Readership program falters

Money issues and a lack of interest might prevent Pitt’s Student Government Board from… Money issues and a lack of interest might prevent Pitt’s Student Government Board from bringing printed copies of The New York Times and USA Today to campus.

Board President Charlie Shull has been negotiating with other student leaders to try and bring the publications back to Pitt permanently through the Collegiate Readership Program.

The Board will discuss a revised proposal at Tuesday night’s SGB meeting. Shull said the new proposal would cost $30,000 and bring 300 issues of each publication to campus during the work week.

The original proposal would have cost $60,000 for two semesters and brought 500 issues of each publication to campus Monday through Friday. Shull said the Board found the original proposal too expensive.

Both proposals would pay for the program through the student activities fund. Every Pitt undergrad pays an $80-per-term Student Activities Fee.

Students have split feelings about the program.

Sophomore Jeff Davis said he wouldn’t support the program because “nobody reads the newspapers anyway.”

“I don’t read the paper, so that’s $3 I don’t really think I should spend. I’m against it,” he said.

Freshman Jake Lewit said he would support the program.

“I’m from New York, so I would definitely like to see the paper here in Oakland,” Lewit said. “You can’t beat their sports section.”

Fellow freshman William Bodo disagreed.

“I wouldn’t say it’s an appropriate use of student money,” Bodo said. “With technology today, newspapers are dying.”

The Collegiate Readership Program, developed by Penn State University’s President Graham Spanier in 1997, has had success at other universities and currently reaches about 500 campuses nationwide.

This is not the first time Pitt has considered joining the program. A free one-month trial ran from March to April in 2007. Although Shull said the program was well-received by students on campus, fully implementing the program would require adding an additional $2.50 to the Student Activities Fee.

The program fell through after an SGB-sponsored vote on the subject did not draw enough students to count.

Shull said a New York Times representative approached him last spring about reintroducing the program. The Board then discussed the idea during the summer.

“I think this program is going to give Pitt students an opportunity to be more globally aware and give students a perspective into a higher level of journalism,” Shull said.

After getting the idea from a column on Pitt student Giles Howard’s online blog, Shull approached the Pitt Program Council about splitting the cost of the program.

The Pitt Program Council receives $813,000 from SGB — 38 percent of the total amassed from the Student Activities Fee — and Shull said he found this program to be in line with the sort of programs that Pitt Program Council already puts money toward.

“Our executive board said it was out of the scope of our organization,” said Kyle Miller, executive board director for PPC.

Shull is expecting an official memorandum from Miller by the end of the week about why Pitt Program Council chose not to co-sponsor the program.

“We also did not think 600 newspaper copies was an adequate use of our money from 17,000 students’ money,” Miller said.

All display, delivery and recycling services will be provided under the Collegiate Readership Program.

Any issues not picked up are not paid for, making the program only as expensive as it is popular, Shull said. Money from newspapers not paid for would be distributed back into the student activities fund.

Distribution racks will be set around campus, equipped with a machine to swipe student cards that open the racks.

The racks will also display an advertisement for whomever purchases the program, Shull said. He had hoped the 24/7 advertising would have convinced PPC to join in.

In addition to the 600 newspapers per day, the program package also includes supplemental events and a lecturer who would stay on campus for the day. Shull, in consultation with representatives with The New York Times, said he would be able to guarantee The New York Times’ White House correspondent “at the very least.”

“In tandem with the papers, bringing a high-profile journalist would be good for our students who wanted to pursue something in journalism but are doing something right now in English or communications,” Shull said, addressing Pitt’s elimination of the journalism major.

The package also includes a variety of other workshops and events based on what is in the news.

“My concerns are whether we are moving forward with technology in the right way and if it will affect students negatively,” Shull said. “And in my opinion, it won’t.”

In order to keep up with technology, The New York Times will start charging for frequent access to its website starting in January.

The price for a single issue of The New York Times is $2 Monday through Saturday. USA Today sells for $1.

Clarification: The blog entry Shull references was posted by The Publius Foundation, a think-tank for which Howard serves as president.