Volume 137, Issue 8
News
TEXTBOOK COSTS SOAR: Study Finds 186 Percent Increase
BY
BECKY BARTINDALE
Knight Ridder Newspapers
PHOTOS BY DALLAS MORNING NEWS / KRT |
SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRT) – A Government Accountability Office study of U.S. college textbook pricing confirms students’ complaints: Prices have skyrocketed, driven by frequent new editions and extra materials such as workbooks and CD-ROMs, and the same textbooks often cost less overseas.
Since 1986, textbook costs have increased by 186 percent, at double the rate of inflation, the U.S. GAO concluded in a report released August 18. That rise, combined with the 240 percent increase in the average cost of tuition and fees in the same period, can create barriers to college, particularly for low-income students.
The report makes no recommendations, presenting just a factual explanation of escalating prices and the cost differences between here and abroad.
But student advocates said they hope having the GAO validate their claims will galvanize colleges to push for textbook practices that help students save money, such as asking publishers to sell books separately from other learning materials that often go unused.
“Our experience is the publishers do not respond to students,” said Merriah Fairchild, a higher-education advocate with the California Student Public Interest Research Group, which has been studying textbook costs since 2003. “Professors and college administrators are the ones publishers say they take their cues from.”
U.S. Rep. David Wu, a Democrat from Oregon, sought the GAO study after learning that students were ordering U.S. textbooks from Amazon.com’s United Kingdom Web site because they were much cheaper abroad. The report concludes that price differences from country to country largely come down to local market conditions and what students in a particular market can and are willing to pay.
As students turn to the Internet, the report says, publishers have strengthened their agreements with foreign wholesalers and online retailers to limit large-scale reimportation of cheaper books to the United States. Wu plans to investigate the legality of such restraints, his spokeswoman said.
The Association of American Publishers took issue with the data used by the GAO, saying the figures do not reflect the true cost of books to students. Independent numbers produced by college bookstores and American publishers show the average full-time student at a four-year university spends $580 a year on textbooks, not the $898 the report claims.
Publishers have taken steps in recent years to reduce costs, the group said, including issuing low-cost texts, electronic books, black-and-white editions and abbre-viated editions.
In a statement, the publishers group defended bundling supplementary instructional aids with textbooks, saying they were developed at the request of professors and respond to students’ academic needs. As more students attend college, they have a broad range of skill levels and learning styles that benefit from a range of materials, said the group’s CEO, Patricia Schroeder.
The GAO’s report found that textbooks account on average for only 8 percent of the cost of tuition and fees for full-time students at a private university full time, but it is a much larger share for students at public colleges and universities – 26 percent at four-year public schools and 72 percent at two-year schools.
Textbook costs have become a popular political issue, but legislation probably is not the answer, said Fairchild, from the student research group that led the textbook charge.
Faculty can help, Fairchild said. She pointed to UCLA, where math professors negotiated a price cut with the publisher of a popular calculus book, and the physics department at the University of California-Santa Cruz, which negotiated for a reprint of an older but equally good physics book that was significantly less expensive.
(c) 2005, San Jose Mercury News. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
COMMUNITY DAYS START CELEBRATION: More Festivities to Come
BY
JEROLD CHINN ELIZABETH PFEFFER
Editors
LESLIE HICKS / GUARDSMAN |
In honor of its 70th anniversary on August 26, City College has prepared a yearlong series of events to examine both its history and future.
The celebration kicked off earlier this month when the Mission and Southeast campuses each held a Community Day, an open house giving satellite campuses the opportunity to publicly show off their achievements.
Mayor Gavin Newsom was the keynote speaker when Southeast campus opened its doors on August 13. At the event, a panel of alumni and faculty discussed biotechnology careers in San Francisco, the burgeoning epicenter of stem cell research.
“I want to encourage the students because City College has an extraordi-nary curriculum to offer and I’m proud of the college and all its hard work,” Mayor Newsom said. The school recently received over $250,000 from the Governor’s Office to develop a Stem Cell Certificate training program.
