Cheap textbooks and other issues that interest college students blog » new books

Death Wave: a Mystery Novel About Economic Downturn

Eugene Aronsky — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 22:51:38 +0000

In an effort to escape from the ever present bad news that seems to be the cornerstone of our current civilization I have spent much time recently watching old movies, and reading good books.

The desire that I feel to escape to a “happier time” is understandable, after all, we are living in an unstable world, where no one knows what the next shoe that will drop will be. Oddly enough, instead of turning to fantasy or other such genres I find greater comfort in books that mimic reality, reading about the extremes of what could be possible, but thankfully what has not yet occurred.

One such book is “Death Wave” by Stephen Kahn. This book provides an excellent analysis into much of what is currently happening in our world – in terms of the financial crisis.

From the book cover:

“In the midst of a financial crisis one man must save the world with the aid of a maniacal serial killer, his dead hamster, and a homeless bum named “Troll”.

Stewart is a young man trying to keep it together during the worst financial crisis since the great depression. The corrupt politics and corporate scandals…”

If you want to read more about this book, or listen to free excerpts from the audio book, please go to http://www.kafilmworks.com/deathwave/contents

Are We Addicted to Books?

Eugene Aronsky — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 06:49:38 +0000

We live in a society where the value of the written word has steadily eroded in recent decades. This erosion can be seen in a number of ways, starting with the rise of text messaging and instant messages as a form of communication in which shortening words is the norm, to the steady decline of basic formality. Not only are most freshman college students incapable of spelling, but many have to be taught standard ways to address one’s elders in a letter (or an email to a professor). Given such a decline, combined with the increased time that most of us spend in front of digital media (TV’s, computer’s video games…) one might think that the book- that indispensable, tome that has helped to shape our society, would be in decline as well, yet the contradictory is true.

Our society is one that has elevated literacy as a human good, and has, as a consequence of this elevated books. We all have bookshelves filled with volumes of hard cover books, some of these we have read, but many (either given to us as a gift, or bought by us in a fit of passion and desire to change ourselves) will stand there for years collecting dust without having a broken spine; indeed, we often collect books as a sign of our intellectual prowess. What amazes me is that in our world- where abbreviations are steadily replacing many words, we still value the spoken word as an “end in itself”, so much so that we judge developing countries on the literacy rate of their population. The HDI (human development index), an annual report that rates countries from most, to least developed, looking at nations’ standards of living, mentions the issue of literacy as a key indicator of a States’ development.

Talking about the cost of books, this too has changed, from the days where all books were affordable, to today, where the cost of some books (almost anything printed 50 years ago or more) has shrunk virtually to $0, with e-books being freely available online, to the costs of others skyrocketing to a point where one is almost required to take out a second mortgage to afford a few textbooks (this may sound funny, but I kid you not, the cost of many accounting or business textbooks is upwards of $200, and students are required to purchase 4-5 of these books a semester!)

It is my hope that with the increased use of technology, e-books and other media, such as We Compare Books, book prices will again shrink as publishers realize the un-sustainability of such increases and figure out other ways to profit from our addiction to books (perhaps using product placement in examples, If Jimmy buys a bottle of Coke for $… and a bottle of Pepsi costs…, but here I am of course joking).

A book review: Paths to a Green World: The Political Economy of the Global Environment

Eugene Aronsky — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 22:42:53 +0000

Paths to a Green World: The Political Economy of the Global Environment by Jennifer Clapp and Peter Dauvergne is a book written, to shed light on the ongoing debate about the relationship between environmental issues and political economy. Too many times, say authors Jennifer Clapp and Peter Dauvergne, is the big picture completely bypassed in order to delve into the details surrounding and permeating environmentalism. By putting things into perspective using political and economic theories, one can illuminate the socioeconomic causes and consequences of environmental change. This also helps to avoid any emotional or moral entanglements which many times accompany analyses of environmental issues.

In order to look at the socioeconomic factors behind environmental policy, Clapp and Dauvergne address four main camps involved in environmental change: market liberals, institutionalists, bioenvironmentalists and social greens. These categories are intentionally multi-disciplinary so as to not be too focused on one portion of the issue. By taking a wide swath of the areas which environmental issues touch, one can see the big picture instead of getting caught up in the details of one discipline. It also lets one focus on the international and government levels, especially how globalization and the type of political economic system employed in a state affect environmental issues, challenges and outcomes.

