After receiving the student survey results from the USA Today residence hall newspaper initiative Tuesday, the Georgetown University Student Association is still debating the status of the program. Some representatives have expressed concerns over the cost of the program and the accuracy of the survey.
USA Today sponsored a free trial period in which the 2,100 students who live in Darnall, Harbin, LXR, New South and Village C could pick up a free copy of the Washington Post, New York Times or USA Today every day. Before the trial period, 382 students were surveyed, and 784 students completed surveys during the trial.
If the initiative is approved, each student would be charged an additional fee of $8 to $10 per semester to fund the $60,000 program, GUSA Vice President Mason Ayer (SFS ‘03) said.
According to survey results, 39 percent of students polled said they would be willing to pay $4 to $7 per semester for the program, 35 percent said they would pay $8 to $12 dollars and 15 percent said they would pay $13 to $16 dollars.
“I was absolutely thrilled when I saw that we had free newspapers. I think it is a very valuable program,” one student said in the survey results.
Some GUSA representatives questioned the merit of the USA Today survey results.
“The survey itself really had loaded questions, so I would be interested in doing our own survey with questions that really indicate what would happen in this program,” Ayer said.
The survey does not show any correlation between the students’ responses and their year or residence location, GUSA Representative Sean Fern (SFS ‘05) said. The program is much more accessible to first-year students living in residence hall dorms than it is for students who live off campus, Fern said.
“It’s not fair that three-quarters of the student population is charged $20 a year for something they’ll only use their first year … It’s a punitive tax on people who don’t already read newspapers,” Fern said.
Opponents to the program point out that the USA Today offer is unnecessary because students can access newspapers online, and those who are interested in buying a hard copy can do so at a discounted student rate of $14 per semester through the University.
According to GUSA Representative Nazareth Haysbert (CAS ‘05), the newspaper initiative would contribute to an increased intellectual environment on campus.
GUSA President Kaydee Bridges (SFS ‘03) said that free newspapers on campus would be “wonderful” and would help increase readership, but she cautioned against setting a precedent for increasing student fees.
“I don’t think you can just tack on a student fee without a referendum … What else are students willing to pay $60,000 for? We have to look at other ways of using this money,” Bridges said.
Fern and Ayer advocated spending the extra funds on other projects, such as the renovation of New South, extended University bus schedules or club funding.
“I would much rather see this go towards something that helps the entire student body, not just those people that live in dorms and on campus. This proposal is unfair to many students and I don’t see a real need for it,” Ayer said.
