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Over 1000 Professors Join Effort to Make Textbooks Affordable

One thousand professors from over 300 colleges in all 50 states released a statement declaring their preference for high-quality, affordable textbooks, including open textbooks, over expensive commercial textbooks. Open textbooks are high quality open-access textbooks reviewed and written by academics that can be used online at no cost and printed for a small cost.  Open textbooks are already used at some of the nation’s most prestigious institutions, like Harvard, Caltech and Yale. Textbooks cost students an average of $900 per year, which is a quarter of tuition at an average four-year public university and nearly three-quarters of tuition at a community college, according to the GAO. Research conducted by The Student PIRGs identifies publisher tactics as the primary cause of escalating prices.  Bundling textbooks with unnecessary supplements forces students to purchase items they do not need; unnecessary new editions undermine the used book market; and withholding critical price information keeps faculty in the dark. “As faculty members, our top priority is to choose the textbook that is best for our students.  We share concerns about affordability, and face similar frustrations with publisher practices,” said Sandra Schroeder, Chair of the American Federation of Teachers Higher Education Program and Policy Council.  “Open textbooks and other affordable options, when appropriate for a course, are a win-win for everyone.” Here are some examples of open textbooks: Introduction to Economic Analysis A First Course in Linear Algebra Introduction to Physical Oceanography Check out a great front-page article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

New Report Exposes Deceptive Credit Card Practices on Campus

OSPIRG chapters released the "Campus Credit Card Trap" report, which outlined the unfair marketing practices of the credit industry. Students overwhelmingly support limits on campus credit card marketing, according to the results of the nationwide USPIRG survey of more than 1500 students at 40 colleges in 14 states. The average student receives nearly 5 credit card offers a month and nearly two in three students reported that they had at least one credit card. Fifty-five percent of cardholding students said they used their card for day-to-day expenses. Reflecting escalating college costs, 55 percent said they charge their books and nearly one-quarter said they pay their tuition with a card. On average, freshmen had a balance of $1,301 and seniors had more than twice that, $2,623. Credit cards are marketed to students using free gifts and introductory teaser rates. The use of aggressive marketing techniques obscures students' ability to be scrutinizing consumers when considering a credit card contract.  Seventy six percent of students reported stopping at tables on campus to apply for credit cards, and nearly one-third were offered a free gift to sign up. Check out the Washington Post article printed April 13th 2008 Learn more at: truthaboutcredit.org

Young Voter Turn-Out Rate on the Rise

42 percent of young Oregonians cast their ballots in the 2006 election! (Up from 25% in the 2002 midterm election) In many of the areas targeted by the Student Vote Coalition, numbers were up even higher: In Multnomah 1013, in Northwest Portland, 60% of registered 18-to-29-year olds cast ballots. In Multnomah 1103, near Portland State University, 49% of registered 18-to-29-year-olds cast ballots. In Lane 1315, 57.5% of registered 18-to-29-year-olds cast ballots In Lane 1313, 46.3% of registered 18-to-29-year-olds cast ballots

Student and Young Voters Flood Registration Rolls in Advance of November Election

With a last-day push on college campuses across the state, the nonpartisan Student Vote Coalition well surpassed their voter registration goal, with a final count of 21,850 registered students by the end of the day Tuesday.  18,000 of these students were registered in only the three and a half weeks since school began September 25th.  The Student Vote Coalition’s yearly goal was to register 18,000 statewide, but students’ hard work to register their peers brought that number to 21,850—over 9,000 more students than the group registered in 2002, the last mid-term election. When combined with the 11,600 young voters registered off-campus by Student Vote Coalition member Building Votes, new student and young voters will stand 33,450 strong this election.  This means that the work of the Student Vote Coalition and allies have grown Oregon's young and student voter population by over 10 percent! The Student Vote Coalition is a nonpartisan partnership of organizations working to register and turn out Oregon college students to vote.  The Coalition includes OSPIRG, OSA, Building Votes, and the Oregon Community College Student Association.

Coalition Registers 6,855 voters!

We just helped register 6,855 students to REGISTER to VOTE at the UO. The vote is the backbone of all activism. The more students sound their voices by voting, the more likely student issues will get legislators' attention. The next step is actually voting!

470 lbs. of food gathered at World Peace Day Celebration in Bend

Bend's first ONE World Peace Day event was a runaway success.  Held at the Domino Room on Friday, Nov. 17, the celebration was attended by hundreds of students and community members, and raised 470 lbs of food to benefit the Neighbor Impact Food Bank.