By Adriana F. De Leon
In the Nov. 7-13 issue of the San Antonio Current, the office of student life purchased a full-page ad for the Nov. 9 on-campus showing of the movie “300.”
The office of student life receives a “group rate” by which the office purchased a half-page ad in exchange for 11 or 12 full-page ads priced at a half-page ad rate, student life Director Jorge Posadas said. A full-page ad in the Current costs about $800.
The office advertises about 13 times, resulting in a total ad budget of $10,400 each year.
“We get a discount because we agree to do so many,” Posadas said. The San Antonio Current attracts a large number of college students because it is a citywide newspaper, he said.
“The Current reaches a lot more of our students because our students do read the Current. It reaches our evening students as well and invites the community.”
The San Antonio Current attracts 17 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds and 25 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds, Nancy Lagleder, retail sales manager for the San Antonio Current, said.
“We got permission to use those advertisements and those pictures, and we purchased the rights to the movie, so when we show the movie, we purchased the rights to that movie and the rights to advertise that movie,” he said.
The office of student life also uses public service announcements events on college radio station KSYM 90.1 FM at no charge.
Each individual college is still allowed to promote certain ads, Posadas said.
“Individual colleges are not allowed to put out their own TV ads, but there are things we have been given the opportunity to do. I think it’s print and radio,” he said.
Dr. John Hammond, director of public relations for this college, said the district is allowed to purchase ads through TV, radio, bus and print ads that promote registration.
Individual colleges are allowed to promote events and congratulations; however, individual colleges cannot promote registration, he said.
An example of a congratulatory ad is a student winning an award.
The ads also must include the college logo and the Equal Opportunity Employment statement, Deborah Martin, public information officer for this college, said.
As for the screen used to present the outdoor movies, the 15-foot by 24-foot screen was purchased this past summer for $8,000.
Last year, the cost for renting a smaller screen measuring 10 feet by 15 feet cost about $1,700.
“If we did 10 movies a year, we would spend $17,000 on renting …It just didn’t make sense for us to keep renting,” Posadas said.
“We found that students were really responsive to it, you know like, wow, they really like that outdoor kind of feel; however, we really felt that it would be more of a service if we had our own,” he said.
Associate Director of Student Life Gil Castillo said the screen was damaged when they left the pump on too long, which caused it to blow up. He said “It went kaboom.”
About 45 students attended the Nov. 9 showing of “300.”
If any club is interested in hosting a movie night, the club needs to contact student life a month in advance to schedule the event.
“We want to do that more and more with organizations. You have an event, let us help you out,” he said.
For more information, call 733-2680.