TASK FORCE: NO EASY ANSWERS FOR UNIVERSITY TEXTBOOK SERVICE

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- A Southeast Missouri State University task force has been "hitting the books" since last fall, but has found no easy answers as to whether to change the university's textbook system.

"The issues turn out to be much more complex than they appeared initially," said Faculty Senator Max Drake, who serves as chairman of the task force.

The 12-member task force, consisting of faculty and staff members and students at Southeast, was formed last October to study the textbook issue, including the possibility of phasing out the rental system and instead requiring students to buy textbooks.

The task force was originally scheduled to report back to the Faculty Senate this spring, but senators recently agreed to extend the deadline.

Drake said Monday that the task force now plans to issue its report near the end of the 1991 fall semester.

He said the group is still in the information-gathering stage. But he said the task force will likely offer "a menu" of varying steps that could be taken, ranging from a "full, free-market book store" to a subsidized rental system.

"Whatever decision is made, somebody's ox is going to get gored and the losing side has to have the sense that the issues were fairly and fully investigated," said Drake.

Alberta Dougan, Faculty Senate chairperson, said that the university's Budget Committee has talked of the possibility of raising the textbook rental fees charged students as a way of increasing university revenue.

Students now pay a book rental fee of $7 per course, up to a maximum of $35.

But Dougan said university officials won't be making any decision soon. "Nobody is going to do anything about the textbook services until the task force releases its recommendations."

Drake said that even if some decision is made in the next school year, it would likely take at least two to three years before any change could be implemented.

There are differing views on the issue of textbook rental, Drake said. Students have generally voiced support for the current system, arguing that requiring students to buy their textbooks would pose a financial hardship.

Some faculty members believe that the rental system is a selling point in attracting students to Southeast, said Drake. But other faculty members want to require students to buy textbooks rather than rent them.

One of the leading proponents of that idea is Faculty Senator Allen Gathman, who has argued that it's important for students to build their personal libraries.

Some faculty members have also suggested that the current rental system restricts academic freedom and teaching effectiveness by requiring all professors to use the same textbook for a particular course.

But Gathman said: "My concern is not so much academic freedom. I wanted to encourage students to buy more textbooks and my hope was that we would also wind up with a real book service."

Gathman and a number of other faculty members have repeatedly said there is a need for a scholarly bookstore in Cape Girardeau as opposed to the current campus bookstore, Books & Things.

"Books & Things is required to make a profit," said Drake. "That's why they sell Harlequin romances and not Shakespeare."

The textbook service is a separate operation from that of the campus bookstore, he said.

At this point, the task force has found few colleges that have a textbook rental system like Southeast. "They appear to be uncommon," said Drake.

But he added that it's possible to allow faculty to utilize a wide variety of textbooks with either a rental or a sales system.