Using these four groups, the authors take a critical look at various elements within today’s political economy, including globalization, trade, international and domestic markets, distribution of wealth, poverty, health issues, and so forth. Each view takes a different stance on the issues. For example, market liberals view globalization, trade agreements and free markets as good things which will eventually work to stabilize economies and give incentive to businesses and consumers to switch to sustainable practices and products. Bioenvironmentalists, on the other hand, have a negative view of today’s free market economies, globalization and trade agreements which lead to over-consumption and over-population beyond the capacity of the planet.

I agree with many of the sentiments contained within the above reviews. It is a very balanced book; it does not give priority to one viewpoint over another, giving each equal representation on all topics discussed. The four viewpoints in themselves were also very helpful in making sense of the environmental debate. The book did exactly what it promised to do: it took a “big-picture” look at the debate and issues without getting impeded by details or moral sentiment. By taking an objective view on the different stances I was able to more fully understand the various groups involved in the debate, what they actually believe and why they believe it. It is also very thorough, discussing the multitude of issues involved, including everything from the WTO and NAFTA to different industries (mining, oil, timber, etc.) to environmental NGOs such as Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund as they relate to the issues at hand and the four viewpoints at work.

The lessons taken from the book can be applied to the huge number of different issues, problems and cases in the environmental world, and in that it is an invaluable resource for anyone studying environmentalism, sustainable development or political economy. It is also helpful in bringing light to different arguments concerning sustainable development and creating a dialogue which will hopefully aid in developing actual policy prescriptions to the various problems we face.

Get the best deal on, “Paths to a Green World: The Political Economy of the Global Environment” and save money by clicking Here

Finding Books at Discount Prices: A professors Guide

admin — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 06:41:44 +0000

I have a pretty good relationship with many of my former professors, and sometimes I ask them to contribute their thoughts to some of the issues that students face.
Here is a blog post written by a former professor of mine, I hope that you find this useful.

Professor Colette Mazzucelli, Department of Political Science, Hofstra University and Center for Global Affairs, New York University

The more we teach, the more we learn about… discovering ways to save money for our students as book prices increase. Examples from my courses this semester are helpful illustrations. The comparative politics coursefor the Hofstra undergraduates, features three texts, which Norton sells as a package. The e-Book option is one the company’s sales representative helped me to identify as much less expensive for students. This package features efficient access to content on personal laptops in class as well as ease in note taking and markup right in the e-Book margins. Students who prefer to purchase the print copies of the different texts are encouraged to buy the much cheaper second editions even though new third editions just appeared in print. For those eager to compare, the new third editions are now placed on reserve as well in Hofstra’s Library. The Facebook reference to We Compare Books is available for undergraduates in my different class sections as they shop for cheap textbooks in various courses. Bookstores may prefer that students purchase individual textbooks, instead of packages, because these texts can be resold when the same classes are offered in subsequent years. In the immediate term, however, buying texts in packages or in bulk, as the next example illustrates, offers genuine savings for students. At New York University, my international relations syllabus for those graduates new to the M.S. Program in Global Affairs features extensive reading. This is a foundation course, which should also offer students ideas to develop research interests as the program of studies progresses to the thesis requirement. In this fall’s learning community, one of the members works for Pearson and offered to sell the others one of the required volumes for purchase at a discount price. Another option to keep costs low is to require texts for purchase that are available in paperback edition. In courses with such a wide selection of readings, the effective and efficient option in terms of savings and organization is to assign a minimum number of texts for purchase, let’s say five, all available in paperback. The rest of the readings are posted on the Blackboard learning system as PDF files for students to access from their home computers each week. The international relations syllabus also integrates progressively the wealth of public education materials available free of charge online, including multimedia resources and written transcripts. In these ways, the course retains breadth and depth in the readings, excessive trips to the Library Reserve Desk are unnecessary, and students do not spend as much for required course purchases. The future holds the promise of additional savings as many books are made available on the public commons by universities like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In this era of ever-rising tuition rates for higher education, every option to save counts during college years. Students should be able to afford the books for the courses they pay a substantial tuition to attend. This adds to the teacher’s responsibilities in course design to continue to identify savings options without sacrificing quality in higher education.

