The Daily Texan: Zinio Technology Assuages Sky-High Textbook Prices
In the world of college athletics, NCAA rule infractions are a big deal. So when a collegiate football program as renowned as the University of Alabama’s is stripped of 21 wins — the most wins ever repealed by the NCAA — and Alabama players are forced to pay fines, one would assume that whatever rule was broken was very severe. The NCAA’s decision to punish the University of Alabama’s football team last week proves this is not the case.
The NCAA charged several unnamed players with violating rules regarding the free textbook privilege they receive as part of their scholarships. For a two-year period, players were requesting textbooks and academic supplies from the University of Alabama Supply Store and allowing other students to use them…
And indeed, the Alabama players broke the rules — but the University of Texas should look at the textbook “rental” idea as a method of assuaging education-related costs for their students.
Another possible solution is an investment in eBooks and readers — free electronic texts available to students. Digital textbooks and eBooks from distributors like Zinio are remarkably cheaper than hard copies and provide user-friendly interfaces to keep it as close to the real thing as possible. Moreover, students already pay for access to the University Libraries. Investing in a textbook reader system could be a way to provide students a constantly accessible interface into the University’s expansive and well-established online library system.
