Enormous Book Lists

It is that time of year again, the time to buy textbooks. For the most part, professors are thoughtful and conservative when it comes to choosing the text for their classes.

Every once in a while we all get a professor who wants to drain our already small wallets and fill our heads with useless information. I have personally reached a new record for the number of textbooks in a single class this semester. An unnamed government professor has assigned 16 books for their class. 16!

Seriously, if you cannot teach me a topic in less than five books, you have failed as a teacher. Your class in too broad. Stop trying to teach me everything there is to know about a subject. People learn better when there is focus on a specific topic within a subject.

I wonder if this professor thinks that his/her class is the only one on my schedule. That would be nice if I had the pleasure of taking one class a semester. But, back to reality, this class is one of five on my plate this spring. I will not be able to afford all 16 books nor will I have the time to read them.

Please professors of Sac State, think of the students before you put your fantasy reading list together.