dents to cam an associate’s degree at one of 10 Nebraska community and state colleges. Students would then be able_ to transfer to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and enter any of 22 agfi See TRANSFER on 6
