Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group is reaching out to students and lawmakers about the high cost of textbooks and are trying to fight it.
OSPIRG Board Representative Charles Denson, along with State Representative Michael Dembrow, ASUO Vice President Maneesh Arora and Duck Store General Manager Jim Williams spoke Thursday on the second floor in the Duck Store about a newly released report delineating their ongoing efforts to promote more moderate coursebook prices.
The report, titled “A Cover to Cover Solution,” notes that increasing textbook prices can deter students of lower socioeconomic statuses from attending college and often places an unfair amount of power into the hands of large, wealthy book publishers.
“The average student spends $900 per year on textbooks, which increases at roughly four times the rate of inflation,” Denson said.
The speakers presented the current status of federal and state textbook affordability laws, including the federal Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 and Oregon State Senate Bill 365, adopted by the legislature in 2007. This legislation requires college textbook publishers to afford professors the option of ordering each component of book bundles separately, which works to save students from buying unnecessary supplementary course materials.
Other cost-saving strategies were discussed in the conference, including the prospect of state-wide bulk book purchasing, used book exchanges and open-source course materials.
“The next step to making textbooks more affordable is to support open-source textbooks,” Arora said. “However, since three-quarters of students surveyed (in the report) prefer print textbooks, it is important to have both print and digital formats available.”
In addition to his work in Oregon politics, Dembrow has also taught English literature classes for the past two decades at Portland Community College, where he has witnessed the problems surrounding textbook affordability firsthand.
“This is a huge issue, especially for the students I teach,” Dembrow said. “Sometimes their textbooks cost more than the tuition for their actual classes.”
The OSPIRG press conference marked the first in a series of events to bolster OSPIRG’s presence on campus.
OSPIRG came under fire during the 2008-2009 academic year when the ASUO discontinued its contract after the Athletics and Contracts Finance Committee decided the group sent too much incidental fee money towards off-campus issues that did not directly pertain to students. The group attempted to regain student funding last year, requesting a new $117,000 budget contract from the ASUO, but was denied. OSPIRG has since worked to redevelop its image in the eyes of students. According to its website, OSPIRG’s mission is to amplify student voices on topics including health care, environmental issues and consumer protection in legislation.
 
[email protected]