Mayor Newsom, along with Chancellor Philip R. Day, Jr. presented a special honor to Dean Veronica Hunnicutt for Southeast campus. She was named one of six 2005 Bay Area Black History Month Local Heroes last February.
Mission held their Community Day mid-August to spotlight strides made in many areas last year, including adult education. Additional events are planned at the John Adams, Chinatown and Downtown campuses in the upcoming months to highlight their accomplishments.
“I’m very excited because not only are we celebrating the anniversary, but the college is starting to see many significant developments this year,” Chancellor Day said. “I am honored to be leader of this great institution at this great time.”
As City College steps into its eighth decade of oper-ation, Chancellor Day said he hopes students will pause and reflect on the hard work that went toward building the enterprise.
The Office of Marketing and Public Information, in conjunction with collaborating writers, is publishing a triplet of booklets to commemorate the school’s influence on public education and the arts over the past 70 years.
Austin White, professor of social sciences, published “A Short History of City College of San Francisco: From Dream To Reality,” the first installment in the series of booklets. It chronicles the college from 1935 to present and includes its break from the San Francisco Unified School District in 1970.
“As a historian, it’s a great way to pause for a moment and look back and reflect on the college,” White said. “It gives everyone an opportunity to improve themselves by taking a moment to look back.”
In the future, several campus libraries will house exhibits commemorating the 70th anniversary, followed by a spring lecture series featuring notable City College alumni.
e-mail: editorial@theguardsman.com and metronews@theguardsman.com
PROTESTORS DELIVER INITIATIVE: "College Not Combat" Opposes Campus Military Recruitment
BY DAN POWELL
Editor
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On July 11 anti-military recruitment protesters gathered on the steps of City Hall to deliver over 15,000 signatures to the Department of Elections in an effort to get the College Not Combat initiative on the November ballot.
The initiative’s goal is to “oppose U.S. military recruiters using public school, college and university facilities to recruit young people into the armed forces.” It further calls for San Francisco to explore ways to fund low-income students’ education as a way of less-
ening the appeal of military service.
“It is our hope that this ballot initiative will set a lead for the rest of the country and build and strengthen the counter-recruitment movement,” said Kristin Andersen of the Campus Anti-War Network.
Volunteers took six weeks to collect the signatures needed to qualify College Not Combat for the election. It was officially accepted to the ballot in early August.
At a press conference held before the actual delivery, a list of speakers including San Francisco Supervisors Tom Ammiano, Chris Daly and Russ Mirkarimi addressed a small crowd of supporters.
“Clearly, if we have those kinds of resources to spend on an unjust war, we have the resources to provide the alternatives for San Francisco’s young people who are being economically forced into a war they don’t want to fight,” Supervisor Daly said. “And tactically, that’s probably the best route for us to go to shut down the war machine.”
e-mail: citynewseditor@theguardsman.com
BY ADAM BRODY
Contributing Writer
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On July 21, more than 30 students, faculty members and administrators gathered in the upper level of the Student Union to mourn the loss of one of City College’s student senators.
Osaze Tolo Price is believed to have jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge on June 17. Although his body has not been found, a backpack with his ID was recovered. He was 20 years old.
Skip Fotch, associate dean of student activities, said the California Highway Patrol reported someone jumping from the bridge wearing a camouflage jacket, which Price was known to wear.
Price had recently been elected as a senator to the Associated Students Council, and was active-ly involved with the Poetry for the People Club. He worked in the Family Resource Center and played an integral part in the reformation of the Black Student Union.
The 5 p.m. memorial attracted mostly those who knew Price through one of the several clubs he participated in, and another service intended for returning students is planned for Sept. 9.
ASC President Arjuna Sayyed, 23, struggled with some emotional words about Price and was notice-ably moved during much of the service.
“The loss of Tolo has shown me the impact that one individual can have on our entire body of people,” Sayyed said. “I feel blessed more than ever to have known somone as bright as Tolo.”
Keith Herman, 26, a classmate and friend said he was always aware of where he came from, often speaking about being Rastafarian and growing up on a farm.
