In the Senate of the Student Government Association (SGA)
make textbooks more Affordable to students
WHEREAS, according to the investigation by the
Government Accountability Office of Congress and a survey by the Student Public
Interest Research Group (Student PIRGs), students spend an average of $898 per
year on textbooks, or 44 percent of the cost of tuition at an average University
of North Carolina System School and 71 percent of tuition at the average NC
community college, and;
WHEREAS, textbook prices have increased at four
times the rate of inflation between 1994 and 2004, and;
WHEREAS, textbook publishers add extra items to
textbooks - such as CD-ROMs and workbooks - that drive up average prices by
10-40% and that over 65% of faculty surveyed say they "rarely" or
"never" use, and;
WHEREAS, textbook publishers put new editions on
the market frequently - often with few content changes - making the less
expensive used editions obsolete and difficult to find, even though 76% of
faculty surveyed said they thought new editions were justified "half the
time" or less, and;
WHEREAS, over 700 math and physics professors from
150 universities have called on Thomson Learning to stop issuing unnecessary
new editions of it's introductory math and physics books, and;
WHEREAS, access to education is
so important to society that the education market must be held to a higher
standard.
BE IT RESOLVED, that the Student Senate of East Carolina University declares that any commercial practices that serve to drive up educational costs while providing little to no additional educational value are unacceptable.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Student Senate of East Carolina University calls upon college textbook publishers to adopt the
following practices:
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Student Senate of East Carolina University encourages individual faculty and departments to give
preference to publishers and textbooks that incorporate the above practices
when the educational value is comparable.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Student Senate of
East Carolina University also encourages individual
faculty and departments to submit textbook orders in as early as possible so
that students and Dowdy Student Store have as much time as possible to search
for low-cost textbooks.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Student Senate of
East Carolina University calls upon Dowdy Student
Store to make available to students as many used books as possible.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Student Senate of East Carolina University will forward a copy of this resolution to the following parties: Chancellor Steve Ballard, The East Carolinian, The Association of American Publishers and the Student Campaign For Affordable Textbooks.
Respectfully introduced this
____________________________________________
Abey T. Dessie
Senator
WITNESSED:
_____________________________________________
Benjamin Wyche
Speaker, SGA Senate
APPROVED:
______________________________________________
M.
Cole Jones
Student
Body President