Editor,
What would drive 18 intelligent, driven, employed students to participate in common theft? The ridiculously high price of books, of course.
It should be a big red flag that something is wrong with our system when one of the "most intricate incidents ever" at UNM involves stealing and selling educational textbooks. Yes, folks, these kids are dangerous criminals, armed with their superior - and free - knowledge of basic psychology, human nutrition or any other book that retails for more than $100.
But hold your tar and feathers. Maybe we need to be looking at the reasoning behind their actions. With students dropping $500 a semester on required texts - which are selling at a higher price per pound than some street drugs - books are indeed a lucrative business.
So, are the students the criminals here, or is it UNM? UNM will sell a new book for $120, buy it back for $30 if you are lucky, then resell it the next semester for $80. The student comes out having spent $90 and no longer has the textbook, and UNM has made $170 basically renting a book. Robbery? I think so.
These students were just finding a cheaper alternative to their expensive education and helping out other students in the process. Instead of criminal charges, they should be hailed as modern-day Robin Hoods.
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Bethany Weeks
UNM student
