Ledger

Issue date: 4/20/06 Section: Campus News

Susan Skahan (right) , UWT master of education student, makes a purchase at the University Book Store. Textbook prices have increased at four times the rate of inflation since 1994, with a variety of factors at play.(Todd Toner)

Noah Schmidt could not believe what he was hearing. While price-checking his textbooks at the University Book Store at the beginning of the quarter, the University of Washington, Tacoma senior heard what surely must have been a mistak,: the cost for his books would be more than $500.
But it was no mistake. Luckily for him, he received a textbook scholarship from UWT this quarter. Had he not, his books would have cost roughly one-fourth of his tuition. Although the money would not come out of his pocket this time, the hefty price tag caused Schmidt to take action.
With high retail prices and often frustratingly low buy-back prices, it seemed to him that the for-profit UW bookstore chain was only interested in the bottom line, at the expense of students. Further proving his point was the choice of memorabilia the store had on its racks that day. "They are a for-profit company that goes so far as to sell [rival] Cougar apparel in our store to increase sales," he said.
However, Schmidt eventually learned that there was much more to the issue. After a bit of investigation, he discovered an industry where unscrupulous publishers control the market by pandering to college professors who control the demand, an industry responsible for increasing textbook prices at four-times the rate of inflation since 1994.
"I eventually sort of realized it's a system that's exploiting us," Schmidt said. "Everyone is getting their piece."
Schmidt was watching TV after he returned home from the bookstore when something caught his eye. "I was watching the news and Tacoma Community College and Bellevue Community College were having protests picketing their book stores," he said.
This encouraged Schmidt to fire off a terse email detailing his concerns to University Book Store CEO Bryan Pearce. The next day Schmidt received a lengthy reply from Pearce defending the bookstore's practices.
Pearce was quick to point out several arguments in University Book Store's defense. He detailed the corporation's policy of buying books back for 50 percent of their original price if there is a demand the following quarter at UW, along with how the typical markup on a new book - 20 to 25 percent - runs much lower than many competitors.

Continued...

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