LA SIERRA UNIVERSITY PREVENTS PROMOTION OF STUDENT WEBSITE. Riverside, CA, December 29th, 2007: iHaveThatBook.com, started in April earlier this year, is a website that saves students money on textbooks. It does this by providing a free service that allows students to buy and sell their textbooks on iHaveThatBook.com's network. After saving and earning students a combined amount of about $7000 at the first test school, La Sierra university is not allowing the promotion of the website on campus anymore. Higher education costs have surged 38% for four year public institutions in the past decade (USA Today). The price of college textbooks have increased by an average of 14% annually from 1981 to 2006 according to the Producer Price Index. This has led to record student debt levels in the United States. There has even been a congressional inquiry on the matter. The situation has led to finger pointing with the publishers blaming the demand for supplements, and bookstores blaming the publishers. McGraw-Hill, a prominent publisher, has posted a 36% average annual increase in operating income from 1991 to 2006 (McGraw-Hill Education, Annual Report). At the same time its operating expenses have only increased by an average of 22% annually from 1991 to 2006 (McGraw-Hill Education, Annual Report). The college bookstores aren't innocent however, with an average mark up of 22% on new books and 36% on used books(nacs.org/public/research/margins.asp). Naturally, students have been looking at ways to save money. Many students have resorted to buying their books online which is generally cheaper. However, students complain about not getting their books on time according to iHaveThatBook.com. The student run website has addressed this problem by allowing students to trade on their campus, thus eliminating shipping problems. It is facing opposition though. If getting students organized isn't enough of a hurdle, now the university is preventing the company from promoting its site to other students on campus. What the solution to this problem is yet to be seen. It seems clear however, that preventing students from finding a cheaper alternative to high textbook prices is a step backwards.