DAILY LOBO new mexico
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February 17, 2012
The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
Clever textbook pruning proves not so clever by Nathan Farmer
news@dailylobo.com Custom textbooks aim to decrease cost to students, while CDs and online content seek to improve the learning experience, but many of these add-ons and custom books cost students more money in the long run. Students in Microbiology 352L were issued a custom textbook for UNM, published by McGraw-Hill. The textbook was purposely missing chapters that were supposedly not needed for the class to make it cheaper for students. However, the professor for the class is having students print out the missing chapters. Biology major Alyssa Williams said it’s frustrating that a book that she paid almost $100 for isn’t complete. “Already in the second lab we have had to print out four chapters that were missing,” she said. “Frequently we have to print our own chapters and bring them to class because the lab book does not contain them.” Microbiology Lab Manual for University of New Mexico-Albuquerque costs $93.50 at the UNM Bookstore and is missing chapters five, eight, 10, 11, 12 and 52. Larry Barton, the professor for the microbiology class, said the missing pages are available to students online for free, they just need to print them out themselves. The non-custom edition available through the publisher’s website costs $117. “This last week it was a student who pointed it out (the chapters missing) right before we were assigned to read them,” Williams said. “They (professors) are not usually apologetic, they just emphasize that it’s the student’s responsibility to go online and check.” UNM Bookstores Director Melanie Sparks said the Bookstore was unaware the chapters were missing. “That was the first we have heard of it, to be truthful,” she said. “We put
Adria Malcolm/ Daily Lobo a call into Professor Barton to find out what the situation was, and we did hear from him that apparently 30 pages are missing, and it’s available on their biology home page website.” Sparks said the Bookstore simply orders the books professors ask them to order. UNM student Anthony Martinez said his Chemistry 121 class requires both a book and an access code for an online program called Mastering Chemistry. Martinez said he hoped to buy the book used, but the required access code made it more expensive to buy the book and the code separately, so he chose to buy them together from
the bookstore for $232. “I know that some of these programs are really helpful, and we use the Mastering Chemistry for homework, but I can’t help feeling like it’s way too expensive,” he said. “I was almost not buying it, because I had a Spanish class where we had to get an online access code and we never used it. Professors need to keep in mind that students have to pay for this stuff.” The Bookstore offers an electronic copy of the book and an access code for $126.75, in an effort to decrease the cost for students. Students can print the ebook, or view it on laptops or
other electronic devices. While some students may complain about the added cost of course materials other than the textbook, student Rachel Anaya said a music appreciation class she took her freshman year featured a CD which helped her in her studies. “I think it’s indispensable,” she said. “I really do. It helps so much with studying and people are complaining about having to buy this extras stuff when in some cases it’s absolutely necessary, or at the very least it makes it easier. How can you study music without being able to hear it?”
Senator: Session was ‘utter waste of time’ by Alexandra Swanberg aswanny@unm.edu
As of Thursday at noon, the 2012 Legislative session is over, but lengthy discussion prevented some bills from reaching a vote. Sen. Rod Adair (R, Roswell) said inconsequential speeches and ceremonies meant some important legislation died. “Ninety-five percent of the time was wasted,” he said. “It was wasted on speeches on the floor, things like Chile Day, Firefighter Day, Rio Rancho Day, fill-in-the-blank day and introducing visitors … instead of doing something for the economy and doing something for tax refunds to stimulate the economy. It was a complete, utter waste of time.” Rep. Dennis Roch (R, Texico) used a filibuster Thursday morning to delay the State Graduate Employment Tax Credit (SB 16), which would have given businesses incentives to hire college graduates from New Mexico. GPSA President Katie Richardson said the bill died waiting to be heard. “It’s a fantastic opportunity for students to get jobs in New Mexico, and for the state to bring in
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high tech industry and cultivate high tech industry in the state,” she said. “We received tremendous support at every turn in the legislative session, … I think GPSA will regroup again next year.” Sen. Timothy Keller (D, Albuquerque) sponsored the bill and said it was heralded as one of the best of the session. The good news is it should be straightforward when the legislature hears it in the next session, he said. “The graduate students did a great job advocating for the bill and so did UNM officials,” Keller said. “How far it got is because of the great job they did.” The same filibuster kept Educational Retirement Changes (SB 150) from the House floor, said Sen. Carlos Cisneros (D, Questa). The bill would have increased employee contribution to the retirement fund by 0.75 percent and increase the retirement age to 55, Cisneros said. “That was an issue of contention, mostly by the employees themselves, teachers in particular,” he said. Two bills that would alter the social promotion law in education weren’t heard because the issue was so polarized, said Sen. Mary Jane Garcia
(D, Doña Ana). Social promotion means allowing students move through grade levels based on age, rather than learning achievement. She said the House couldn’t decide between Limits Retentions Through Interventions (SB 96), which would eliminate parents’ rights to advance their children into the next grade when the child isn’t prepared to advance, and Limits Retentions Through Remediation (SB 50), which would create remedial programs to give children extra help and prevent them from being held back. As it stands, the law allows students who do not read at the level appropriate for their grade to be promoted if parents say they will try to correct it themselves, she said. “The majority of us support early-childhood education,” she said. “I, for one, indicated several times that it’s too late for a child who can’t read by third grade; it’s got to start sooner.” One of Gov. Susana Martinez’s initiatives in education reform was a comprehensive reading program for students in kindergarten through third grade, Adair said. The program would have cost $29 million, but failed to pass when extensive discussion exceeded the time available, he said.
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“The collective actions of the majority of the Legislature means they’re not committed to education reform,” he said. “They’re satisfied with the status quo and being last in the nation.” Limit Issuance of Driver’s Licenses (SB 235) was an effort to substitute the governor’s proposal to repeal outright the 2003 state law allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses, Garcia said. The majority of the House wanted to compromise: The bill would grant undocumented immigrants a driver’s license for one year. The license would need to be renewed every year under the condition that undocumented immigrants keep their residence for six months and commit no crimes. “They’re doing the jobs that a lot of our own people don’t want to do,” she said. “There’s a lot of jobs that these people do, happily and willingly and for low wages. Another issue, I don’t like idea of separating children from their parents.” Garcia said she’s received emails calling her names like “Latino lover” and “illegal-alien lover,” telling her she should be working for the people who pay taxes. But Garcia said the emails aren’t
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