Staff editorial: Hassling the Hoff

If you had to rank what the university's priorities are, what the university must do to succeed, you would likely start with educating students. Supporting research, housing and feeding students, and engaging the community would likely follow. Eventually, around item No. 50 or so, you would probably get to "Provide a place for students to watch second-run movies."

That's the sad reality behind the administration's decision to close the Hoff Theater as a regular movie theater beginning this January — it's simply unprofitable. Its operating costs are $233,000 a year and it receives $150,000 in student activity fees. The theater is expected to make up the $83,000 difference, but it has failed to do so in recent years. The plan would be for it to no longer operate as a functioning movie theater but as a venue for certain special events, including the occasional screening of movies by Student Entertainment Events.

There is little the administration can do to keep the facility open. Using state-supported funds to prop up the failing theater would be unfair to taxpayers, even if the economy wasn't tanking, classes weren't being cut and employees weren't being furloughed.

Using student fees doesn't make sense either. Many Hoff screenings are sparsely attended. Some aren't attended at all. Why should fees be redirected to a service no one seems to be using?

The bigger puzzle, however, is why the Hoff is in this situation in the first place. Why do students choose to drive to multiplexes when they could walk to the Hoff from anywhere on the campus? Tickets are dirt cheap. The movies are either classics or (relatively) recent releases. To a certain extent, students have no one to blame but themselves if the theater does shut down.

However, there is history in the Hoff. After opening in 1972, it has screened countless films, including documentaries on Jim Henson, one of the university's most famous alumni, and films on the history of the university. It has been controversial: Deep Throat was shown there four years ago. And it was there that Pirates II was supposed to screen, starting the notorious porn wars between university students and the state General Assembly. The Hoff is an irreplaceable cultural patch of the campus' historical fabric.

Students and administrators should work together to find a reasonable compromise to keep the Hoff open. Perhaps the theater could continue to show movies only during the weekend, when students are more likely to attend. Some revenue could be generated by charging for the traditionally free advanced screenings the theater offers, which usually draw a large crowd. Students would likely be willing to pay $5 or $10 to see a highly anticipated movie before its formal release. Selling 300 tickets at $10 a piece for an advanced screening would make up a small, but not insignificant, chunk of the Hoff's budget gap. They could also start new efforts to inform students about showtimes like sending e-mails or posting on different event calendars other than their own.

Many students have expressed sadness that one of the campus' most well-known landmarks could disappear come January. But if students really want this service, they need to show it. Nothing is final yet, and a "Save the Hoff" event is potentially in the works. In this economic environment, services are going to be cut unless administrators feel there is a strong enough demand for them. Students pay for many of these services through student fees and should take full advantage of them. Many often brag about having a movie theater on the campus, and it's a cornerstone of a tour of the university.

But how impressive is a student-run movie theater that's  almost always empty?