The bill would also ban textbook makers from jacking up prices by bundling unnecessary CDs and other extras. Finally, schools would be required to publish a list of required books long before the start of classes so students could avail themselves of the free market and ferret out the cheapest prices.

Faculty should also be doing their part. Instead of assigning two expensive books and using just a few chapters of each, professors should order custom books with only the chapters they intend to assign.

Congress, though, should do what it can, because mounting textbook prices are one of a number of factors that are pushing higher education further out of reach of many young people.

That Textbook Costs How Much? $200? [NYT]
Make Textbooks Affordable [Campaign to Reduce College Textbook Costs]
H.R. 4137 - The College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007 [THOMAS]
Write Your Senator
Write Your Representative
PREVIOUSLY: How To Write To Congress
(Photo: Getty)

Reports CNN, "He says he didn't realize his candy purchase was against the rules — although he did notice the student selling the Skittles on February 26 was being secretive."

New Haven sounds sort of like that little town in Footloose, only against candy instead of dancing. Also, candy will make you chubby and give you Ren and Stimpy teeth, whereas we know from television that dancing will bring you fame and make you live forever.

(Thanks to MissBrooke!)

"Student suspended for buying Skittles at school" [CNN]

The fourth graders squirmed in their seats, waiting for their prizes. In a few minutes, they would learn how much money they had earned for their scores on recent reading and math exams. Some would receive nearly $50 for acing the standardized tests, a small fortune for many at this school, P.S. 188 on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

The children were unaware that their teacher, Ruth Lopez, also stood to gain financially from their achievement. If students show marked improvement on state tests during the school year, each teacher at Public School 188 could receive a bonus of as much as $3,000.

Critics of these efforts say that children should be inspired to learn for knowledge's sake, not to earn money, and question whether prizes will ultimately lift achievement. Anticipating this kind of argument, New York City was careful to start the student experiment with private donations, not taxpayer money, avoiding some of the controversy that has followed the Baltimore program, which uses public money.

The South Carolina Board of Education approved the plan last month, and appears to be moving forward with it.

"I never thought [advertising inside school buses] was a good idea to start with," said Donald Tudor, South Carolina's DOE School Transportation Director, "but when you run a state program and districts request this be set in motion, you do it so they can make a choice. Ultimately, I couldn't think of a good reason why they shouldn't have the option."

For its part, SAC promises the ads will be age-appropriate, promote a healthy and productive life, and are directly approved by district appointed personnel. Ads sold thus far are from local businesses.

"School Buses Latest Victim of Ad Creep" [BrandWeek]
(Photo: Getty)

The Crimson speculates that the Coop may be reacting this way because of Crimsonreading.org, an online database that lets students search for the lowest prices by using ISBN. Harvard's Undergraduate Council President says he's spoken with an intellectual property lawyer and confirms that the ISBN-ownership claim is hogwash.

We understand taking severe measures to protect your business against cost-cutting competitors—especially when they have a business model that potentially gives them the upper hand against your traditional brick-and-mortar establishment. But we think it's pretty hilarious to invent copyright law. And we wonder, do they own the ISBNs of all books, or just the ones in their inventory? Does the publisher have any ISBN ownership rights? Maybe we should create some sort of international, standardized book numbering system so we can replace this proprietary one.

Anyway, so yeah, don't use ISBNs without writing to the Coop first and asking for permission.

"Coop Discourages Notetaking in Bookstore" [The Harvard Crimson, submitted by Joe—thanks, Joe!)

What gives?

Well, apparently you college kids are not good with cooking equipment. The more dangerous fires, however, took place in bedrooms. Consumer Reports has some dorm safety tips you should review.

Consumerists asks you to avoid messing with the smoke detector and remember to extinguish candles and other flames before going to sleep! Dead kids don't read blogs.

Back to school: Is your dorm fire-safe? [Consumer Reports]
(Photo:Getty)

CNN Money also suggests cheapesttextbooks.com and half.com. They don't mention CraigsList — does anyone have any personal experience sourcing books from there?

For savings at other stores, CNN Money recommends trying out studentadvantage.com, a discount card that costs $20 a year and offers slight discounts at a number of stores and transportation companies. However, this student forum offers mixed feedback on the card, saying it's really only useful if you have a specific set of spending needs. (In other words, it probably won't help if you're already a frugal shopper.)

