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thewayneALGEBRA HAS NOT FUNDAMENTALLY FUCKING CHANGED IN A VERY LONG TIME!
SO WHY ARE THE BLOODY BOOKS FOR A REMEDIAL CLASS OVER $100?!
I took a class in the Fall of '08, my carpal tunnel problem decided to make my life hell, and I had to drop the class. I'd like to re-take the class. But, of course, now they're using a different book and it'll cost me something like $130 for a used copy, assuming they have any.
Which is about what I paid for the fucking book in '08.
On top of that, YOU CAN'T BUY THE BOOK USED ONLINE AT HALF.COM OR OTHER RESOURCES! Why? Because there's a 20 page supplement in the back written by NMSU teachers, making it an NMSU edition.
Bastards.
Last week I came across an article about Scott McNealy, the former head of the former computer hardware and software corporation known as Sun (gobbled up by Oracle). He's fed up also and is starting a foundation to develop open source/Creative Commons versions of college textbooks.
GO, SCOTT! I LOVE YOU! I WILL BEAR YOU MANY STRONG MAN CHILDS! (a line specially for the slash fans that may be lurking amongst you, sorry, but it's a joke and I'm straight)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/technology/01ping.html
http://news.slashdot.org/story/10/08/02/222200/Sun-Founders-Push-For-Open-Source-Education
Man, I really hope he succeeds. It just really pisses me off that these books are so expensive for subject matter that should have been refined to the point of perfection, but they're far from perfect!
Reading the comments on Slashdot, I came across a link to an article written by the amazing physicist Richard Feynman. He served on the California board for textbook review and selection. The problem is, he actually read, cover-to-cover, the math books he was supposed to review. He didn't meet with the publishers or attend their presentations, he didn't go to dinners with them, he didn't accept their presents. And he found that all of the math books that he reviewed were uniformly crap. He also learned that they were overpriced because the publishers usually did not have to bid competitively against each other.
One of the most beautiful parts was regarding a set of three books. Feynman didn't review the third because he didn't receive a copy to evaluate. He said the other two were fine, so he assumed the third would be OK. Six of the ten reviewers had reviewed the third book. It turns out that the book had not been completed by the deadline, so the publisher sent blank pages bound in the book's cover. Blank books. Six people reviewed a blank book with good marks.
http://www.textbookleague.org/103feyn.htm
Yet another comment led me to a South African project called Free High School Science Texts. They have grades 10-12 free books on chemistry, physics, and mathematics in LaTeX format.
http://www.fhsst.org/
The basic problem, as outlined at the end of the Feynman page, is that school boards are totally in the pockets of publishers and seem to care less that the students are getting financially raped every semester. A good computer book, which is frequently outdated in 2-4 years, usually doesn't cost more than $60 or so. That's half the cost of a remedial algebra book. That's 2/3rds the cost of an introduction to nutrition book.
Some fields change rapidly. They revise information in astronomy it seems daily. BUT THE FOUNDATIONS DON'T CHANGE RAPIDLY. I can understand upper level course books being expensive, lower level books SHOULD NOT. They're exploiting a market because so many people don't go past an Associates degree.
It just makes me sick.
[end rant]
On a totally different note: man, I wish I could have studied under Feynman. He died in '88, I didn't learn about him until after his death. The dude was absolutely brilliant, and sounds like he was tremendously funny.
SO WHY ARE THE BLOODY BOOKS FOR A REMEDIAL CLASS OVER $100?!
I took a class in the Fall of '08, my carpal tunnel problem decided to make my life hell, and I had to drop the class. I'd like to re-take the class. But, of course, now they're using a different book and it'll cost me something like $130 for a used copy, assuming they have any.
Which is about what I paid for the fucking book in '08.
On top of that, YOU CAN'T BUY THE BOOK USED ONLINE AT HALF.COM OR OTHER RESOURCES! Why? Because there's a 20 page supplement in the back written by NMSU teachers, making it an NMSU edition.
Bastards.
Last week I came across an article about Scott McNealy, the former head of the former computer hardware and software corporation known as Sun (gobbled up by Oracle). He's fed up also and is starting a foundation to develop open source/Creative Commons versions of college textbooks.
GO, SCOTT! I LOVE YOU! I WILL BEAR YOU MANY STRONG MAN CHILDS! (a line specially for the slash fans that may be lurking amongst you, sorry, but it's a joke and I'm straight)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/technology/01ping.html
http://news.slashdot.org/story/10/08/02/222200/Sun-Founders-Push-For-Open-Source-Education
Man, I really hope he succeeds. It just really pisses me off that these books are so expensive for subject matter that should have been refined to the point of perfection, but they're far from perfect!
Reading the comments on Slashdot, I came across a link to an article written by the amazing physicist Richard Feynman. He served on the California board for textbook review and selection. The problem is, he actually read, cover-to-cover, the math books he was supposed to review. He didn't meet with the publishers or attend their presentations, he didn't go to dinners with them, he didn't accept their presents. And he found that all of the math books that he reviewed were uniformly crap. He also learned that they were overpriced because the publishers usually did not have to bid competitively against each other.
One of the most beautiful parts was regarding a set of three books. Feynman didn't review the third because he didn't receive a copy to evaluate. He said the other two were fine, so he assumed the third would be OK. Six of the ten reviewers had reviewed the third book. It turns out that the book had not been completed by the deadline, so the publisher sent blank pages bound in the book's cover. Blank books. Six people reviewed a blank book with good marks.
http://www.textbookleague.org/103feyn.htm
Yet another comment led me to a South African project called Free High School Science Texts. They have grades 10-12 free books on chemistry, physics, and mathematics in LaTeX format.
http://www.fhsst.org/
The basic problem, as outlined at the end of the Feynman page, is that school boards are totally in the pockets of publishers and seem to care less that the students are getting financially raped every semester. A good computer book, which is frequently outdated in 2-4 years, usually doesn't cost more than $60 or so. That's half the cost of a remedial algebra book. That's 2/3rds the cost of an introduction to nutrition book.
Some fields change rapidly. They revise information in astronomy it seems daily. BUT THE FOUNDATIONS DON'T CHANGE RAPIDLY. I can understand upper level course books being expensive, lower level books SHOULD NOT. They're exploiting a market because so many people don't go past an Associates degree.
It just makes me sick.
[end rant]
On a totally different note: man, I wish I could have studied under Feynman. He died in '88, I didn't learn about him until after his death. The dude was absolutely brilliant, and sounds like he was tremendously funny.
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no subject
Date: 2010-08-09 10:00 pm (UTC)Maybe some day.
no subject
Date: 2010-08-10 01:43 am (UTC)