ASUM sets priorities for legislative session

The lobbying group representing UM System students aims to make affordable textbooks and getting a vote on the UM Board of Curators priorities for the current legislative session.

The Associated Students of the University of Missouri outlined their goals at a news conference Wednesday at Reynolds Alumni Center. For the Textbook Transparency Bill, the student-run ASUM has been working closely with the Missouri Students Association, Make Textbooks Affordable Organization and Missouri representatives, including bill sponsor Rep. Jake Zimmerman, D-St. Louis County.

“The Textbook Transparency Bill is taking the nation by storm,” said Craig Stevenson, ASUM’s legislative director.

The bill has been modified for the state of Missouri, but the three main components are the same as in the national legislation. The components include disclosing textbook prices to faculty, unbundling prepackaged textbooks and allowing students to use leftover financial aid to purchase textbooks from university bookstores.

“Price disclosure is the centerpiece of the bill,” said Nicole Allen, director of Student Public Interest Research Groups Affordable Textbook Campaign.

The problem is the textbook market doesn’t function as a normal market, Allen said. Faculty members don’t have to pay for the books, which means those ordering the books are not the same people buying the book.

“The average student at a 4-year college or university in Missouri spends an average of $900 on textbooks for an academic year,” said Jessica Witte, ASUM assistant legislative director.

Professors are also concerned about textbook prices.

“Students have to pay $50, $60, $100, plus they sell it packaged and you are paying through the nose,” said Nancy Molavi, an MU assistant professor of French and Spanish. “The companies should be thinking about students and not about their pockets. They have to think of all the students.”

According to ASUM, Democrats and Republicans both view this issue as a meaningful public policy issue, which has already made an impact in Oregon, Washington and California.

Along with addressing the rising cost of textbooks, ASUM also wants to help students get a vote on the Board of Curators. Currently, the student curator on the board cannot vote.

The only way for the student curator to get a vote, though, is if Missouri loses a congressional district as a result of the 2010 census. By law, there must be nine representatives on the board, one for each congressional district. So the bill, sponsored by Speaker Pro Tem Bryan Pratt, R-Blue Springs, proposes that if a district is lost, a student be appointed to the position.

Appointing a student representative would be a rigorous process, Witte said. An application process would be followed by interviews, with the final decision being made by the governor. The Missouri Senate would also need to approve the appointment.

A similar bill passed in the House in 2004 but did not make it to the Senate in time for a vote.