2008 Woodie Awards
Textbook Bills Could Make Books Affordable for Students
The passage of SB 382 could potentially empower students to decide whether updated texts are necessary.
David Stelzmuller
Issue date: 10/10/07 Section: News
As voters wait for Governor Schwarzenegger to decide what textbook bill to sign, if any, they may begin to wonder what it will mean for the average Fullerton College student.
That depends on which bill ends up signed into law.
College students that struggle to make ends meet are hoping that the College Textbook Affordability Act, or SB 832, ends up being signed by the Governor.
This bill will make comprehensive changes to the textbook publishing industry and would go into effect immediately, while AB 1548, the Textbook Transparency Act, would remain impotent until 2010.
Besides beginning more than two years before the other piece of legislation, State
Senator Ellen Corbett's bill (SB 832), helps both the student and the professor.
By requiring that publishers provide price point information for all books in a subject area, students and teachers will have information about how exactly textbooks are priced.
Publishers would also be required to supply information on how long the publisher plans to print a specific edition before updating it, and list what changes new editions undergo so that professors can make informed decisions about the necessity of requiring new texts.
What is even more important is that it will be compulsory for publishers to provide this information online. Students would then be able to easily access it and decide for themselves whether the updated editions are truly necessary.
Corbett added this provision to the bill after her own experience finding the information.
"I had to dig for the costs," Corbett said in an article in the September 24, 2007 edition of the Los Angeles Times. She is confident that by merely making the information accessible there will be a huge impact.
Campus bookstore Director Nick Karvia also hopes that SB 832 will pass. He feels that of the two bills it provides "more transparency" when it comes to updates and actually "encourages the use of used textbooks."
That depends on which bill ends up signed into law.
College students that struggle to make ends meet are hoping that the College Textbook Affordability Act, or SB 832, ends up being signed by the Governor.
This bill will make comprehensive changes to the textbook publishing industry and would go into effect immediately, while AB 1548, the Textbook Transparency Act, would remain impotent until 2010.
Besides beginning more than two years before the other piece of legislation, State
Senator Ellen Corbett's bill (SB 832), helps both the student and the professor.
By requiring that publishers provide price point information for all books in a subject area, students and teachers will have information about how exactly textbooks are priced.
Publishers would also be required to supply information on how long the publisher plans to print a specific edition before updating it, and list what changes new editions undergo so that professors can make informed decisions about the necessity of requiring new texts.
What is even more important is that it will be compulsory for publishers to provide this information online. Students would then be able to easily access it and decide for themselves whether the updated editions are truly necessary.
Corbett added this provision to the bill after her own experience finding the information.
"I had to dig for the costs," Corbett said in an article in the September 24, 2007 edition of the Los Angeles Times. She is confident that by merely making the information accessible there will be a huge impact.
Campus bookstore Director Nick Karvia also hopes that SB 832 will pass. He feels that of the two bills it provides "more transparency" when it comes to updates and actually "encourages the use of used textbooks."
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