For students living off campus, check apartment complexes for student discounts; be sure to check for other moving-in specials too. And a final word of common-sense advice from the junior in college: "Don't waste money you don't have on stuff like cable TV—-do you really have time to watch it anyway?"

Resources:
www.abebooks.com
www.half.ebay.com
www.cheapesttextbooks.com

Top Tips: Cutting the Cost of College Extras [CNN Money]

(Photo: Getty)

The bags went on sale this week for $175 each and weigh less than Kevlar vests. Kevlar vests were so 2004 anyway.

Still no word on when brightly-colored kids' tasers will hit the market, though.

www.mychildspack.com

Dads push bulletproof backpacks in schools [Boston Herald via Metafilter]

(Photo: SolGrundy)

How will you get your child the name-brand items he wants while staying under budget? You won't. Sander says that to avoid having your child fall into a I-can't-possibly-wear-this-if-it-isn't-Nike meltdown at the store, you need to de-program him from commercials. "We teach our kids the 'disvalue' of brands. We point out commercials and say, 'They are trying to get you to buy that. You can either buy it or think for yourself,'" he says.

Victoria Jacobson of The Foundation for Credit Education suggests (in the same article) that you re-use as many leftover supplies and hand-me-down clothes as possible, but that you frame it as "recycling" to avoid the used-goods stigma. Her argument? Being environmentally conscious is a popular topic these days, so maybe your kids will find it easier to get behind that than the "let's all save money" meme. (And if they refuse, you can try to scare them into compliance by telling them stories of the "Inconvenient Man," then putting on an Al Gore mask and jumping out of their closets at one in the morning. And no, we don't have any kids.)

By now, everyone knows that you can make out like a bandit on super-cheap supplies if you catch the right sale at some nationwide office supply stores and discount retailers. There's also a few remaining tax holidays coming up (Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Florida, Massachusetts, and Texas, as of August 6th). But Deborah Ng at SimplyThrifty suggests the following unconventional sources: your local Freecycle group, those ubiquitous dollar stores, and garage sales. All three have their drawbacks—Freecycle lives and dies on location and random availability, dollar stores aren't known for quality anything, and hitting 10 garage sales on a Saturday morning arguably wastes more money in gas than it saves in scoring that gently used backpack. But depending on your location, budget, and lifestyle (maybe you live in one of those neighborhoods where there are a dozen garage sales every weekend in a six block radius), they might be worthwhile strategies.

5 tips for saving on back-to-school gear [Bankrate.com]

(Photo: Getty)

(Thanks to Justin!)

The 26-year-old has been living in his truck for nearly 19 months, skirting rules against sleeping in vehicles while otherwise living the life of a mainstream student. What started out as a way to save some cash has turned into a journey of self-reliance and independence.

"Even though I had a good job, I was tired of living paycheck to paycheck and not making any headway with my credit cards," he said. "I've learned that I can push myself, break down my own boundaries. I've been able to learn that I can change and adapt to different kinds of situations."

The odyssey began in 2005. Bussell was working full time as a "Mac genius" at the Apple Store in Newport Beach, sharing a $1,600-per-month apartment. He had racked up more than $10,000 in credit-card debt and was struggling to pay for school and save money. So on July 29, 2005, he started living in his truck, with the goal of lasting one year.

Debt drives student to live in pickup [Seattle Times]

Web Sites Challenge the Textbook Goliaths [Business Week]
About Us [Chegg]

"The board of Community High School District 128 voted unanimously on Monday to require that all students participating in extracurricular activities sign a pledge agreeing that evidence of "illegal or inappropriate" behavior posted on the Internet could be grounds for disciplinary action.

Mary Greenberg of Lake Bluff, who has a son at Libertyville High School, argued the district is overstepping its bounds. "I don't think they need to police what students are doing online," she said. "That's my job."

Associate Superintendent Prentiss Lea rebuffed that criticism, saying, "The concept that searching a blog site is an invasion of privacy is almost an oxymoron," he said. "It is called the World Wide Web."

No, it's called a logical fallacy and you sir, committed one. Searching a blog or "blog site" may not be an invasion of privacy, as the item is public, but then holding an individual responsible within a delineated area, school, is. Go back to preventing peroxide substitutes from having sex with minors. And while you're at it, look up a little thing called the Peace of Augsburg.

"School District to Monitor Student Blogs" [AP]