Collegiate Readership Program return date still undecided

Pitt’s Student Government Board will officially decide when the paper copies of The New York… Pitt’s Student Government Board will officially decide when the paper copies of The New York Times and USA Today will return to campus at Tuesday night’s weekly public meeting.

The Board has already voted to extend the Collegiate Readership Program that provides students with online and paper access to copies of the newspapers. Since the suspension of the program over winter break, students have still had access to the online replica editions, but now the board will vote if the paper copies will come back immediately or the first week after spring break.

The Board was supposed to hold a vote on Friday to decide when the papers will return to campus, but over the weekend, SGB President James Landreneau said he wanted to conduct the vote officially at the public meeting this Tuesday.

“Any formal vote, I prefer that it is public,” Landreneau said.

If the papers return immediately, they will be distributed as before in open newsstands around campus until the arrival of the locked drop boxes.

“If we start this program earlier, there would be an added cost,” Landreneau said.

He explained that the Board only pays for the newspapers that are picked up. If the papers are left unguarded in the newsstands like before, there is a higher probability that more papers will be picked up, and the University will be charged more.

If the Board votes to wait, students will have to wait until the drop boxes arrive in March for access to the paper copies.

USA Today and The New York Times will provide the drop boxes, but Pitt will provide the swipe system. Students will swipe their student IDs through a card reader, much like at dorm rooms and gyms, that will give them access to open the box and grab a paper.

The boxes are included in the cost of the program. They were not implemented last semester because the program was still in the pilot stage, but now that the Board has extended the program, the drop boxes will be added to campus. The Student Activity Fund — which comes from the $80 student activities fee that each non-College of General Studies student pays each semester — pays for the program.

Board members also hope that students will reap further benefits of the program, such as the potential to bring a speaker or lecturer to campus and limited access to a full online version of the texts. The first 300 students each day will have full access to the online edition of the newspapers, and every student who logs on after will have access to replica editions of the texts.

“In order for [the program] to reach as many students as possible, we really need to utilize the online edition,” Board member Natalie Rothenberger said. “I am excited to work with the Board to promote [the online component].”