Free N.Y. Times no longer available in Sansom East

For Sansom East residents, getting a free copy of The New York Times won't be as easy as stepping out the front door.

This semester, the Undergraduate Assembly has removed the stack of free New York Times copies from Sansom East due to an imminent rise in the cost of subscriptions.

The newspapers are expected to increase from $0.45 to $0.50 per paper beginning next calendar year. As a result, the UA has purchased fewer copies and has redistributed Sansom East papers to other locations with higher pick-up rates.

The Sansom East location had few newspapers to begin with, said UA Chairman and College junior Alec Webley, but it also had the lowest pickup rate.

"We had to make cuts somewhere," Webley said. "The Sansom Place East decision wasn't made lightly."

To continue to provide The Times to as many undergraduates as possible, the UA decided to redistribute Sansom East papers to places like Williams Hall, dining halls and the Quadrangle, which are usually "fresh out" every morning, Webley said.

Sansom East residents have had mixed reactions to the news.

"I don't think it's that big of a deal," said College sophomore Suleman Ilyas. Ilyas, who moved to Sansom East this year, said he got his free Times yesterday from David Rittenhouse Laboratories. While he would like to have The Times at Sansom East, he said, it wouldn't make sense to cater to the few people who pick it up there, especially since there are other locations on campus where he can get a copy.

However, a number of others did not share Ilyas' opinion.

Bioethics graduate student Evan Cohen said he was surprised by the removal from Sansom East. He noted that many School of Law, School of Social Policy and Practice and Wharton graduate students live in Sansom East, and that he expects they would like to pick up The Times every morning, as he would.

"It would be really appreciated if there were newspapers available," he said.

On the other hand, Virginia Witter, a student in the Graduate School of Education, was unaware that free New York Times newspapers were available.

Webley expressed hope of restoring The Times to Sansom East as early as next semester.

"The student demand is really there," Webley said, "and we want to make sure that the program is there for years to come."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.