Government professor William Dorman is one professor atSacramento State that requires his own textbook as part of therequired reading.

Dorman’s co-authored textbook, “U.S. Press and lran:Foreign Policy and the Journalism of Deference,” is part ofthe curriculum for his Journalism 134 class.

“It was quite simply the only book of its sort and thebest case study of press coverage of a U.S. client stateavailable,” Dorman said of the book.

This semester the Hornet Bookstore has 26 required textbookswritten by Sac State faculty members on their shelves, said DavidLevy, assistant director of marketing services for the CSUSFoundation. Five of the 26 books are used by professors who did notpersonally write them.

Out of courtesy to the authors and the campus community, theHornet Bookstore wants to carry works by campus authors, Levy said.There is also a large faculty author section in the general bookdepartment ,located on the first floor of the bookstore.

Other professors use coursework packs provided by the HornetBookstore’s custom academic publishing program. This allowsprofessors to create a supplemental packet of course material, suchas lab manuals or selected writings, for use in their class.

The pricing for these supplemental packets includes the costs ofphotocopying and the cost of copyright fees paid to the originalcopyright holder, plus the bookstore’s margin for textbooks,Levy said.

Faculty, who use the custom academic publishing program, do notreceive any revenue from the sales of the materials.

The bookstore stocks 215 supplemental packets each semester.

“I am only one of several instructors who require thestudents to use the RLS 122 textbook, Perspectives onLeisure,” said recreation and leisure professor Sal Arrigo.”It was much easier for the department to write its own bookrather than use someone else’s.”

“I like the idea of the professors using their own writtentextbooks for their course,” said math junior SallyLuangkeo.

Contrary to some students beliefs, professors are not receivinglarge royalty checks for their textbooks.

“I averaged $25-100 annually over the years I required(the text), ” Dorman said. “An amount far less than Iannually donate to campus development and scholarshipfunds.”

No campus departments require the bookstore to carryfaculty-authored textbooks and there is no policy from theCalifornia Faculty Association in regards to this issue, said JimChopyak, president of the CFA.

Dorman said his book came from the ideas he had developed forthe course and he felt it would benefit his students.

“I’ve never been opposed to faculty requiring theirown books, if they are genuinely germane to the course,”Dorman said. “I would hope the faculty member would bebothered by excessive royalties generated by CSUS students anddonate them to an on campus fund of some sort.”