Creeping commercialism

Denver Post ^ | January 09, 2004 | Marcos Mocine-McQueen

[Holly_P]

Corporate presence in college texts irks some students

Publishers are placing more commercial references in college textbooks, especially those used by business majors, and some students say it makes them "furious."

Preston Degginger, who just completed a degree in business at the University of Colorado at Denver, said he gets enough exposure to corporations walking down the street.

"It makes me furious," Degginger said. "We see corporations and logos everywhere we go. It seems that just for some balance, we should be able to get away from that in the classroom."

Pamela Mills, director of the bookstore at the University of Colorado at Boulder, said the store tries to avoid stocking products with blatant commercial references.

"Students don't appreciate crass commercialism," Mills said. "They do appreciate reality. In cases where the companies are making the content more realistic, students do appreciate that."

Though she said there wasn't a "huge movement" against such references in texts, there have been objections. Still, the corporate presence in textbooks is an increasing trend, according to Mills.

"It's very, very common," she said. "You see advertising in things like notebooks, and students tend to avoid those."

Another observer who agrees textbook commercialism is on the increase is Alex Molnar, who directs the Education Policy Studies Laboratory at Arizona State University, where he also teaches education policy. He has studied commercialism in education for more than 20 years.

"It's part of the system in this country where (commercialism) is everywhere," Molnar said. "You're never very far away from their brand, so it's natural for you to walk into a Starbucks."

An employee of the Auraria Campus Bookstore in Denver said students and faculty have complained about CD-ROMS bundled with, or mentioned in, many textbooks. Faculty and students have told her the disks and sites are "essentially spam."

But much commercialism is subtle, worked into the text as examples. West Business Law, an undergraduate business law text, has no ads, but places Starbucks logos atop spreadsheets used for exercises.

Companies do not always pay for textbook references. Instead, they get something for nothing. Starbucks and Crate & Barrel, for example, reach an upwardly mobile audience still forming buying habits. And book publishers need graphics they would otherwise have to pay for.

"It's expensive enough to put together college textbooks," said Judith Platt of the American Association of Publishers, which represents textbook publishers. "If there's a graphic already available and it's in line with the textbook, then, hey, that's great."

But Mills said it was not clear how much of those savings are passed on to students who buy texts, which can cost $100 or more.

"I don't think you could say globally that it decreased prices in the books that carry corporate logos," Mills said. "But maybe it's shaved some pennies off the production of some books."

Lisa Ridolfi, a spokeswoman for retailer Crate & Barrel, said the company welcomes the exposure.

"The young consumer, to us, is someone who is going to be a long-term consumer," Ridolfi said. "We like to start in the crib.

"These are people who are going to graduate and want to furnish or refurnish their apartments, and we'll already be in their minds," she said.

Crate & Barrel's logos and products appear frequently in the text Financial Accounting: A Business Process Approach, published by Prentice Hall. Images are peppered throughout the text of the book, and full- page color pictures of Crate & Barrel products divide some sections.

But, Ridolfi said, she doesn't consider this advertising. She said publishers approach the company and ask permission to use the pictures and logos.

Universities are not the only place where textbook commercialism causes discomfort. In 1999, the California Legislature banned commercial references in public elementary and high school textbooks.

In Colorado, most school districts allow advertising in the form of sponsorships, such as placing a vending machine containing Pepsi products in schools.

Commercialism is most troubling when it is targeted at the captive audience of young schoolchildren, but it is dangerous at the university level too, said Arizona State's Molnar.

He said there are some circumstances in which it could help. For example, he said, it would be useful if corporations agreed to release detailed balance sheets that students could use to analyze and discuss. But, he said, simply pasting a logo on top of a fictitious balance sheet does little to help.

"The company with the products gets advertising in yet another part of people's lives," Molnar said. "The publisher gets higher profits because they don't have to pay anyone to create the graphics. But what do the students get out of it? Nothing."

[caisson71]

It's funny how the entrenched liberal agenda in text books doesn't seem to bother these people.

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[Rimfire Rob]

I'm sure they are getting an ear full on the "evils of capitalism" from their professors.

[caisson71]

They are and we're paying them more and more each year to do so. Hopefully, the students listening to liberal professors will be able to see beyond the rhetoric.