textbooks for a few Masters’ of Public Administration courses at Seton Hall University

admin — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 02:52:04 +0000

Figuring out which textbooks are required for class is often an arduous and tedious task, but this is still the best strategy to get your textbooks cheap, b/c if you wait to buy your books until the first day of class the cheapest ones will likely already be sold out and you may have to buy them at the bookstore at bookstore prices.
There are a number of ways to go about finding out what books are required, you can talk to a friend who took the course last semester, or try to see if the bookstore has the information… but the best way still remains, asking the professor. Given this difficult task, I decided to simplify a small part of this process by talking to one of my professors and having him give me his required textbooks for his courses. Here is the list of books that are required for a few of the masters’ in Public Administration courses at Seton Hall University; these are all of the courses taught by Professor Paul Cavanagh this semester.

PSMA6005NA

Management Control In Nonprofit Organizations
Book ISBN: 0072508256

Balanced Scorecard: Step-by-Step for Government and Nonprofit Agencies
Book ISBN: 9780470180020

PSMA7321NA

Foundation Fundamentals
Book ISBN: 1595420061

Grant Management: Funding for Public and Nonprofit Programs

Book ISBN: 9780763755270

PSMA6004SA

Economics of Social Issues
Book ISBN: 9780073402802
Annual Editions: Economics, 35/e
Book ISBN: 9780073528564

The never-ending question, is it better to rent or to buy textbooks?

admin — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 19:17:28 +0000

In recent years renting textbooks has grown to be very popular. A recent article published onWebwire broaches the issue of is renting textbooks economical?

The rush by students to rent college textbooks may be misdirected

WEBWIRE – Thursday, August 06, 2009

Contact Information: Tammy Kassner; Director of Admissions; Andrew Jackson University; 205-871-9288, ext. 107; tkassner@aju.edu

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – College students are flocking to companies that rent textbooks rather than buying them at bloated retail prices from campus bookstores. Some students have the impression that they are saving money by renting textbooks. But research done recently by Tammy Kassner, director of admissions at Andrew Jackson University, indicates that many rental fees are frequently more expensive than buying books second-hand.

Since Andrew Jackson University www.aju.edu delivers its low-cost courses online, and their students can’t just walk into a traditional campus bookstore, their admissions and student services departments have been helping students find good deals on textbooks. After checking prices posted online by Chegg www.chegg.com , BookRenter www.bookrenter.com and Amazon www.amazon.com for textbooks used in eight popular courses, Tammy Kassner’s staff found that few rentals were bargains when compared to the used-book prices posted on Amazon.

Five out of the eight textbooks were less expensive to purchase, based on Amazon postings, than to rent from either Chegg or BookRenter. A textbook for a criminal justice course (CJ316) at Andrew Jackson University, for example, could be bought used on Amazon for $5.24 while rentals on Chegg and BookRenter were $45.09 and $58.40, respectively. The rentals have to be returned with minimal highlighting and no writing in the margins or the student is charged full price for the textbook, according to an article in the July 31 edition of Inside Higher Ed by Stephanie Lee. “That turns a lot of students off as they want to be able to make notes in the margin as well as highlight certain things,” commented Kassner.

Kassner says that newer editions can be cheaper to rent than to buy used as there aren’t as many newer editions flooding the market to drive down prices. One instance she found where renting made sense was a textbook required for the university’s BA 541 business course. The least expensive Amazon posting was $84.94 while the same book could be rented from Chegg for $51.50 and from BookRenter for $$27.40. “But a buyer of the new edition can also expect to sell the textbook for a pretty good price when they finish the course,” Kassner said, “so the actual net cost could be substantially less than the cost of renting.”

So what does Kassner and the Andrew Jackson University staff recommend? They encourage students to shop around and compare prices, including shipping costs. “And be sure to read the fine print if you’re renting,” she cautions. “We also suggest that our students check www.wecomparebooks.com for their pricing comparisons. After all, we’re trying to provide our students with a quality college education at the lowest cost, and overpaying for textbooks just doesn’t fit in with that philosophy,” Kassner concluded.

