Keep the New York Times in Yale Dining Halls

Hi Everyone,

We delivered our petition to President Levin this past Friday (our cover letter is copied below). No decisions have yet been made, however, we hope that the administration will keep our position in mind as they move forward. Keep an eye out for updates.

Thank you all so much for coming out strong and expressing your support.

Best,

Ben Stango & Charlie Jaeger

Dear President Levin,

On behalf of the New York Times readers on Yale's Campus, we present you with this petition requesting that the Yale Administration retain our Monday through Friday subscription to the New York Times. In addition to the names on this petition, we also represent over 1,300 supporters from on and off campus who share our position. We respect the need for budget cutbacks given the University's current financial situation; however, we request a greater appreciation for this particular expense and the role it plays in the lives of hundreds of Yalies.

Given the way in which the Yale Daily News and other sources presented the potential for this action, we feel that it is necessary and appropriate for us to communicate our position in advance of any final decision. In addition to the enclosed petition, our reasoning for objecting to this proposal and suggestions for alternative means of reducing the costs associated with our New York Times subscription are enumerated below.

Furthermore, we would like to apologize if any of our efforts thus far have come across as excessively aggressive or antagonistic. The students involved in the issue have become quite passionate, and we fear that our collective enthusiasm may have presented itself in an offensive manner. For that, we do apologize.

Reasoning:

1. Removing the print copies of the New York Times from our dining halls will prevent many students from enjoying the paper on a daily basis. Many of us have incorporated the paper into our daily morning routine, including workouts and breakfasts, during which computer use is inconvenient or impossible.

2. The level of Times readership among the student body is high, with most if not all papers gone from the shelves by mid-afternoon. Furthermore, the informal Yale College Council poll which indicated otherwise was an ineffective means of deriving the true level of readership.

3. Princeton, Dartmouth, Cornell, Brown, and Penn all provide free copies of the New York Times to their students. Furthermore, Princeton also provides free copies of the Wall Street Journal and Cornell also provides free copies of USA Today.

4. For those students who are unable to keep their laptop with them at all times, a hardcopy of the paper is a convenient way to ensure access to the day’s news.

5. We fear the greater implications for traditional media outlets if institutions such as Yale begin to end their subscriptions.

6. Finally, we believe that a fundamental part of Yale's mission should be to ensure that its students are educated and engaged world citizens. Easy access to one of the finest papers in the world is both an overt sign of that aim and a means of bringing it to fruition.

Proposed solutions:

1. Reduce the number of papers in our subscription.

2. Encourage students to return papers to the shelves rather than throwing them away after use.

3. Request that residential colleges share in some of the cost burden.

We thank you very much for your time and we hope that you keep our position in mind when making your final decision,

Ben Stango
Pierson College, 2011

Charlie Jaeger

Saybrook, 2012