“He was humble, honest and considerate of others,” Herman said. “He would not let me decline money for gas after driving him home from school.”
The service concluded with an uplifting song sung by Hapi Smith, one of Price’s closest friends.
Participants then gathered in Ram Plaza to burn the Bucket of Prayers, a written collection of thoughts and words to be ceremonially taken up to Price in smoke.
BILL PROPOSES LOAN REFORM: Financial Aid Recipients Could Reap Benefits
BY CHRIS ALBON
Staff Writer
Pell Grant recipients may receive up to $600 more annual-ly if Congress passes the Student Aid Reward Act, a new bill that would sidestep banks and encourage universities to use direct government loans.
Supporters of the bill, most notably Sen. Ted Kennedy, say that the Direct Loan Program would provide $17 billion in college scholarships over the next 10 years. The money would come from subsidies normally paid to banks through the Federal Family Educational Loan Program, which issues Stafford Loans.
“At a time in which the cost of higher education is skyrocketing, this is an opportunity for the federal government to dramat-ically increase student aid at no additional cost to taxpayers,” said Merriah Fairchild, higher education advocate for California Public Interest Resource Group in a press statement.
According to a study released by CALPIRG’s national chapter, City College students could receive over $280,000 in additional grant monies if the STAR Act passes. The STAR Act currently has two co-sponsors in the Senate and 33 in the House of Representatives.
The Direct Loan Program was created by the Clinton administration in 1994 with the intention of phasing out the Stafford Loan Program. Since that time, direct loans have met with fierce opposition from aggressive banking lobbyists. According to the CALPIRG study, approximately 25 percent of student loans are currently disbursed through the program.
Advocates of the STAR Act hope to see those numbers turn around, but some education officials remain skeptical. “It’s been over 10 years and only 25 percent participation shows that not all schools are convinced that the federal government can provide the services they need,” said Michael McPartlin, financial aid office manager at City College.
e-mail: calbon@theguardsman.com
BREAKING GROUND FOR A BETTER HEALTH CENTER
BY CHRIS ALBON
Staff Writer
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On June 22, Chancellor Philip R. Day, Jr., members of the Board of Trustees and Chair of the Department of Student Health Sunny Clark broke ground to celebrate the beginning of construction on the new Student Health Center at the Ocean campus.
“The new health center will have state-of-the-art facilities and provide top-class physical and mental health services,” said James Blomquist, associate vice chancellor of facilities.
Blomquist said the building will be finished by the end of spring 2006 and may be available to students in June. The current estimate for total cost is between $7 million and $7.5 million.
“This is the first of many groundbreaking ceremonies associated with Proposition A,” Chancellor Day said.
Proposition A was passed by San Francisco voters in the November 2001 election and provided city bond money for the construction of several new facilities. The Student Health Center is the first building to be constructed at Ocean campus and will be followed by a wellness center and child development center.
Along with the construction of new facilities on City College’s campuses, the college also plans to remove all existing temporary bungalow buildings in the next one and a half years, Chancellor Day said.
“One of the promises that we made [to the community] is that we would do our best to get
out of the bungalow business,” Chancellor Day said.
The Student Health Center currently provides general health care for over 10,000 students and has been in its current bunga-
low for about 35 years. Clark has been working on the project for over 15 years.
“This fantastic day is not possible without the voters of San Francisco,” Clark said. “We will do our very best taking care of the students of City College.”
e-mail: calbon@theguardsman.com
BY JONATHAN FARRELL
Contributing Writer
Fresh off the August 10 passage of a resolution authorizing a $246.3 million bond measure for the November ballot, the City College Board of Trustees met on August 11, hearing specific spending details and airing concerns over steadily rising costs.
If approved by voters, the bond money would be used to complete the construction of a $70 million performing arts center, a $15 million Chinatown / North Beach Campus and a slew of other projects originally planned when a $195 million bond initiative passed in 2001.
After the meeting, Chancellor Day voiced concerns over steadily rising construction costs and compared them to what he saw as foot dragging on the part of state agencies that must grant approval to the college’s plans before any real work can begin.
