Committee considers newspaper program

The committee that will decide the fate of the IU Student Association-sponsored college readership program heard arguments from each of the involved newspapers and on-campus groups opposing the program Tuesday afternoon. \nRepresentatives from The New York Times, USA Today, The Indianapolis Star, The Herald Times, the Indiana Daily Student and IU Building Services all presented their arguments for the benefits and consequences of the program to the committee.\nThe committee members, who will decide whether or not to recommend the program to the IU board of trustees, were chosen by IUSA Vice President Grant McFann and Dean of Students Richard McKaig. McFann said they tried to find representatives from each area that would be impacted by the program, including students, faculty and staff from the library, Political Science department, School of Journalism and the Resident Halls Association.\nThe college readership program ran Feb. 2 through Feb. 28 and offered USA Today, The New York Times and The Indianapolis Star free to students. Students who picked up the papers on the first and last days of the program were surveyed about the pilot. IUSA conducted the trial run, which, if approved, would require students to pay a flat fee of $2 to $3 per semester.\nThe surveys revealed that of the 492 returned surveys, 78 percent said they were willing to pay a student fee of at least three dollars.\nThe amount of students willing to read The Indianapolis Star, if it was available on campus, increased 7 percent during the pilot. But The New York Times saw an 8 percent decrease during the same time period. \nThe number of students who said they read a newspaper every day other than the IDS increased only 2 percent during the pilot. \nRepresentatives of each participating paper said the program allows students to establish a broader knowledge base through newspapers. They said it also allows for the publications to become a part of classroom curriculum.\nPolitical Science Professor and committee member Christine Barbour said she has seen a noticeable change in classroom participation since the program.\n"I've never had this great of discussions," Barbour said. "Students were there with the newspaper. They were able to put their hands on the news and point to it. When I walk into my big lecture classes and say 'what's in the news today,' they know."\nRepresentatives from USA Today and The New York Times presented their price breakdowns, which showed 4,300 papers on campus each day would amount to a $2 student fee each semester, $2.50 for 5,300 papers and $3 for 6,400 papers. The numbers were based on the assumption that all three papers would remain on campus after the trial program. \nThe New York Times cited examples of existing programs from universities such as Penn State, Michigan State and Ohio State. The Indianapolis Star also cited 21 other Indiana schools that already participate in a similar program, including Purdue University, IU-Purdue University Indianapolis and Ball State University. The Star would also be available at a reduced rate of 7.5 cents per copy because of grants from the Indiana Newspaper in Education program.\nThe IDS brought more than 20 representatives to present its arguments against the program. The IDS's main complaint was the program would create an uneven economic playing field because student fees will be used to subsidize for-profit organizations, such as the three newspapers offered through the program. The IDS, on the other hand, is a non-profit organization because it operates solely on revenue from advertising sales and receives no University funding or student fees.\nIDS Sales Manager David Baitcher said even a 3 percent decrease in circulation because of increased competition would result in lower ad rates and a $50,000 net drop in revenue.\nThe IDS's presentation also looked into Penn State's campus newspaper, The Daily Collegian, and the damaging affects the readership program has had there. Since the program began at Penn State, the campus paper has seen a 9 percent readership decline, which translates into a $50,000 budget deficit each year.\n"For years, the IDS has prided itself in being the primary news source for students," said sophomore Adam Aasen, an IDS managing editor. "We've used this as an opportunity to provide the student angle of news that often gets overlooked by other major papers."\nHe said the loss of ad dollars would seriously affect the size of the paper which would hinder the IDS's ability to adequately cover campus news.\nThe Director of Campus Building Services Greg Fichter represented upset custodial staff members who complained about increased trash created by the readership program. Fichter said for every 5,000 papers, only about 500 of them are properly recycled, leaving the rest to be cleaned up by the custodial staff.\n"We need to find out if (the program) is a benefit. If it's not a benefit, we won't have it," McFann said. "If it is a benefit, we need to find out where the costs would be and figure out ways to offset those. That would include costs to the IDS and costs to the facility managers."\nThe committee will meet again after spring break before making a recommendation to the IU board of trustees April 2.\n-- Contact senior writer Brian Janosch at bjanosch@indiana.edu.