THIS MONDAY, Student Council and the Arts & Sciences Council flooded the University with 1,500 copies of the New York Times and USA Today. Last time I checked, if you wanted a copy of the New York Times, subscriptions are available. There are many problems with this program, including its waste of student money, counteraction to personal responsibility and the 1,500 additional papers going into the trash every day.
According to its Web site, Student Council allocates the Student Activity Fee funds. That means that every student at the University contributes to all the programs Student Council funds, whether they agree with them or not. While I may not always benefit from these programs, for the most part, I see a point to them. This program is different in that it seeks to provide something entirely unnecessary for students. In an interview, Student Council President Matt Schrimper said that the funds for the papers have been in the Student Council budget since the summer. He added that many schools with similar programs have a fee for this service and, “The last thing we want to do is put another fee on the student body.” In that spirit, Student Activity Fees should be lowered by eliminating this program. Since subscriptions to these publications are available, it would make more fiscal sense to allow those students who want subscriptions to purchase them on their own. In these uncertain economic times, fiscal sense is much needed.
This program is not one that originated with student interest or desire for free papers. Schrimper said that “Over 400 universities across the country have similar programs” and that these programs are “wildly popular.” He added, “U.Va. students live in a bubble” and that reading a physical paper is “very different” from online versions. National periodicals are currently provided in the libraries, including The Washington Post, The New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. Anyone interested in the smell of fresh newsprint can go to the library to get the latest. It is up to the individual to educate himself on national news, and it is not Student Council’s responsibility to spend students’ money to educate a few.
A more troubling issue is what happens after these papers fly off the shelves and subsequently into the trash cans. 1,500 papers is a huge amount of waste to be generated by a community supposedly concerned with sustainability. Since there are no longer trays in the dining halls in order to cut down on waste, it would seem prudent to continue the trend in all other areas, to avoid sending a mixed message. The Student Council Environmental Sustainability Committee spoke out against the program, citing alternative plans such as providing online memberships for students. Although recycling bins will be placed next to the newspapers, it is unlikely someone will still be near them when they finish reading the paper, and entirely likely they will just find the nearest trash can to dump it in.
All of these problems do not even address what I find the most compelling argument against this program: Who has time to sit down and read a paper anyway? I struggle every day to find a few minutes to read The Cavalier Daily, and I work for the newspaper. Anything larger would surely not make it into my schedule. Headlines are provided on the home page of every major news outlet, and checking the news online is much more cost effective and time efficient. Additionally, the program removes the burden of remaining educated and informed from the individual. Schrimper said students will be “better informed because these [papers] are available,” adding that at other schools where this has been implemented, there was a 33 to 35 percent increase in newspaper readership. It is not the Council’s responsibility to disseminate news throughout the University. If a student doesn’t care about national news, that’s his or her choice, and the Student Activity Fee should not be used because the councils think students are too wrapped up in the “bubble” of Charlottesville.
This program removes personal civic responsibility from the equation, and it uses our money to do so. If the councils want everyone to be informed about national news, I would suggest they find other funding sources with which to do it. Personally, I will continue to go to CNN.com every time I want to know the latest news, and I am sure others will continue to be oblivious to national news as they were before. Providing national papers for the student body sounds nice, but it’s a half-hearted effort, wasting a lot of money in the process. $14,000 could be put to much better use at the University.
Annette Robertson is a Cavalier Daily Viewpoint Writer.
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