The Middlebury Campus

Issue date: 5/8/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Grace Duggan Ashwin Gargeya '08 (left) and Anne Runkel '11 listen intently at the May 4 SGA meeting. [Click to enlarge]

After nine months of drafting and weeks of heated debate, the Student Government Association (SGA) gathered on May 4 to pass the Freedom of (Textbook) Information Bill, which calls for the online publication of course booklists before the start of each semester. Under this resolution, students would gain earlier access to every book's title, author, publisher, publishing date and ISBN number, providing them with an opportunity to potentially avoid high Book Store prices and purchase course materials through alternative, less costly avenues.

According to newly elected SGA President Bobby Joe Smith III '09, the Freedom of (Textbook) Information bill is long overdue. The student body has repeatedly voiced its discontent with excessive expenses of books at the College, but due to the Book Store's current monopoly on booklist information - as well as its relatively late disclosure of this information - some students feel they do not have enough time to take advantage of discounted online prices without risking academic penalties.

"At most other universities, students can see the booklists when they're registering for classes," said Smith. "I believe that it's our right as students and as consumers to be able to decide where we want to purchase our materials. It's a violation of anti-trust laws to withhold this information from us."

Cook SGA Senator Jonathon Kay '11 agreed, "I commend what the Book Store is trying to do, and I know that they are trying to provide us with the lowest cost as possible, but unfortunately that cost is not comparable whatsoever with the Internet cost," said Kay. "We're paying $500 a semester for books, when we could go online and pay $200."

Yet although the SGA easily identified this problem many months ago, the process of drafting a bill and coming to a resolution has proven to be long and difficult, involving lengthy negotiations with the Book Store in addition to disagreements among SGA representatives themselves.

Continued...

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