Cost overruns in the production of a sourcebook have forced the cancellation of a General Education class slated to be held this semester, the head section leader in the course said yesterday.
The course, General Education 174, "Coping with International Conflict," was to be taught by Professor of Law Roger D. Fisher and Lecturer on Law Bruce M. Patton.
The sourcebook, which was to be several hundred pages in length, was comprised of hundreds of articles from newspapers, magazines and books. Because most of these selections were copyrighted, each author charged a small fee for the use of their material.
The resulting sourcebook would have been an unfair cost to impose on the students in the class, said Wayne Davis, head section leader. Davis said that the expected enrollment of 60 to 100 students might have dropped as a result of the price, which would have been more than a $100.
The decision to cancel the course was made in late January after the fees began to come in.
But Davis said that "this is really a story with no villains. Everybody charged fees that were each relatively small, but the costs just kept on growing since we were using so many articles."
Davis said that in other courses which print costly sourcebooks, the copyright costs are spread out among the large number of students, as in Social Analysis 10.
Organizers may try to offer the course next year if they can publish the sourcebook commercially, a move which would defray costs.
Read more in News
Sounds Good, B.J.Recommended Articles
-
Economics Sourcebooks See Price HikeEc 10 administrators--who teach about 800 students every year about the necessity for open markets and free trade--seem to need
-
New Management, But Same Old Lines For SourcebooksAt 2:50 p.m. yesterday afternoon, Carl H. Backes '01, standing by the stamp machine, was near the end of the
-
Glorying in WomanhoodM EN ARE THE ENEMY. Never mind all those smooth-talking partisans of "men's liberation" joyously chanting "Oppressors, arise and recognize
-
Shopping Period: Looking For a BargainIt's happens to everyone. You search the CUE Guide looking for a class with favorable--and less than difficult--ratings. But when
-
Higher Copyright Fees Raise Sourcebook PricesEvery semester, the God of Sourcebooks demands sacrifice. And every semester, he gets a little hungrier. The cost per page
-
The Cost of a Quality EducationB ook bills that regularly exceed $300 have become as beloved a Harvard tradition as the Quantitive Reasoning Requirement. But