SOUTH TEXAS STUDENTS COPYING TEXTBOOKS IN MEXICO (THEN RETURNING THEM TO THE STORE)

AP via The Houston Chronicle ^ | 22 August 2004

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

BROWNSVILLE -- South Texas college students looking to save money are heading to Mexico to copy their textbooks before returning them for a refund. Jules Frapart, general manager of the Book Bee in Brownsville, said students commonly buy books from him, copy them in Matamoros, Mexico, and return them. An employee at Papeleria La Espanola in Matamoros said it costs 3.5 U.S. cents per page to copy a book. Pasting or binding the book costs $2.36.

That adds up to less than $13 to copy a 300-page book. Textbooks range in price from $20 to more than $100 at Frapart's store in Brownsville. Josefina Ruiz, a recent graduate of the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College, said copying textbooks is wrong but is sometimes justified. She said the government and university don't provide enough money for the average student to pay for classes. "And to top this off, $100 books per class," Ruiz said.

Manuel Medrano, a social sciences professor at the college in Brownsville, said the students' actions are understandable. "We live in an impoverished area where saving money by copying a book may determine the difference between attending or not attending college," he told The Brownsville Herald. "Is it right? No. Is it necessary? Yes." Duplicating copyrighted material is against U.S. copyright laws and could result in a lawsuit against the violator. Some severe violations could lead to jail time. Mari Fuentes-Martin, dean of students at the university, said students who copy their textbooks could face disciplinary action.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

Mari Fuentes-Martin, dean of students at the university, said students who copy their textbooks could face disciplinary action.

Bwhahahahahahaa!!! No they won't. The United States is being robbed blind by the Hispanic culture (not all, but most) and nothing is being done about. They are robbing our healthcare, our educational system, our welfare system (WIC, etc.) and almost nothing is being done about it. Law enforcement friend told me YESTERDAY that all one has to do is lie to the state welfare agency and one receives food stamps. Almost NOTHING is done about it unless someone reports the crime (fat chance). So, the hard-working honest people are getting taken to the cleaners financially while all of the criminal element loads up on the goods. We are being disenfranchised so fast it is breath-taking.

[asgardshill]

Idiots. They could copy a book a lot faster by just taking a digital photo of every page, then OCRing them into a PDF file and printing/binding them. The cost would be a lot lower than physically copying each page on a copy machine (and the spine on the book wouldn't be broken when they returned it to the bookseller).

Kids these days, jeez ...

[John Jorsett]

Not the same thing, but some people are using digital cameras to copy pages out of library books, if all they need are a few for reference material. Sure beats finding a photocopy machine and paying for a paper copy. This'll really become common as more and more cameraphones come into use.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

Hmmmm...thanks for the tip. It would be my guess they can't afford a digital camera. Perhaps we could persuade the stores to give those away....?

[RightWhale]

Textbooks have become a goldmine for some textbook publishers. The books are far too expensive, new editions are far too frequent, and white space, book weight, and color ink do not make up for poor bindings. There are a lot of typos, too.

[EggsAckley]

She said the government and university don't provide enough money for the average student to pay for classes.

The government and university?? When I was in college I paid for my books, not the government or university. And yes, they are over-priced, and when sold back as used, the students don't get nearly enough. But......how are the government and university part of it?

[The Raven]

>>Manuel Medrano, a social sciences professor at the college in Brownsville, said the students' actions are understandable

Good role model

[LonghornFreeper]

I have to say that the textbook industry has brought this on themselves. They print new editions of engineering textbooks almost every year, which have little or no real difference, but they change up all the homework problems so you are screwed if you have a slightly older edition. Often the professor who teaches the course is involved in the production of the textbook (sometimes even as the writer) so he has a vested interest in forcing students to buy a new $130 textbook each year instead of buying a used one much cheaper.

[asgardshill]

It would be my guess they can't afford a digital camera.

One camera, many hands ...

[Melas]

Do the current crop of camera phones have sufficient resolution that you could read the letters if you photographed a page out of a book?

[JenB]

Amen to that.

Fortunately, I got four of my five required texts (for three classes) used, which saved about 40% per text. But I still paid over $300 for them. I'm in Computer Science; our textbooks are ridiculously priced and the professors only ever teach chapters 1-6, plus a random third of the remaining chapters, anyway.

