I cannot say that I share the same sentiments as Andrew Edwards expressed in Friday’s column (“No pages no punch,” ODE, Feb. 27). In fact, after reading Edwards’ article, I couldn’t wait to get home and check out the new Amazon Kindle 2. I was quite surprised that I didn’t know about this product sooner, and this sudden epiphany got me thinking enviro-nomically. Then, I realized the Kindle 2 could provide students relief from the University’s constantly rising tuition costs, and that’s the basis of this letter.
Because higher-ed tuition only has one direction – up, up, up (there’s actually no such thing as a tuition decrease) – students need some way to lower their overall expenses. Well, the Kindle 2 could do just that for the University of Oregon and many other academic institutions around the nation. Here’s how:
Keeping in mind that much of students’ mandatory course materials cost anywhere from $50 to $200 per class, and a full-time course load generally consists of three four-credit classes, a term’s worth of books typically costs somewhere between $150 and $600.
Now, consider the math above while we look at what it takes to earn a bachelor’s degree. Most bachelor of science or bachelor of arts degrees require 180 credits. So, if a student takes 12 credits per term, it will take him or her 15 terms to complete a degree.
Here’s where the real math begins. A student taking three four-credit courses who pays $50 to $200 for books in each class will pay anywhere from $150 to $600 for books each term. Over 15 terms, that amounts to $2,250 to $9,000 just for books, and the chances are that students’ cumulative expenses will be weighted more toward the higher end of that spectrum.
But, what if University students bought a new Amazon Kindle 2 for $350 (or less, if the University negotiates a deal), and our $50 to $200 worth of individual class course materials drops to a $20 standard per class?
In the first term, expenses would be $350 for the device and $20 x three (for the classes), making it a total of $410. That’s a lot of money, but hold on for just a second. Over 15 terms, all the text-based material a student needs would cost a mere $900, and even with the $350 premium on the new Kindle 2, this device could save a student anywhere from $1,000 to $8,000.
And to make things even better, this cool little device is eco-friendly, but I’ll let you read about that somewhere else.
Granted there will be no buy-back of this electronic material. But, how much do students’ books depreciate as soon as they leave the Duck Store? Let’s put it this way: We’ll still be saving money with the Kindle 2. And, considering that it can hold more than 1,500 books worth of material, we’ll still be able refresh ourselves in everything we’re studying now, several years down the road.
Frankly, I think we, the student body, need to advocate for something that can offer us this kind of savings, demanding that our course materials can be made available to us in this format. After all, there are only three things you can guarantee in life: one, death; two, taxes; and three, that higher education will bleed you for every cent you’re worth if you don’t do anything about all the money they’re taking away from you every term.
Evan Nehring
University undergraduate
[email protected]