I read Reggie Ellis’ article in the paper, and I agreewholeheartedly (“CSUs de-grade students,” Feb. 1, The Daily Aztec).
I am the transfer student you described. Last semester was
my first at a “real” university and I took what I considered to bea heavy load … Information and Decision Systems 290, Accounting202, Economics 101, Math 120 and Finance 140.
I received what I thought was going to be a 4.0 grade pointaverage, but it turned out to be a 3.88 because of two minus signs onmy As.
I know that most San Diego State University students would love tohave that GPA, but for me it was only a disappointment. I am an IDSmajor, a very competitive field, and it is important for me to finishin the top 20 percent of my class. That would be much
easier if the school wasn’t trying to keep me back.
So, the reason for this longwinded e-mail is to ask you if thereis anything we can do about this terrible system. I know countlessothers would also like it changed. I would be willing to put all myefforts toward this if you know of any opportunities.
Maggie MarkovitzIDS major
For anyone who takes Reggie Ellis’column seriously, (“CSUs de-grade students,” Feb. 1, The DailyAztec), I recommend dropping out and entering a vocational school orwork some menial job.
To equate education with a grade point average is downrightstupid. Grades don’t matter; it is the learning process that matters.Ellis is speaking to the students who party Wednesday throughSaturday.
I was a freshman once. I drank and toked weed, but still pulledoff a 3.1 GPA. I know what it feels like to have the freedom to beaway from parents, and drink and smoke to my heart’s content.However, I was responsible enough to focus on my studies. Now, I am afourth year senior working toward a degree in social science.
In the summer of 1997, I took a cultural anthropology course at ElCamino Community College. After taking that course and watching thefull-time community college students, I was glad to come back here.The rigor of that class was equivalent to a 9th grade non-collegepreparatory history class. I was dumbfounded by the students in thatclass, especially their study skills. It was high school withcigarettes.
If you want to take superficial classes and lose out on theeducational process go to a community college. If you want a moreenriching educational experience, stay here. Anyway, the classes youlearn from the most are the classes that challenge you the most. Youare to be enriched, not to be judged by some silly letter grade.
P.S. To all the professors who truly challenged me, I thank you.
Russell Sternsocial science senior
Boys, beer, bogus
I’m so glad that The Daily Aztec’s delegation to Cuba was able toaccomplish what any normal college student could do right here in SanDiego.
Given such a wonderful opportunity to witness the historic signingof a student exchange agreement between San Diego State Univeristyand the Universidad de la Habana, and to explore the architecture,social interactions, geography, arts, military, economy and thevibrant culture of Cuba, Sunny and Courtney’s experiences werereduced to “hot” guys, getting wasted and going to discos.
I’m all for having a good time, but it is unfortunate that whenfaced with such a great opportunity to document and report on acountry that many people are quite unaware of, they gave us such alimited view.
Perhaps they did do something more meaningful, but you wouldn’tknow if from their article. In fact, you wouldn’t even know they werein Cuba.
Joanne Donahoe
Textbook terrorism
Crashing classes, registration priority, credit card companykiosks, and parking problems are all things that we face year in andyear out as college students. However, I think one thing is gettingprogressively worse.
Textbook buyback is such a scam! You buy a book new for $80, useit four months, but have to sell it back between $12 and $40. Thenthe same book is put up for sale again for $50 to $70. Somewhere inthere, the bookstore is profiting between $10 and $58 for every book!
The book publisher who produces the books knows this. They knowthey are not able to sell you their new $80 book because thebookstore sold you a used one for $10 less. They also see that thebookstore is making a bundle by marking up used books and resellingthem.
A bookstore that conceivably resold one book four times, not anuncommon occurrence, could profit between $40 and $232.
Now the publishers realize that they didn’t sell at least fourbooks. So what can they do?
They can’t stop kids from selling back their textbooks tobookstores. They can’t stop the bookstore from buying and sellingused books; it’s probably the only thing that keeps them open.
They can’t put out a new edition every semester because theprofessors will have to make new lesson plans; and you can’tdiscontent the dealer that pushes your product.
So, here’s the big F-U … they start putting out loose-leaf textsthat students can’t sell back under the guise of saving the studentmoney.
My new Marketing 370 book is a loose leaf-text and it says righton the shrink-wrap in a big gold sticker, “This loose-leaf book is abargain compared to the price of a hard cover text”. The truth is,yes it was cheaper, $55, but that’s what they want you to think.
The loose-leaf book has hidden costs. Can you thumb through it tosee if you’ll really need it? No way! If it’s out of the plastic youown it! Can you sell it back? Not likely! If the flimsy pages make ithalf way though the semester without ripping out you’ll be lucky.Then just try and sell back the ratty notebook with loose leaf pages,which may or may not be all there. Good luck! So in the long run, thestudent loses.
What the publisher has done is give their usually sturdytextbooks, which can stay in use for over 20 years in the publicschool system, an effective life span of about 4.5 months. This way,they cut out the bookstore buyback, the used book market, and theymake it look like they’re trying to save you a buck.
In a court of law, this would be called larceny. Between thebookstores, and the book publishers, the bottom line is that, we thestudents, are taking it in the shorts. And we have to grin and bearit because we have few options when it comes to whom we buy ourtextbooks from.
The textbook retail business should be non-profit? The campusbookstore makes sizable cash donations to various charities. Wouldn’tthat money be better spent reducing the cost of books for students?
With 30,000 some odd students spending an average of $200 asemester on books, there are $6 million being spent every semesterjust for our school. Is it necessary?
We live in a glorious supply and demand driven economy. What if wewere to only buy and sell our used textbooks to each other? Sell toeach other in a way that was better than random pieces of paper onbulletin boards with tear off numbers.
A textbook auction, similar to that on the Web site Ebay.com,
could provide an outlet by which we could pass on the savings ofbuying used books to each other rather than being gouged by thebookstores. Worst comes to worse, you break down and buy a new book.
Overall, I’m just sick of paying $80 for a new book, selling itback for $12, then seeing the same book on the shelf the followingsemester for $50. It’s a rip-off!
Discontent breeds change, and I know I’m not the only
one who’s fed up. We need to send a message to the school, thebookstores, the publishers, whoever, that we’ve just about hadenough.
Matt BecklinIDS senior
