COLLEGE PROFESSOR QUITS USING TEXTBOOKS

MARIO RUIZ/Daily Herald Professor of Sociology at UVSC Ron Hammond kneels for a photo in front of a colleague's book case Thursday, July 19, 2007. Hammond is heading a protest against textbooks, not requiring students to purchase even his own textbook for his classes.

---

---

Friday, July 20, 2007
UVSC prof. quits books	PDF	| Print |	E-mail

---

BRITTANI LUSK - Daily Herald

A college education is expensive. Students must pay tuition, feed and clothe themselves, gather supplies, load up with textbooks -- and it keeps getting worse. One Utah Valley State College professor has decided to do something about the rising costs of textbooks. He has quit using them. Sociology professor Ron Hammond, Ph.D, is staging what he calls a one-man protest. "I think it's immoral because of the cost of it," Hammond said. According to the government accountability office, textbook prices have risen at double the rate of inflation for the last two decades, coming in slightly behind tuition increases. The average first-time, full-time student at a public four-year school spent nearly $900 on books and supplies in 2004. UVSC sophomore Kathleen Moore said she only took a couple of classes. Her total for books was $250. That's too much for her. "I do think [textbooks] are more expensive than they should be," she said. Other students are more abrasive. "It's a rip-off, especially going out and buying the hard copy," said junior Sam Canyon. Hammond was teaching a race relations class last year and had assigned a textbook that cost about $80. Unfortunately for the students, the publishing company released a new edition and none of the students could sell the book back. "All these students had to eat that book," Hammond said. That caused Hammond to re-think textbooks. Now, instead of assigning his students textbooks, Hammond assigns them reading material from journal articles and original research available on the Internet or in the library. Since then, Hammond has gotten rid of all the books textbook companies had given him. He re-did all of his courses, basing his tests and quizzes on the new material, writing his own questions because he no longer has access to banks of questions that come with the book. It took him all last year to re-write the material for his classes. "It was worth it in the long run," Hammond said. He even stopped using a textbook supplement he wrote. Hammond said he would continue to tweak his courses to give the students the most bang for their buck and the best education he can present. Hammond doesn't know if not using a textbook is better for the students academically. "In a sense this is a field experiment. I'm learning as I go," he said. Still there are some possible benefits. Hammond said he can teach students better because it offers flexibility and teaches students research skills. "I want them to understand where information comes from," Hammond said. "It's a skill they're going to need." Hammond said the culprit is not the bookstore. It's the companies. Megan Laurie, spokeswoman for UVSC said the bookstore only keeps 5 cents for every textbook dollar brought in. "There's really nothing that our bookstore could do to make it cheaper," Laurie said. Hammond may only be one professor, but he thinks he'll make a difference. Brittani Lusk can be reached at 344-2549 or at blusk@heraldextra.com. This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.