By Ame Phitwong
Anyone with an ".edu" e-mail address now has free access to The New York Times online version, TimesSelect. This offer became available in March.
Junior Beth Farrell believes the new offer will be beneficial.
"As a college student, I can appreciate the necessity to stay current on world affairs. I don't exist within my college bubble, but within national and global communities."
Farrell said she would prefer to read the web version rather than the hard copy because she would not want to waste paper and it is more convenient to do so as she checks her e-mail.
"Although we currently offer the free online subscriptions to students,?the demand for The New York Times on our campus,?has not diminished," ASUP vice president Megan Olmstead said. "We doubt that the demand for physical copies of the paper will decline next year, regardless of the availability of online subscriptions to students nation wide."
The University's current subscription to The New York Times is co-funded between ASUP, Residence Life, and the Office of the Provost. Despite the new free web access, ASUP president Sarah Carroll explained there are no plans to change UP's current subscription. "The online subscriptions to The New York Times offers are meant to be supplementary to the experience of reading hard copies of the daily newspaper," she said.?
ASUP had been offering free online subscriptions to The New York Times for some time and was giving out registration cards allowing students to sign up for free. The service had been on a "first come, first serve basis."
"ASUP welcomes the availability of online subscriptions for all students with a '.edu' e-mail address.? This is much more efficient than requiring students to come into our office to redeem a registration card," Carroll said.
In 2005, The New York Times introduced TimesSelect to the public to adapt to declining print sales and an increase in online use to obtain news. At that time, readers were required to subscribe to the print edition or pay an online subscription fee to gain access to TimesSelect. TimesSelect is special in that it offers more editorial columns, access to article archives, early delivery of articles before they are published in the print version, video interviews and web-only postings. This came at the price of $49.95 a year.
"A lot of students at UP may not realize how rare this service is," Carroll said. "While it is common to have a selection of newspapers available on campus nowadays, it is not as common for students to be able to receive these newspapers completely free of charge."
"The New York Times hopes to increase its readership among the student demographic by waiving the yearly fee," Times spokesperson said in an article from U-wire.com. "College students represent the next generation of Times readers. Reading the Times is a critical piece of any student's intellectual development, and we want to make it readily available."
In 2006, TimesSelect generated $9.9 million in revenue. According to The New York Times Company report, as of February 2007 TimesSelect had 639,000 subscribers.
"The New York Times has been very helpful in the?continuation of our subscription," Olmstead said. "It is exciting that?the?New York?Times?is pursuing many options to contribute to the education of students throughout the nation."
One concern about this new offer is the ability of anyone with ".edu" to gain access, including alumni who have already graduated. The New York Times intended for the new access to be directed to students, professors and staff members. In an interview with Advertising Age, The New York Times official Vivian Schillier hoped that alumni readers would abide by the "honor system" and pay the subscription fee.
Regarding alumni, Schiller said they should "have a thorough-enough education in ethics to keep them honest."
