STAFF ED: Unused textbooks equal waste of student money

Dear professors,

Students are broke. Textbooks are expensive. This does not make for a very peaceful start to the semester.

To be honest, most of us don't mind paying for good, informative books we use to learn from throughout a semester. However, when we pay $70 for that new edition and never take off the cellophane, we've got a problem.

One Daily Nebraskan staff member had $115 worth of unused textbooks. Two more have more than $100 each sitting untouched on their shelves. There's nothing worse than getting four weeks into the semester and realizing you wasted hundreds of dollars worth of textbooks.

And, professors, in case you didn't know, those $100 textbooks will resell for maybe $30 if we're lucky.

We don't mind reading and learning: That's what we're in college for. But if we're not going to get anything out of the required reading, why should it be required in the first place?

So please, before you add that pricey book to the required reading list, think about the options. Is the material in that $100 book essential to your class? Could you teach the material in person instead? Could you include it as a PowerPoint or document that can be accessed for free on Blackboard? Could you use material available online instead?

You could even take advantage of the library's E-Resources. Then documents are accessible to students through the library's Web site.

We understand plans change, schedules change, and sometimes we don't get to all the material you had planned to cover in a semester. But please, for the sake of our empty wallets, think more carefully next time before you fill out your required reading lists.

Thanks,

UNL students

opinion@dailynebraskan.com