March 12, 2005 - Chicago, IL - College students aim to cook 400lb
book-shaped pie to draw attention to unfair textbook publisher
practices and out of control textbook prices. New CALPIRG (California
Public Interest Research Group) study reveals how college textbook
industry practices drive up textbook prices, increasing at over four
times the general rate of inflation.
http://calpirg.org/CA.asp?id2=11987&id3=CA& In response, US
universities rally in support of student created National Student
Textbook Exchange http://www.swapsimple.com in order to bring prices
under control.

"We are going to cook the books, just like they [publishers] do -
except ours will taste a lot better, and may help draw attention to
this issue," states junior, Jamie Smith. "This is important to
students, parents, and educators."

Currently students are spending, on average, $900 per year on textbooks
required for their education. Numerous student organizations are
fighting to encourage the creation of legislation that would allow used
textbooks to become more widely available, and would put in place
criteria that would limit publishers' abilities to release new,
unnecessary editions of textbooks, without proper justification.

Organizations such as http://www.maketextbooksaffordable.org, and
http://www.swapsimple.com are respectively leading the way in promoting
beneficial legislation and services that may hold the promise of
bringing college textbook pricing back under control.

Due to the skyrocketing price of college textbooks, many students
attend classes without being able to purchase their required texts.
Please visit the above mentioned sites and post your comments to this
thread. This is a very important discussion for college students, and
parents of college students. Please share your experiences, and your
support.