Many students will find themselves walking out of the Penn Bookstore this week with a lighter wallet and a book that bears the name of their professor on the cover.
Many Penn professors require textbooks that they have written for their courses because they say their works best fit the curriculum.
But with professors pocketing 10 to 12 percent of the publisher's list price for each book they sell, assigning one's own textbook can be seen as a conflict of interest.
This semester, there are a total of 266 students registered for Economics lecturer Gwen Eudey's macroeconomics class, which requires her textbook. The book's price: $83.15.
Some students, like College sophomore Herman Dodson, who is currently enrolled in Eudey's class, feel that requiring the use of one's own textbook should not be allowed.
"I feel like by requiring us to read her book, she is just fueling her own pocket," Dodson said.
But professors argue that writing a textbook requires about a year's full-time work. The salary that professors could earn by working during that time would be considerably higher.
"You would make more money baby-sitting than writing a textbook for your class," Eudey said.
Communication professor Kathleen Hall Jamieson, who authored five of the seven books she requires for her introductory political-communication class, said she is aware of the royalties issue.
To combat the perception that she assigns the books for her own benefit, Jamieson said she funds student activities so that any economic gains she may have accrued balance out.
Some professors say that they have no choice but to author their own books because of the specialized nature of their classes.
Japanese and Korean Studies professor Cameron Hurst requires a book he wrote on the Japanese age of the samurai.
"I rarely do it, but upon occasion your book may be the only appropriate for the course," Hurst said.
Anthropology professor Robert Sharer said that the reason he used his work for his class on the ancient Maya was that the book "is tailored for that particular course."
His students do not seem to mind.
"Even though [Sharer] is a professor using his own textbook, he is so highly regarded in the field that other professors across the country use it as well," College junior Caleb Green said.
"Since he is the professor and the author, he is able to broaden upon the material."
In the case of macroeconomics, Eudey found herself giving out so much complementary material that it became obvious the best thing to do was to replace the textbook she had been using with her own material.
"I found it weird at first to have to buy the own professor's book, but it was very useful because when I missed class I could read the book and know what material had been covered," College junior Lindsay Michaelson said.
Some even feel that the textbook can substitute for lecture time.
"It wasn't a big deal to miss class because her lectures were easy to catch up with by reading the book," said Wharton sophomore Amanda Ganske.
But students could be in for trouble if they rely on the professor's book too much, Eudey added.
She said that she is constantly rotating additional information into lectures so students cannot just depend on her printed words if they want to get an A in the course.
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