ASDVC continued textbook discussions on Tuesday, planning to present a resolution at the Student Senate of California Community Colleges (SSCCC) conference, which aims to eliminate textbook sales tax. Discussion also included working with the bookstore to increase discounts through the ASDVC sticker.

Kevin Tian, the Vice President of Legislative Affairs, presented drafts of two resolutions he wishes to see passed at SSCCC. One proposes the complete elimination of textbook sales taxes, and the other proposes a percentage profit ceiling on used textbooks.

“I don’t think this is a hard resolution to pass because many colleges have the same problem,” Tian said.

But according to Tian, getting the proposals passed isn’t the problem. “SSCCC doesn’t have the power to enact the proposal,” he said. “They only have the power to remind the governor to sign a bill.”

ASDVC’s tax-free textbook resolution is a followup on a resolution passed by SSCCC in 2007, which failed to attract legislative attention.

Even if the resolutions might not affect California state legislation, Tian feels the they will garner attention from the student governments attending SSCCC, which is comprised of every student government in California.

Aside from legislative action, ASDVC plans to work with the DVC bookstore on increasing student I.D. sticker discounts.

The ASDVC sticker gives students discounts at various restaurants and stores on and off campus, including the DVC bookstore. Priced at eight dollars, the sticker gives students a 3 percent discount on textbooks.

“Students don’t know about the benefits of the sticker,” Erwin Wirawan, the ASDVC Controller, said.

He has been working to raise the textbook discount but feels action should wait until ASDVC determines other textbook reduction plans. If ASDVC’s other textbook reduction plans are successful, raising the sticker discount on textbooks might put too much pressure on the bookstore.

“We don’t want to push them [the bookstore] too hard,” Wirawan said. “There might be a conflict of interest so we need to find a win-win situation.”

Bill Foster, the manager of the DVC bookstore, feels the discount increase is unlikely.

“It doesn’t really make financial sense of a lot of people right now,” Foster said. “It reduces bottom line revenue. We still lose money.”

The DVC bookstore is a non-profit business, however, which recycles its modest profits into overhead costs.

Both to benefit students and stay afloat financially, Foster is more confident in the textbook rental system, which has grown in popularity.

“I have to make a choice between the 5 percent sticker discount and the rental program,” he said. “I like the rental program.”