Vines commented that the subsidy issue makes him very nervous and also added that he was concerned about the levels of service. He followed by asking whether the individual institutions could choose to either break off and operate individually or take part in the consortium and associated subsidies. It was confirmed that the management committee would be the body that would make this decision.
Vines sees non-subsidized and poor subsidy dollars in video conferencing.
Koenig responded that he strongly feels that we should not do away with the subsidy, as this approach would be a big departure from the past and much harder to deal with than the alternatives. Tully responded by asking who could not afford not to have a DS3 in the next few months. He added that exponential growth continues, and the rate of growth itself is not slowing down. He questioned whether it would be productive for the universities seek out their own support individually, and if indeed they could each find their own subsidy sources equal to what the group brings to the table. Zimmerman volunteered to investigate more in-depth what new technologies are available.