I don't know much about the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate; I'll admit that up front. I do know, however, the amount of money they allocate to various club budgets. It's right there on their website, senate.tufts.edu. It says, for example, that the Tufts Republicans received roughly $3,500 for 2011. Freshman class council gets $2,600. TuftsLife runs on $1,700. You get the idea; we're talking about a few thousand dollars for a typical student activity organization. Later this month, though, Senate will consider spending a whopping $20,000 on a new "service" for the university. That might sound a bit pricey for new hydration stations or extended hours at Tisch. It sounds even pricier when we realize what they're actually considering spending it on: text messages. So I wonder, is that really worth it?
Absolutely not. The benefits? Minimal. The service would allow students to request, via text message, information from sites like TuftsLife. In addition, "professors, student groups and departments would be able to send out updates to subscribers," according to Tuesday's article in The Daily. But let's not forget that professors, student groups and departments can already distribute information via email. With the Internet, these groups can contact their members for free. When I get an email from a group, I can look at it on my laptop or any computer on campus. If I have a data plan, I can even check the web on my phone, saving me the time of getting to a computer. And if I really wanted a text message, I can set up my Tufts email to forward messages as texts to my phone, absolutely free. That point warrants repeating: Students can redirect emails as texts for free. So what's to gain from a new texting service?
The proponents of this incredible expense seem to honestly believe that it can provide us with something new. The fact is their idea is a few years too late. We already have the systems in place such that the Tufts University Police Department (TUPD), the faculty and student organizations can contact any student via the university email system. In the case of emergencies, TUPD already has a texting program. We already have the technology we need; why are we looking to buy more?
If we are going to consider purchasing an additional program, we have to ask ourselves a few important questions. For instance, do we really want our phones buzzing every time Tufts Democrats or the Office of the Provost and Senior Vice President decides to send out a message? Wouldn't we rather those go to our email inboxes, where they currently end up?
Furthermore, who would this service really benefit? The faculty, for all the times they need to text students? The library, which already sends perfectly good emails? The student groups, which will have less potential funding available to them after this purchase?
No. An information dissemination system like this benefits the very people proposing it: websites like TuftsLife. Now don't get me wrong; there is absolutely nothing terrible about TuftsLife having a new and improved way to contact its users. But should this come at the expense of the Tufts Community Union?
And let us not forget the price tag. If this were a $2,000 project, it would more than double TuftsLife's budget. At that kind of cost, we may want to consider whether or not the program's benefits are worthwhile. But that's not the price in question; this "SMS short code" is a $20,000 purchase, more than a 1,000 percent increase in TuftsLife's budget. That's no trivial amount.
Earlier this year, the TCU Senate voted 6-13 to reject this very proposal. I cannot agree more with Senator Yulia Korovikov, who, according to the the Daily, voted against it because "there are better uses for the money given the recent technological advances." That is to say, students who need quick access to the Internet use smartphones, and all students have access to the email system on campus. I've mentioned it before, I cannot stress it enough: If you want emails texted to your phone, it's not hard to set up, and it's absolutely free. Google it or shoot me an email for instructions.
Think of all the other things we could do with those tens of thousands of dollars. Think about what you believe in, what you support. Would you like to see Tufts become more environmentally friendly? Would you like to see more funding given to particular student groups? If you were asked to list some ideas for the university, would "SMS short codes" make your list?
On April 26, the choice is yours. As we elect our new senators and executives, we will have to decide: Do we want next year's leaders spending $20,000 on text messages or would we prefer that they put the money toward the projects they promised us during their campaigns? Do we want extra thousands available to our organizations or would we rather our phones vibrate every few minutes with a new update from TuftsLife?
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Brian Pilchik is a freshman who has not yet declared a major.
