Other museums that have eliminated admission, such as the Contemporary Art Museum of Houston, see not only the diversity of visitors but also the level of public donations increase, sometimes enough to make up for the loss of admissions income. Defenders of the Metropolitan Museum say that visitors can still pay as little as a penny, and in fact the use of the ‘’recommended’’ sign is the Met’s way of introducing variable pricing. Those who can afford to pay $20 do so, and they subsidize the others.