The Iowa Public Interest Research Group is trying to do something about steep textbook prices for students.

Nick Rugen, campus organizer for the Iowa Public Interest Research Group, presented the results from a national study on textbook prices at a press conference in the Memorial Union Thursday.

The study surveyed faculty members at colleges on the West Coast about textbook prices, packaging and editions, Rugen said. The study was conducted by student chapters of the public interest group.

Even though the study focused on West Coast schools, Rugen said, initial polling was conducted at Iowa State by the ISU chapter of the research group.

The data from the ISU polling matched closely with the national study, he said. There are several issues surrounding textbook prices that the Public Interest Research Group is hoping to change, Rugen said. The issue of bundling, or packaging textbooks with additional materials like CD-ROMs, raises textbook prices significantly, but professors don’t use the extra materials, he said.

“[More than] 65 percent of faculty surveyed said they didn’t use bundled materials in their classes,” Rugen said.

Lynette Seymour, manager of University Book Store, said Iowa State doesn’t have that many bundled textbooks. She said the bookstore works with faculty to avoid bundled textbooks because of the additional cost.

“When we see bundled texts, we check with faculty to see if there is an alternative. We say to them, ‘You might be able to get by with less,'” Seymour said.

Rugen said another problem with textbooks is the constant releases of new editions. He said the average time before a new edition is released is three and a half years.

He said 65 percent of faculty said new editions are only justified half of the time.

Rugen said most of the changes made to textbooks are minor. In one calculus textbook, a new edition was released that differed only from the old edition in the rearrangement of some text and different math problems, yet these changes cost students an additional $40 because they had to buy a new book instead of a used one, Rugen said.

Seymour said three years is the average for new editions, but it depends on the discipline. She said scientific disciplines get new editions more frequently because there is a higher amount of research being done that makes old material obsolete.

When a new edition becomes available, Seymour said, the bookstore once again works with faculty to determine if they can save students money by using the old edition. She said if it’s a small class, sometimes University Book Store is able to gather enough copies of the old edition to avoid buying the new one for another semester.

Rugen said the Public Interest Research Group is suggesting instead of issuing a whole new edition, textbook publishers should instead offer a supplemental printing with the new math problems, an idea that professors approve.

“Eighty-seven percent of faculty said they would support supplemental packets with new math problems,” he said.

Constantly releasing new editions can make it hard for bookstores to offer used editions, Rugen said. The national average for used textbooks is around 20 percent.

University Book Store is able to offer students a much higher percentage of its stock as used, she said.

“Thirty-eight percent of our books are used. That is something we put as a priority three years ago when we were at 22 percent,” Seymour said.

Seymour said the increase in percentage was due to the responses the bookstore had from surveys conducted of students. She said new technology also helped the bookstore locate and order more used textbooks.

Sophia Magill, junior in political science, said she thinks textbook prices are too high.

“As a student myself, I have a great understanding of the pressures textbook prices put on students,” she said.

Magill said pressures from textbook prices are compounded by the increases in tuition. She said the prices were not the university’s fault.

“The bottom line is textbook publishers are ripping off students,” Rugen said.

Judith Platt, director of communications and public affairs for the Association of American Publishers, a group of textbook publishing companies, could not be reached for comment.