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USAC representative aims to put ads in course readers

By Bailey West

Nov. 4, 2009 9:00 p.m.

Addison Huddy doesn’t always buy his course readers because he says they are too expensive.

“In the past, I have not purchased course readers. I bought old ones and checked some out from the library, none of which are the most convenient option,” said Huddy, a general representative in the undergraduate student government.

As a result, Huddy is working with the Associated Students UCLA to lower the prices of course readers by selling ad space in the readers themselves.

“My office’s mission is to make UCLA more affordable, valuable and enjoyable for Bruins in the past, present and future. This project fulfills that mission,” he said.

Logistically, Huddy said he is working with ASUCLA, sponsors and professors and, in the process, trying to stay within the UCLA community.

“We’re not going out into Westwood to talk with other course reader companies at this point. We’re investigating and learning how the process works,” he said.

Students pay more for course readers than a ream of paper and ink, but Huddy said the main expense in making readers is paying licensing fees.

He said he is aiming for a $10 decrease in price per course reader.

While he said that $10 may not seem like a huge amount to an individual student, the savings across campus as a whole would be impressive.

“There are already schools doing this, even by putting ads in their textbooks. It’s definitely feasible,” Huddy said.

However, ASUCLA Special Projects Director Karen Noh also said the educational material is still the priority in this project.

“The reason professors put time into developing course readers is because they want students to have the correct information. We don’t want to sell some big ad book,” she said.

She added that the balance of this project involves minimizing ad space while still lowering the prices of course readers as much as possible.

Noh also said the team working on the project is aiming for substantial savings that make the project worthwhile rather than simply rushing to save students a dollar.

Lisa Perez, ASUCLA director of marketing, said that the team is trying to prevent diluting the academic message, and as a result, the ultimate savings must be substantial enough to warrant the project.

Huddy addressed another potential concern: “You’re not going to read a sentence and see, “˜By the way, Quiznos thinks George Washington was an excellent president.'”

Instead, he said that there will most likely be coupons in the back or dividers inside the course readers.

Furthermore, Huddy said course readers provide a unique opportunity for advertising because they are an integral part of students’ lives for the entire duration of the quarter.

“It’s a win-win for everyone because we can increase ad sales by offering a product line, sponsors can have the ability to push a product or service, and it helps out students by making course readers less expensive,” he said.

Other suggestions for relieving students of course reader fees include technology that allows professors to easily see what information UCLA has already purchased rights for, putting course information online and course reader-sharing programs, Huddy said.

Huddy said that because his term ends in spring, he hopes to have a pilot program for five classes this Winter, culminating in a full-fledged version in spring.

“It might be a stretch, but hopefully we can gather data and prove it’s a successful program. Something I’ve done in the past is deliver a product offering and hand it off to someone who can maintain it. The most important thing is continuity,” he said.

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