Student Government Association (SGA) voted and approved to put up four new televisions. The vote took place on Wednesday, March 23.

There are multiple reasons as to why SGA thought the televisions would be a good idea.

“The first is we’re thinking of it for marketing strategies like putting little games up there or like text this number and you’ll win a free prize kind of thing to try to help draw attention to TVs as people get used to them,” junior Joe Sorenson said. “The second hope is that if there’s more on campus people will become more accustomed to looking at them, and the third is we hope that through this student organizations may send out less emails and they’ll use the TVs more for advertising and less bogging down the system with emails to students.”

Sorenson is a junior class senator.

The televisions do come with a price, though.

“Roughly the allocation is for $5,300,” Sorenson said. “We are getting four 32 inch flat screen TVs.”

The locations for the televisions have already been planned out.

“The different locations would be Barker and Kresge, Cowles, and then Smith Chapel Dirlam Lounge,” Sorenson said.

The televisions in Barker and Kresge Halls must meet certain standards and requirements.

“For Barker and Kresge we bought protective screens, so like you can’t go and punch the screen because they are more busy areas and stuff like that happens on the weekend,” Sorenson said. “We didn’t get that for the rest because we didn’t see any concerns.”

Luke Behaunek, director of residence life, is glad that protective measures are being taken.

“My staff and I had a few reservations, but we made sure SGA had been thinking about those things, and they were,” Behaunek said.

The televisions are also being put into appropriate places.

“The one in Barker will be high enough where you can’t even get to it,” Sorenson said. “And the one in Kresge will be lower. It’s going above a drinking fountain, but I mean these screens – you can’t really hurt them.”

However, not everyone shares those positive feelings.

Junior Ethan Eller and senior Aren Olson both believe that the televisions are not a good idea.

Eller thinks they are a waste of time and money.

“I think it’s a bad idea because money can be used for a lot of other things, but nobody really, to my knowledge, cares about the current TVs that are around,” Eller said. “Nobody is going to pay attention to them anyway, or if anything they are going to make fun of them or vandalize them.”

Olson also thinks the money for the televisions could be spent elsewhere.

“I think it will expensive and ineffective because people will just tune them out like they do every single other TV that sits around,” Olson said. “They are going to be more interested in dealing with their own lives than paying attention to those TVs.”

On the opposite end, Behaunek sees the positive side.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Behaunek said. “I think it’ll help increase awareness of campus activities.”