WebWireID100861

Related Links: Andrew Jackson University website; Inside Higher Ed article “Rent, Read and Return”; WeCompareBooks website

Article was originally published in:

http://takeeducationanywhere.com/2009/08/06/the-rush-by-students-to-rent-college-textbooks-may-be-misdirected.aspx

Avoid costly mistakes

Eugene Aronsky — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 10:35:29 +0000

When I was an undergraduate buying textbooks, or any books for that matter, was straightforward, I went to the bookstore and bought the book, or I went online and bought it on Amazon. If I could not afford the book I got a student loan to pay for textbooks (close to $12000 of student loans over 7 years of education went to textbooks). Sometimes I even got a textbook scholarship, but this was rare. All and all I did not have to concern myself with worrying, and had a complete disregard for how I would pay back my student loans. Moreover, the financial aid department at my school often encouraged me to think this way.

Today things are different. Sure you can still act as I once did, and many students do just that, but the reality is that student loans are harder to come by, and the job market being what it is, everyone is struggling and will likely continue to struggle after graduation. This is why I want to share what little wisdom I have acquired during my years as a student.

It has been brought to my attention that I do not make any money from the maintenance of this blog, this is totally true. This blog exists, and We Compare Books itself was founded because I want to help students. I feel an affinity with students, and I do not want them to repeat my mistakes. On that note I would urge you to read this blog, if you are a student, and please take the advice to heart. If you are a professor who cares about your students, you can share this blog’s URL with them. If you are a parent, or know anyone who could benefit from the information here, I would urge you to spread this news. The world has changed, and we cannot afford to keep living as though it has not.

All this to say: compare prices. It is imperative that you check prices, all over the Internet and at your local bookstore. This is the only way you can be sure to get the best prices for all your books.

How to get the best prices on textbooks for summer classes

Eugene Aronsky — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 23:44:47 +0000

Getting cheap textbooks for summer classes is an especially unique challenge. This is because of the duration of summer classes. A normal class that you might take in the fall or spring semester lasts about 4 and half months, and most of the time the first week is spent on the introduction. This means that if you were to not think ahead, and order your textbooks online on the first day of class, you would get them in time for your first, or second assignment (and if you were to plan ahead, contact your professor before hand, or ask another student, then…)

Summer classes, on the other hand work differently. Most summer classes last 4 weeks, although some may last 6, and you typically have class 5 times a week, with assignments from day one. Given this short duration it becomes difficult, if not impossible to order a textbook online and wait for regular delivery, and no one wants to pay for overnight shipping. In this case most students end up going to the bookstore and paying full price for the textbooks.

The solution to this problem is one that is quite simple, but one that few students think of – plan ahead. Summer classes are rarely a last minute thing, therefore, the same day that you register for a summer class contact the professor (email usually works best) and find out what the required books are, and order them 2 weeks before the start of class, this way you can be sure that you will receive the books in time for class.

Planning ahead and ordering your books online before the start of class has another advantage, and will help ensure that you are getting the absolute lowest price. Towards the end of every semester students start to sell their textbooks online; given the increase in supply and the fact that demand for textbooks typically peaks after a course starts, this is the optimum time for you to get the best prices on textbooks! And the best way for you to ensure that you are getting the best price on new/used textbooks is to use a textbook price comparison site such as We Compare Books

You choose. To save money on textbooks, or not to save money on textbooks : a study of textbook prices, University bookstore vs. We Compare Books

Eugene Aronsky — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 05:11:48 +0000

(From the editor)

Choice, we live in a world in which we all have many choices, starting from the 100’s of varieties of bottled water we can choose from, (all of which are basically the same) to the choice of which electronics store where we choose to purchase the latest gadget at (and of course the choice of the gadget itself). We often make dozens of choices a day, and typically, given competition, and the marketplace, these choices do not end up costing us more money (most bottled water, regardless of the brand costs the same, as for gadgets, they tend to fall in a price range, where we pay more to get more). The point I am trying to make is that our daily choices do not end up costing us money; additionally, if we had to choose from 2 items, both identical, but with a price difference of $50, most of us would obviously choose the cheaper item (this is commonsense!). When dealing with textbooks this is the exact scenario that you are faced with: you can choose to go to the bookstore and pay the full price for the book, or you can choose to go to your favorite online bookstore and pay a slightly lower price, but if you want to get the true lowest price on the book your best bet is to use a service that is designed to compare prices, and is guaranteed to save you money, a service like, We Compare Books

I recently asked our intern to do a study, I told him to pick a semester of courses he had, and to pretend that he was going to buy books for said courses now, and to compare the difference in price between the university bookstore, and We Compare Books, below is what he found.

