A small controversy has been sparked recently by the news that some professors in the English department require their students to go off campus to a private bookstore named Antigone for some of their required reading material. Antigone has built a reputation in town for specializing in gay and lesbian literature, which has set it apart from most bookstores in town.

Although there are certain virtues to UA professors requiring students to patronize off-campus bookstores, it would only take money out of the hands of student programs and organizations in the long run. Many professors have good reasons to order through bookstores like Antigone - including a desire to support local bookstores, the flexible ordering policies that those stores have and reliability. Students deserve choice, however, and professors who only order books through private bookstores limit the options of UA students.