By Paige Quiggins
The Student Government Association has administered an online survey via Blackboard questioning whether or not to add video games to its current collection of videos in Ekstrom Library. In net-speak, it uses phrases like “OMG, Yes!” and “Comments, plz.” Only four questions in length, it also asks the necessary question of which systems would get the most use. All in all, it is a painless, efficient way to ask the students what they think, in terms of how their money is ultimately being spent.
I say kudos to the SGA for asking students their opinions, especially in a manner that does not have scripted responses in all categories and allows students to make comments. The survey asks whether or not students believe this would be a good investment. Doing this online is a much better decision on their part, to better engage the students who might not have time to attend meetings. The SGA budget allocates $7,000 to be spent per year on new videos. If students still wish to keep the video collection current, and to add video games, something would have to suffer in this budget.
I would suggest enforcing late fees to all video games that are turned in after assigned due dates. Late fees are assessed to videos, but only if they are not turned in before the end of the semester. Otherwise, the charges are dropped. If fees are added and actually enforced, revenue from these could be used to keep the collection current. Students may also be willing to pay a small fee if they want to keep the game longer than a week—the usual renting time for DVDs.
It might also be a good idea to have a rule for how often one individual could rent the same game. It would be unfair if the same person kept renting Halo 3, and no one else could get their hands on it for weeks. Video games differ from movies in that they can be enjoyed for days on end. This could be a good thing, to bring in money from late fees, but also a bad thing, in terms of people who want to be stingy.
Video games would be an efficient way to allow students to have fun, on and off campus, without breaking their wallets. However, it would be good to make sure that the budget is not hurt each year, simply because a student wants the new Madden 11 upon its release date. If only the students who refused to abide by the rules were getting charged for this, it would seem fair. It is also a solution for those students who would not object to paying more for a bit more time with the game. Wouldn’t it be cool to be able to rent all the video games coming out? Students can decide whether or not this is a good investment in the long run.
