The New York Times subscriptions are coming back to UF. But this time, they’re digital.
A $40,000 budget for an online subscription where students can access the Times on their smartphones, tablets and laptops for free seven days a week was approved at Tuesday’s UF Student Senate meeting.
Subscriptions to the Times and USA Today were suspended May 2013 after SG signed a service agreement for $66,590 but only submitted a purchase order of $40,000, according to Alligator archives.
“It’s significantly more cost-effective,” said UF Student Body President Cory Yeffet.
SG is in the final stages of setting up a contract with the Times to get students their subscriptions as soon as possible, Yeffet said.
After the budget was passed, the Senate discussed election code revisions presented by UF Supervisor of Elections Hans Rojas and Judiciary Chairman Bronco Vuskovich.
Revisions regarding the scheduling of mandatory meetings for qualified SG candidates and when political parties are required to submit their list of all senate and executive candidates passed unanimously. One senator objected to a revision that would regulate write-in candidates, which was created in response to the write-in candidates for District E, but the bill passed anyway.
“This is giving more time to the political parties and the administration to run the eligibility checks,” Rojas said.
UF Senate President Joseph Michaels introduced an education accessibility ad hoc committee to address the lack of transparency in course fees.
Senate Pro-Tempore Davis Bean added that he wanted to install charging stations in the busiest bus stops on campus. He said students often are not able to use the TransLoc app to track buses because their phones are dead.
“We want students to understand we are passing legislation that highlights their experience,” Michaels said.
Student Body President Cory Yeffet thanks the Student Senate for the approval of The New York Times digital subscriptions to be made available for all UF students.
