The Virginia Informer

Last Updated:2/9/10 Section: Opinion

The Student Assembly will vote on a subscription proposed by SA
Senator Betty Jeanne Manning ('12) to The New York Times at the weekly
meeting this Tuesday. At the time of print their decision is still
pending. Despite the fact that the bill appears certain to pass, I
would like to strongly object to student money being used for this
purpose. If we must indulge government's knee-jerk proclivity to
spend other people's money, the $13,000 required for this subscription
would be better spent on almost anything else.

Adult students constantly told how brilliant they are should not need
to rely on others to get news for them. College students should be
intelligent enough to decide what news sources they want to use, and
do not need to be told how they should be informing themselves. It is
not up to the members of the Student Assembly to decide to subsidize
their perceived favorite news service for the benefit of some common
good. Most news is also available on the internet. Students don't
need to pick up a paper copy of The New York Times when they can get
the same information on their own from sources such as Reuters and the
Associated Press.

In an age when concern for the environment is as in vogue as it is
now, the Student Assembly really should reconsider voting to spend
money on all of the paper that will be used. This would render some
of their previous green efforts, such as the Honorable Members' war on
bottled water, moot. If the SA really wants to help the environment,
they will not enact this expenditure, and thus save the world from
diabolical greenhouse gases.

It should also be noted that an institution that has seen fit to put
money towards contemporary culture's pet causes has decided to spend
far more on the Times than on the comparatively paltry life preserver
sent to the people of Haiti. At a campus where a significant
proportion of students complains that Americans do not spend enough on
foreign aid and the domestic poor, they will be left with few good
ways of explaining an appropriation that is useless to everyone but
the Times' shareholders.

A subscription to the Washington Post was also considered, which would
have been $94/week cheaper, and would seem a logical choice. Aside
from saving a substantial amount of student money, the Washington Post
also features occasional coverage of William and Mary. Also, the
classified ads are more relevant to the student body since the D.C.
metro area is the home of a significant segment of the student body,
and also since D.C. is one of the few recession-resistant regions in
the country, giving classified ads more appeal. The Student Assembly
has no business choosing the more expensive and less relevant paper
without justification. Minutes from a Senate Finance Committee
meeting indicated the preference was based on a perception that the
Post's layout was "messy."

Newspapers at the College are distributed primarily at the Sadler
Center, and also at other locations around campus. The main newspaper
distribution area in the Sadler Center is an elongated bench
immediately inside the front entrance of the building. The Informer,
The Flat Hat, The Dog Street Journal, and a host of academic,
literary, and artistic student publications are often forced to
compete for limited space. The space is currently made more
competitive due to distribution of Williamsburg newspaper The Virigina
Gazette, financed through a different SA allocation. If this
allocation is passed, currently plans are for 100 of the 200 daily
issues of the Times to compete for limited space with student
publications. As and editor of The Informer, I am in a unique
position to understand the logistical ramifications that may be caused
by distribution locations being flooded by non-student newspapers.
Associated consequences include the marginalization of student work,
and the minimalization of the creative bubble that William and Mary
has become known for.

The Virginia Gazette is currently paid for by the Student Assembly,
with $700 purchasing 300 Saturday issues of The Gazette over the
course of the academic year. This is a project of SA Senator Ben
Brown ('11). Originally The Gazette was purchased so that students
would read the "last word" section of the paper, which allows readers
to submit various thoughts and complaints about local issues to
highlight frantic resident concerns ahead of the last City Council
elections. One opponent of the renewed funding, former Senator Kim
Green ('13) told other members of the Senate that there shouldn't be a
dime spent on an anti-student publication. In short, this money and
space would be better spent on more rewarding endeavors, such as
student journalism, or even online network subscriptions to
publications of greater relevance to students.

Being free to choose comes with the responsibility to pay for one's
own information and not using the police power of government for one's
desire for information that one could get for themselves. The Old
Gray Lady doesn't need us subsidizing her pension plan.

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