Every semester, students file into the campus bookstore in hopes of returning their books for a little cash. Most of the time they end up disappointed with their refunds or stuck with their books because they cannot be resold. This is a common complaint with the majority of students.

Jaime Brocato, a sophomore majoring in communication, has experienced problems with the bookstore. “I don’t think it is fair that we spend so much money on books and then we only get a little bit of money when we try to sell them back,” Brocato said.

Jessica Moss, a junior psychology major, agrees that there needs to be a change in the textbook policy.

“In my opinion, the buy-back prices are just not fair. I know that last fall I paid almost $500 for books and I only got back $70,” Moss said. “Something about that just does not seem fair to students.”

The Student Government Association decided to address these student concerns by proposing a three-part piece of legislation that would deal with these issues. The bill, co-written by Matt Love, SGA academic vice president, and John Eckert, Arts and Sciences senator, presents a solution to one of the main problems faced by students buying textbooks. Love said that this problem stems from the way textbooks are ordered.

“The way the system is set up now, professors must turn in their book order forms to Barnes and Noble. Therefore, students cannot find out what their required books are unless they physically go to the bookstore,” Love said.

For many students, the campus bookstore is the most convenient way to order books, even though prices are higher then desired.

Those who want to comparison shop with online companies, such as Amazon, Ecampus and Big Words, must first acquire the list of required books by going to the campus bookstore.

“The bill proposed by SGA would change the current system. Instead of turning orders into Barnes & Noble, the individual dean’s offices would be responsible for collecting the book orders from professors,” Love said. “This way professors would be more likely to be punctual with getting these orders to their superiors.”

One of the main reasons students experience difficulties selling books back is that the bookstore may not have a complete list of what books are required for the next semester. Unless a professor’s order is entered into the bookstore’s computer program, the store will not buy back a book that will be used the next semester.

This cuts back on the number of used books that are available at a lower price for student purchase.

In addition, the bookstore is not able to complete a full book order if professors do not turn their orders in on time.

The goal of the SGA bill is to avoid this problem by consolidating the lists through the deans.

“We hope to fix the system as a whole so that everyone benefits from it,” Love said.

The bill, which has been passed through SGA, will now be presented by Love in a meeting next week of the Board of Undergraduate Studies, comprised of all undergraduate deans.

Love feels that the response from the deans will be positive.

“My impression is really good. The deans seem to like the idea and are receptive to it,” Love said. “This bill will only serve to benefit the students.”