The prices of books are really ridiculous ("SA President advocates lower textbook prices," Sept. 29), but I don't believe the bookstore is doing all it can to lower prices. In fact, they sold me a used history textbook that for some reason was mostly covered in black tape. They assured me it was the same book, and I mistakenly assumed it was just a book cover.
When the paper started to peel I saw that it was covering "not for sale" written all over the book. It turns out it was instructor's copy that was forbidden to be sold to students and doing so would "contribute to higher costs of textbooks for students."
In other words, the bookstore illegally charged me $65 for a book that was given to UB for free. I am personally outraged at the complete disregard for students by whoever decided to simply put tape over the "keep the cost of textbooks down - not for sale" and resell it. If something truly is to be done about the price of textbooks, it will have to start with some consideration for the students.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
