Like many students, I start my day by reading the paper. But unlike most, who receive their news online, I still enjoy holding a physical newspaper.
The Student Association is revoking its subscription to the New York Times, instead allocating funds for other items such as a $10,000 Xerox machine for student organizations to use, according to an article in The Hatchet Sept. 4.
Funding the daily newspapers has become a perennial problem at the University. And just like last year, the Student Association is struggling to find a way to afford it.
The fact that the SA can no longer afford to cover the New York Times subscription is the first sign that its budget has been stretched too thin. This is in large part due to the growing number of student organizations on campus. Now more than ever, the Student Association should use this as an opportunity to increase the $22.50 annual student fee.
And to ensure that we never have to face this problem again, the SA should set aside a specific amount of its budget each year to fund this subscription. We would not have to wade through the fountain of SA allocations each fall if there was already money to support the subscription.
According to an article published in The Hatchet Sept. 8, 2011, “Daily paper delivery falls to budget cuts,” the Collegiate Readership Program was cut in 2007 and 2008 only to be reinstated and finally dropped again last fall.
In 2011, Associate Provost and Dean of Students Peter Konwerski justified getting rid of the newspaper service by citing a lack of student interest in the program. But the argument that students are no longer interested in the free newspapers is simply not true. It is important to offer students who do not pay for an online New York Times subscription this educational resource.
The SA should use this issue as an opportunity to figure out its budget situation before the problem spills over and has damaging effects on other departments and student organizations.
I do not begrudge the SA for choosing to purchase a new Xerox machine this year. It will benefit students. However, the SA must realize that the newspaper subscription is something many students have come to rely on and it should be taken as an equal priority.
I realize that the SA’s subscription to the New York Times is expensive. I realize that it seems like a low priority in a year when the budget is already tight. But this program is essential to many students at this University, and it would be a shame to see it come to an end.
Patrick Rochelle, a senior majoring in English, is The Hatchet’s opinions editor.
So it’s important to you personally? Okay..strong argument..
A digital, one-month subscription to the New York Times is about 99 cents. This, of course, is in addition to the 10 free articles per month that the publication allows readers. When I was a freshman at GWU, not too long ago, the NYT was offered in dorms, but piles of papers were left unread every day. Not only is this wasteful, but creates an additional burden on campus facilities. Given the fact that students rely much more heavily on campus printers than, say, the NYT, this is a frivolous expenditure and the onus of providing publications that are otherwise available online should not fall on the SA or University.
You can actually read as many articles on the NYT as you want if you just delete your cookies after the 10 articles. It’s not worth $1,200 per month for the SA to fund this. This money can be invested in student organizations and student programming. If the SA took on this initiative, I’m sure the Hatchet would slam them for increasing their budget.
When you say that Peter K’s argument that there isn’t enough interest in the papers to justify the expense is an untrue argument, what are you basing that claim on?
Recycled newspapers can be composted, along with other organics, and then used for landscaping purposes.
Perhaps there is a University or District based organization that can make use of the news print.
When I was an undergrad, I paid for a personal subscription to the Wall Street Journal.
The GW Library offers access to paper and electronic copies of the NYT. If you want your own paper available on your terms, pay for it!
Two things:
1. The newspapers are not “free.” They are paid for by students via tuition.
2. The author says claims about lack of student interest are “simply not true,” but conveniently provides no evidence to support this assertion. Maybe that’s because it is true. I often see a large stack of old NY Times’ sitting in the container at the end of the day…sometimes, the papers are several days old. Supply is greater than demand, apparently.
are you serious? increase the student fee for you to read newspapers? Maybe the students who want newspapers can buy them on their own instead of wasting money by sending it through the GW administration and SA