I know what you are thinking. This is just one more of the articles highlighting a reality that most of us face: buying books sucks. Actually, if you are a freshman, you probably are not thinking that, because you are new. Trust me, however, there will be many articles to this nature over the year. I promise you though, this one is different. Why? Because I am freaking out, man.
Whew. I, an all-knowing Tufts sophomore, walked to the bookstore to buy my books. Now, I have done this before. Twice, actually. So, I picked up books for my first class, and they did not seem that bad. Four books for one class, and three of them were used. I felt like I was on a roll. Then I walked confidently over to the history books, found my class, and looked at the little convenient plastic card. "Hmm," I thought, "Only four books." But wait, there was another card. Oh, and another. And another! Oh my God! There were fourteen books for this one class, many of which were not used! Ahh! Now you can see why I am freaking out, man.
I stood in the bookstore dusting off my Math 5 and Math 6 mental math skills and tried to add up the total. I could not do it. This could have meant that I am either horrible at math - which is true - or that the books were pretty freakin' expensive - which is also painfully true. I had to go back to my dorm and break out my TI-83 from high school just to add up the total for that one class. Of course, because I was hyperventilating, I forgot to write down the prices of two of the books. However, the total I came to for the rest of them, taking into account the few used prices that available, was $325! For one class! Once again, freaking out, man.
Now I come to the reason for writing this article. My first instinct after seeing how much I was going to drop on that one class was to simply drop it. Unfortunately, I am a huge history nerd and was really excited (yes, I do mean excited) about this class. So what kind of university makes students want to drop classes because they cannot afford the books? There is something inherently wrong with the system. Come on Tufts, throw me a freakin' bone here.
Now, I am not a poor student. I am middle class, and I myself pay part of my tuition. My parents have good jobs, and I live a comfortable life. That said, we do feel the pressure of spending this much on books. Gas just went up to three dollars per gallon, we have two kids in college, and my parents are trying to save up for retirement. I know that some kids at Tufts are like, "$325? That's how much I spent on my last Louis Vuitton purse!"
But that is also just a stereotype of the Tufts population. Many students are in my position. We work hard, we are lucky to have the opportunity to be attending this great school, and we want to learn the most that we possibly can so we can go out and change the world. I mean, I could be in Texas right now, sweating and being pissed off that I still go to school in Texas. Also, I like to consider myself fairly intelligent, and I know the factors that go into high book prices, one of which is gas prices. I mean, it is tough right now. We are in a war, gas demands have gone up with the growing industrialization of other nations, and Hurricane Katrina has disrupted oil production in the Gulf. I am from a gas town: Houston, Texas. The companies have to spend money to follow the guidelines in order to protect the environment, while still making a profit and paying their thousands of employees. These are the things I think about! However, I cannot get out there and change the world if I cannot afford the books to take the classes to get the information I need in order to change the world! (Incidentally, the class with the huge price tag addresses some of these problems.)
So here I am, Joe Schmo Tufts Student, about to spend hours trying to find books cheaper online. I added up the prices the books I need for my four classes, and the grand total is $654.45 (approximately, because knowing me, I made some mistakes). That total does not even include another class that I want to add. I spent less over four days in Paris, excluding airfare. I am still in shock, and I am still freaking out (man).
I think it is time for the University to take some responsibility for this outrageous burden. I want to learn, but how much more is it going to cost me? I do not want to feel guilty about spending so much money on books. I went to a private high school on a half scholarship, and they paid for my books. I understand that this would be a huge cost for the school, but if you cannot afford the books, you just cannot afford the books. That's all there is to it. And again, what kind of place makes kids want to drop the class simply because of the book price? So President Bacow, if you are out there, please try to do something about this outrageous problem. Thanks everyone for listening to me vent. If you want to find me, I will probably be at my computer, trying to find cheaper books. Also, probably crying. And, of course, freaking out.
-- Meredith Pickett is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major.