I am so glad once I start taking higher graduate level courses, the textbooks go away.

[Penner]

Josefina Ruiz, a recent graduate of the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College, said copying textbooks is wrong but is sometimes justified. She said the government and university don't provide enough money for the average student to pay for classes. "And to top this off, $100 books per class," Ruiz said.

[Mike1973]

I totally agree. I am in college full time and new books cost me around 100 dollars per class. They come out with new editions every few years, and the editions that they do have are filled with easily correctible errors. Not to mention the times where entire sections of the books are missing, and you have to go to the bookstore for paper inserts to cover the lost pages. Also, some of the really bad professors will have you buy books that they have written themselves. I think that people ripping off the textbook companies are way over due. Also, there is really no need to leave your computer when researching for papers, most libraries have online databases for their periodicals that goes back to the mid-80's. Ebscohost comes to mind.

[elli1]

Students at Wisconsin state universities buy very few books...a ''text rental fee'' is included in tuition. Some profs require outside purchased material but as a general rule are very sensitive as to the costs of these materials.

[fella]

Our education system has been turned into a giant RICO scam perpetrated on our students at the tax payers expense.

[John Jorsett]

There are some that have mexapixel resolution, and those would be good enough. Photographic capability is an afterthought, the optics are lousy, and the picture wouldn't be anything to write home about, but it would be readable.

[spodefly]

The more "Mexicanized" the US becomes, the less laws matter.

[Phsstpok]

asgardshill wrote:

Idiots. They could copy a book a lot faster by just taking a digital photo of every page, then OCRing them into a PDF file and printing/binding them. The cost would be a lot lower than physically copying each page on a copy machine (and the spine on the book wouldn't be broken when they returned it to the bookseller).

Kids these days, jeez ...

and MeneMeneTekelUpharsin replied:

Hmmmm...thanks for the tip. It would be my guess they can't afford a digital camera. Perhaps we could persuade the stores to give those away....?

At "less than $13 to copy a 300-page book" it would be real easy to get 10 students together and buy one of these.  They could then go into business providing PDF files for either printing or electronic use (Acrobat works on PDAs just fine).  American entrepreneurial spirit strike a blow against the leftist education oligarchy.  I wonder how many of the publishers and academics who would lose royalties from this little scheme object to the whole capitalist system?  Well, from each according to their ability, to each according to their needs, I say.  Of course, ascribing the ability to produce a worthwhile textbook to some of these academics is a bit unrealistic.

Now this is from HP, so obviously not the lowest cost option:

Price:
$79.99*

HP Scanjet 3670 digital flatbed scanner

•	Enhanced resolution: Up to 999,999-enhanced dpi (The maximum dpi at which you can scan is limited by available computer memory, disk space, and other system factors.)
•	Optical resolution: 1200 x 1200 dpi
•	Automatic document feeder: None
•	Task speed: 4 x 6 photo to Word: less than 44 sec; OCR: less than 43 sec; 4 x 6 photo to e-mail: 23 sec
•	Interfaces: USB (compatible with USB 2.0 specifications)

But I like this more expensive HP.  Why?  It's cooler.

Price:
$129.99*

HP Scanjet 4600 see-thru flatbed scanner

•	Enhanced resolution: 2400 x 2400 dpi (The maximum dpi at which you can scan is limited by available computer memory, disk space, and other system factors.)
•	Optical resolution: 2400 x 2400 dpi
•	Automatic document feeder:
•	Task speed: 4 x 6 photo to Word: 27 sec; OCR: 32 sec; 4 x 6 photo to e-mail: 22 sec
•	Interfaces: 1 Hi-Speed USB (compatible with USB 2.0 specifications)

 

 

 

Idiots. They could copy a book a lot faster by just taking a digital photo of every page, then OCRing them into a PDF file and printing/binding them. The cost would be a lot lower than physically copying each page on a copy machine (and the spine on the book wouldn't be broken when they returned it to the bookseller).

Kids these days, jeez ...

[Fiddlstix]

BTTT

[asgardshill]

At "less than $13 to copy a 300-page book" it would be real easy to get 10 students together and buy one of these.

Not to mention putting those PDF files on EBay at a fire sale price. I'm normally "Mister Copyright Defender" myself, but even used textbooks are pretty steep in price at college bookstores, and the marketplace has a way of adjusting to the conditions.