Действие фильма разворачивается с 12 февраля по 24 марта 1945 года, незадолго до капитуляции Германии во Второй мировой войне. Герой фильма, штандартенфюрер Макс Отто фон Штирлиц, советский разведчик, работающий в центральном аппарате СД, получает задание выяснить, кто из высших руководителей Рейха ведёт сепаратные переговоры о перемирии с США и Великобританией.Работа Штирлица в СД вызывает подозрения у начальника РСХА Кальтенбруннера, и он поручает гестапо провести в отношении Штирлица тщательную негласную проверку. Режиссер: Татьяна Лиознова Сценарист: Юлиан Семёнов В ролях: Вячеслав Тихонов, Леонид Броневой, Олег Табаков Студия: Киностудия им. М. Горького (СССР) Год выпуска: 1973

Today's college textbooks are undoubtedly unaffordable for many categories of students who study in superior educational establishments throughout the United States. The overall prices of curriculum-required, extensively used college textbooks are rising continuously, determining increasingly larger numbers of students to stop attending to classes and even turn away from college and university for good. According to statistics, college textbook prices haven't ceased to rise since 1986, the costs of such products tripling over the last two decades. Recent estimates also indicate that students at four-year schools spent around $900 for their required textbooks and other similar study materials over the period of the 2003-2004 school year. Due to the exaggerated costs of college textbooks, more than 60 percent of students in the United States can't afford to buy all the course materials they need, and thus fail to pass their exams and even fail to graduate from school.

Although they haven't paid the right attention to the phenomenon in the past, government representatives and faculty chairmen have recently initiated various projects that focus entirely on reducing the prices of college books. Hoping to put an end to the pronounced crisis behind college textbooks, state legislators are also currently developing new sets of specific laws that aim to bring down the prices of study materials. This year, more than 40 bills and resolutions will be gradually introduced in around 15 states. According to the National Association of College Stores, other states have also promised to take proper action in order to make textbooks affordable to all categories of students.

States are following various approaches in their effort to cut down the prices of college textbooks, developing different solutions according to their available resources. For instance, the states of New Jersey and Illinois have initiated multiple rental programs, while the states of New York and Maryland are focusing on exempting the prices of college textbooks from the local sales tax. In addition, the government has decreed that all state faculties respect a series of norms and regulations. Thus, the state of Virginia doesn't allow college and university faculties to accept publisher interests, the state of Washington imposes school faculty chairmen to only use low-price study materials, and the state of Connecticut imposes that college textbooks publishers disclose the prices of such materials to faculties.

While these initiatives have been successfully embraced in some American states, certain faculty chairmen find the solutions provided by the government inefficient and offensive, stating that the laws should primarily target textbook publishers, not faculties. However, due to the existing set of interstate commerce laws, legislators can't directly sanction publishers and try to solve the costs problem by requiring faculties to respect certain specific rules instead. Furthermore, government representatives have stated that the recently proposed programs and initiatives are only temporary, as it is very difficult to find a permanent solution for the problem of high college textbook prices in present. Perhaps the following months will bring better prospects in taking care of these issues once and for all.

So if you want to find out more about textbooks and especially about college textbooks, follow these links, you will also find information for the Dutch versions – studieboeken.

Groshan Fabiola

twitter.com - facebook.com - During live phone calls recently, Craighton gave me a buzz. Craighton is a great kid, who happens to live fairly close to my house. In fact... he's BEEN to my house. He was at Gnomedex last year with us, and attended the Hejira concert at my house back in February when Kat was here. Why didn't he just come on over here to ask his question? In any case, Craighton called to ask me how I could see the iPad used as an educational tool in schools. An example would be all students being issued an iPad with all of their books loaded right on the device, assignments done and turned in this way and so forth. chris.pirillo.com

The costs of curricular college textbooks have risen considerably in the last few years, requiring college and university students to spend exorbitant sums of money simply to enter in possession of a minimum number of topical course materials each semester. Each school year, the average student is forced to spend up to $500 on new college textbooks in order to be able to continue one's education.

Although there are many campus bookstores that offer students the opportunity to purchase used college textbooks at smaller prices, the discounts prepared by such offline resources are most often insignificant. Students who decide to buy used textbooks from the college bookstore are often surprised to see that they only economize a few bucks when making their purchases from such used textbook resources. At best, college students who buy all their curriculum-required study materials from used college bookstores rather than new bookstores are offered a 10 percent discount, a very small favor considering that many of these used college textbooks are out of date or in a deplorable condition.

Certain college bookstores convince students to buy college textbooks from such places by offering them the chance to sell back their study materials at the end of the semester or school year. However, students who do so are rarely able to sell their college textbooks at more than 5 to 10 percent of the original price! Even the most optimistic students can't hope to sell back a new or used college textbook worth $80 for more than $8. In the worst case whatsoever, students may not be offered a dime when they try to valorize their college textbooks at the end of the semester. Due to these reasons, lots of students have recently turned away from campus bookstores, looking for cheaper ways of obtaining their required textbooks, such as buying online.

At present, the Internet is virtually saturated with online bookstores and similar online resources that establish very low, affordable prices for college textbooks. In order to ensure that you will make the best online purchase, the trick is to carefully analyze the offer and find the website that can service your needs and requirements in the most convenient way possible. Popular online college bookstores and similar online resources offer an entire series of advantages to students who decide to make their purchases from such places: extensive offer (students sometimes have better chances of finding rare college textbooks online rather than offline); very low prices (compared to campus bookstores, online resources make substantial discounts to students); possibility of selling back the purchased study materials at decent prices (students can sell back their college textbooks at up to 40-50 percent of the original price); you can order at any time of day; fast delivery and low shipping costs.

Competitive college textbook-offering websites allow students to search their required books by title, author, keyword or ISBN code. This way, finding the books you are interested in is simple and efficient. Once you find your desired textbooks, you can purchase them at the established price (some online resources even allow you to negotiate prices) and they will be delivered to you at home. The average delivery time of college textbook online resources is 10 business days; with a bit of luck, you can enter in possession of your books even sooner.

Shipping costs are usually low, and students who make more substantial orders don't require paying shipping costs at all. When you don't need the purchased college textbooks anymore, you can sell back these materials at up to 50 percent of the original price. Some websites have even better policies: if the textbooks you are selling back are in perfect condition, you have the freedom to decide your own price! This way you can actually try to sell your study materials at higher prices than the original costs.

So if you want to find out more about textbooks and especially about college textbooks, follow these links, you will also find information for the Dutch versions - studieboeken.

Groshan Fabiola