Newly appointed Student Government Board President Molly Stieber said today that the Panther… Newly appointed Student Government Board President Molly Stieber said today that the Panther Readership Program, which will grant Pitt students free access to The New York Times and USA Today, should be up and running within a few weeks.

The program will bring 300 printed copies of both The New York Times and USA Today to campus each day starting sometime before February, Stieber said.  All students will also have access to the Times Reader and the USA Today Reader — electronic versions of the popular newspapers.

Former SGB President Charlie Shull pushed for the program’s implementation on campus last semester but passed the responsibility to Stieber Thursday night when she and the 2011 Board took office. The Readership Program was approved in late September, despite recommendations from the Board’s allocation committee to deny funding for the program, and costs $30,500 from the Student Activities Fund.

Stieber said the only thing holding up the program, which was scheduled to begin at the beginning of January, was “university confirmation of distribution locations.”

“I’m sure it will go through soon,” she said Friday afternoon. She reported that students could start to see the publications around campus within the next couple of weeks but declined to speculate where copies will be available until she has confirmation from the University.

The New York Times and USA Today will also host a readership kickoff event in February, she said.

“This program is bringing so much more then just the publications,” Stieber said.  “I’m really looking forward to it.”