By
Maya Schechter
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Profs aim to keep textbook costs down
Costs for registration fees, tuition, room and board and textbooks can make up an expensive budget for University of Arizona students.
For business freshman Matt McIsaac, who pays non-resident tuition, attending UA is costing him more than he had expected.
"I am living off campus so I knew my rent would cost a lot, but I didn't realize the cost of books would be so expensive," McIsaac said.
McIsaac said he paid more than $200 for textbooks for his general education classes, which have cost him more than those for his major.
A new copy of "Elemental Geosystems," one of the required textbooks for McIsaac's Natural Sciences 101 class, costs $110, and a used copy is $82 at the UofA Bookstore.
"If I would have gotten to the bookstore early enough, I could have bought my books used, which would have been cheaper," McIsaac said. "But I took my time buying books, and now I have to pay for it."
Cindy Hawk, the UofA Bookstore's assistant director of the book division, said she knows that textbooks are very expensive, but she has no control of which books go on the shelves.
"We don't chose the books, the professors get a form each semester and let us know which books they want," Hawk said.
Hawk said that the professors are very aware of the prices and want to find the less expensive books for their students.
"They are very price conscientious and want their students to have all the materials for their classes," Hawk said.
While Hawk said she knows there is a big difference in what students in different majors pay, but she belives the students are getting what they pay for.
"I see that the students have heart attacks when the books cost over $100, but the publishers set the prices, not us," Hawk said.
Nursing freshman Laura Szykula said she has paid more than $500 for textbooks and supplies - which include calculators and nursing scrubs - this semester.
"My chemistry book is probably the most expensive because it's really thick and a hardcover, plus it comes with a $90 workbook," Szykula said.
Szykula said she thinks that her major is one of the most expensive at the UA, but that's not going to discourage her from pursuing her nursing degree.
Psychology, one of the most popular majors at the UA - with 349 degrees completed in 1999 - has materials that range from $61 for class notes to $74 for "Death, Mourning and Caring," a required book for a 400-level class.
"I paid over $80 for my psychology books, but I attend school on scholarship so I don't really need to worry about the price," said Archana Patel, a psychology and physiology sophomore.
Dawn Baugh, psychology department textbook coordinator, said that when she orders books for the department, she has no knowledge of the prices, and neither do most professors.
"Last year only a couple of the professors asked for the prices and chose the cheaper one," Baugh said.
The UofA Bookstore sends lists of books that were used in previous semesters and the professors decide if they want to use the book again or choose a new one, Baugh said.
Jimmy Demos, a first-year English studies graduate student, said his major is probably one of the least expensive majors at the UA, which means the other majors are "ridiculously expensive."
"The books for my own classes run more than $200, and then the book I use to teach freshmen English costs $45," Demos said.
"I'll be really lucky if I can find my books used," Demos added.
Ramon Fierros, a management information systems senior, said this year he is trying to avoid paying for books by finding friends who have taken the same classes in previous semesters.
"I think MIS is about a six or seven on the scale of expensive majors at this school," said Fierros. "I think the medical students have it a lot harder than me," he added.
Fierros said, on average, he has been paying $200 to $300 on textbooks each semester and he gets less than half of that when he sells them back at the end of each semester.
"It really upsets me that I get so little back because I know they are just going to raise the prices again the next semester," Fierros said.