“Everything we do that impacts students has to be approved by a monolithic and unresponsive state bureaucracy,” Chancellor Day said. “They lack the sense of urgency and vision City College has in planning for the future.”
But Trustees Milton Marks III and Julio Ramos both voted against putting the bond on this year’s ballot. Originally meant for the 2006 ballot, Marks and Ramos were concerned that pushing up the timetable on $250 million worth of construction and renovation would only serve to push voter confidence down.
DOUBLE VISION: A City College Column
BY DAN VEREL
Editor
Over the summer I found myself sharing drinks with young academics from universities around the Bay Area. Predictably I was often asked, “Where do you go to school?” When I replied City College the students were mostly amicable chaps, charming lasses and respectful adversaries who attend the institutions I ultimately want to transfer to.
But one night, while passing pints with some people I know from the University of San Francisco, the tone changed from friendly encouragement to the belittling of two-year schools. Despite the lack of prestige associated with City College, I quickly concluded that we would definitely win in a fight if pitted against the “smart kids.”
A censored version of my response went something like this: “Hey rich kid, we would mess you up in a school-on-school fight!” The recipient of my rant replied, with a look of bewilderment, “How do you figure?”
Simple. Not only is our school larger than any other institution in California, but we also have the students who know that Sunny Dale is actually a neighborhood, and not some gay guy sunbathing on Baker Beach. And we know that Bay View is not an expensive loft in Pacific Heights with, well, a view of the Bay.
The point, no matter how trivial it sounds, is that City College is real, with street cred to boot. Just keep one thing in mind this new semester: We are the students who represent San Francisco in its truest sense: grimy, loud and boisterous; underdogs and financially strapped, but smart, savvy and just waiting to take the city by storm.
e-mail: sports@theguardsman.com
City College at Large
Call or e-mail Elizabeth Pfeffer with campus-wide news at: (415) 239-3446 or metronews@theguardsman.com
John Adams Campus
Reconstruction and remodeling of the gymnasium is nearing completion, and for the first time in 10 years the building will be used for its intended purpose. The upper level of the gymnasium, estimated to be open by mid-semester, will host the campus’ Tai Chi and dance classes. The lower level, already completed, will be the new home of the Cardiovascular, Phlebotomy and Pharmacy Technician programs. According to Management Assistant Joe Kelleher, all of the campus’ health care programs are currently full.
Castro/Valencia
Counseling services are now available for continuing students on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings in addition to regular daytime hours. The expanded schedule aims to accommodate students at the Castro/Valencia campus, which only offers classes at night. Meetings with counselors are by appointment only. For scheduling, call (415) 452-5235.
Fort Mason Center
Currently on display at the Fort Mason Center’s Café Gallery, the paintings, ceramics and drawings created by students during the summer semester will be taken down soon to make way for new fall creations. New classes this semester include Alternative Finishes for Ceramics, as well as new courses in jewelrydesign and watercolor painting.
LGBT Center
The Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Studies Department acquired its first full-time instructor in five years. Filling the vacancy is Stanford University doctorate Ardel Thomas. Her work with service learning and Bay Area community groups made Thomas the strongest candidate. Issues in Lesbian Relationships is the first course she will teach at the LGBT Center.
Short Cuts
Citywide WiFi
San Francisco legislature is working to realize the goal they set last year of providing free or low-cost wireless Internet to the entire city. “We will not stop until every San Franciscan has access to free wireless Internet service,” Mayor Newsom said in his October state of the city address. “These technologies will connect our residents to the skills and the jobs of the new economy.”
Online Parking Permits
Students no longer have to stand in long lines to purchase City College parking permits since they are now available online via WebStars. The stickers can be bought for $30 by students who are enrolled in at least one class and have no unpaid charges or holds on their records. According to the school, of about 3000 permits produced this semester, many are still available.
Textbook Exchange
The first free textbook exchange Web site, Swapyourtextbooks.com, is being developed to allow students to swap textbooks with classmates over the Internet. Members nationwide can browse and rate each other’s textbook inventories. Students who register before Oct. 31 will receive credit for one free book.