$750,000 can buy a lot of things.
While buying a private island with slip-and-slides as the only mode of transportation takes top priority on my list, I must say using the money to pay for Internet doesn’t really crack my top 10.
However it does seem to be an important issue to Student Government.
SG is teaming up with “prestigious Greek alumni” to raise money for the expansion of University Wi-Fi to Greek houses surrounding campus, according to a story in the Oct. 14 issue of The Daily Reveille.
A one-time cost of $750,000 is necessary to expand University Wi-Fi to the Greek community with an additional annual cost of $23,000.
That’s a lot of money just to watch fail videos and auto-tuned news stories over and over using the University’s network.
As Greek houses are privately owned (the University only owns the land they are on), state funds cannot be used to pay for the expansion.
What doesn’t make sense is why SG and the Greek community are so excited to get connected to the University’s wireless network in particular and why the hell it costs so much.
Hudson explained to me how many of the cables are located underground and currently only reach out to the UREC.
A majority of the funding goes toward expanding those underground cables and outfitting the houses with proper equipment.
Hudson went on to say how he feels it’s a disservice to those living in Greek houses not being supplied with Internet from the University while on-campus residents do.
While wireless Internet is awesome, spending three-quarters of a million dollars to get it is the opposite of awesome.
It’s downright dumb.
If the whole point is to expand the University’s wireless to its Greek students, then the University should be the one paying the bill.
However, due to the stipulation mentioned earlier — plus the fact the University is apparently running out of money — that’s not going to happen.
Instead, Hudson and the rest of SG are looking to the Greek alumni to help with fundraising for their inane cause.
Wireless routers are pretty cheap nowadays.
It also isn’t very difficult to set up a simple in-home network allowing multiple users access to a single Internet source.
When I asked Hudson about a cheaper alternative like the Geek Squad setting up a simple in-home network for these houses, he said that option isn’t as reliable as having students connected to lsusecure.
He alluded to problems many Greek students had with their current Internet setup during Hurricane Gustav and lsusecure helps guarantee students Internet access 24 hours a day.
While he makes a good point there, it seems to me that type of money isn’t worth that guarantee.
Sure, Cox doesn’t have the most reliable service, but they don’t have such a ridiculous asking price.
Plus, if you’re connected to the University’s Internet, you can’t torrent your favorite movies or music.
Not that I would ever advocate the illegal downloading of copyrighted material, but if you do, the University will come down on you hard. (A message to all those currently torrenting Justin Bieber’s latest album over  lsusecure).
There is no reason for this initiative to be taking place or to have even gotten this far.
Maybe Hudson’s recent “fame” will let him forget he ever came up with this money-wasting idea.
For all the money already raised by the Greek community, take it and buy things you may enjoy.
But stay away from the slip-and-slides — that one is my idea.
Adam Arinder is a 21-year-old communication studies senior from Baton Rouge. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_aarinder.
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Contact Adam Arinder at [email protected]