Here’s a little experiment I did. I went on to my alma mater’s website and did a course search of a typical 15-credit semester course load in my major, International Relations. After compiling the listed prices for the books from the school bookstore, I then did a search for the books on WeCompareBooks to find the lowest price. I even included the estimated shipping costs. You can do the search yourself to verify.

Essentials of International Relations by Karen A. Mingst

ISBN: 0393928977

- Bookstore price: $61.50

- WCB lowest price (plus shipping): $33.99

Understanding International Conflicts by Joseph Nye

ISBN: 0321472012

- Bookstore price: $61.75

- WCB lowest price (plus shipping): $47.23

¡Dímelo Tú! by Francisco Rodriguez

ISBN: 1413031609

- Bookstore price: $211.00

- WCB lowest price (plus shipping): $39.00

Western Civilizations by Judith G. Coffin

ISBN: 9780393926996

- Bookstore price: $90.25

- WCB lowest price (plus shipping): $4.24

A Pocket Guide to Writing in History by Mary Lynn Rampolla

ISBN: 9780312247669

- Bookstore price: $20.50

- WCB lowest price (plus shipping): $4.24

World Religions: A Historical Approach by Solomon A. Nigosian

ISBN: 9780312442378

- Bookstore price: $48.00

- WCB lowest price (plus shipping): $24.00

Total bookstore price: $493.00

Total WCB price: $152.70

In this instance, you would save $340.30 or 69%! This proves that if you really want to save money on your next textbook purchase, use We Compare Books. Please take note, though, that prices change on a daily basis and that the prices you get may vary slightly.

Fight the Rising Cost of Textbooks

Eugene Aronsky — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 00:40:32 +0000

If you are in college already you know the cost of textbooks can be quite outrageous. Each year they seem to get more and more expensive, and the textbook companies continue to introduce superfluous new editions that really don’t change that much.

There is one group (I mean there is one group besides We Compare Books) – or rather a collection of groups – that is trying to “fight against the machine”, http://www.maketextbooksaffordable.com. This site is dedicated to addressing the problem of escalating textbook costs and advocating solutions. They are a collection of student PIRGs (Public Interest Research Groups) from across the nation that want to address the concern of ever rising textbook costs. Their preamble reads:
“The cost of college textbooks has become a major affordability issue for low and middle income students, adding to the potential that these students will either drop out, take on additional loan debt to pay for textbooks, or undercut their own learning by forgoing the purchase of textbooks.
Textbook publishers have not responded adequately to these concerns, but have continued to exacerbate this problem by raising prices and employing practices such as unnecessarily issuing new editions of textbooks.
Faculty and students both share a concern about textbook affordability and its impact on student success.
We must address this problem without undermining the academic freedom of faculty to choose course content.”
Their website is full of useful information about why the textbook industry is broken, how it takes advantage of students, and what students can do to educate themselves and try to fight back. They also have a sign-up page where you can add your signature to the cause to increase their numbers and influence. I definitely recommend every student check it out.

Used textbooks vs new textbooks

Eugene Aronsky — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 04:49:55 +0000

Our society has many taboos; one of the more prevalent taboos, one that has emerged due to the affluence of our society is that used is worst than new. For example, kids whose parents cannot afford new clothes are ridiculed at school. Despite this, there is almost always an advantage to having a used textbook over a new one.

Most importantly, used textbooks are always cheaper, significantly cheaper; buying a used textbook you are likely to save 50%-80% off the cost of the same textbook new. Other advantages of used textbooks are not monetary but still more interesting. As I have mentioned many times before, students often highlight and underline important information in the text so that they can study from that information in the future. This is useful to you because you can more easily locate useful information within the text, saving time in addition to money. That is, if the previous student did a good job and was thorough enough; otherwise you might end up missing crucial information exactly like the previous owner.

However there are downsides to used books. One of them is that sometimes the book condition of is very bad, making it almost useless. I would warn against purchasing used textbooks online when the condition of the book is marked as bad or unknown. Most vendors have a strict policy for book conditions so if you buy a book and it is not in the condition advertised, you should definitely contact the vendor or the store.