Campus readership exceeds expectations
Megan McConachie
Issue date: 4/1/04 Section: News
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The Collegiate Readership Program has gotten off to a fast start.
The program, brought to campus in part by Student Senate, already is impacting students and campus programs, including Truman Recycling Center. Some students also have suggestions for how they would change the program.
Sophomore Sean Bagniewski, Student Senate public relations chairman and chairman of the committee responsible for the program, said Truman's response was well above average, according to numerical data collected by USA Today.
He said that at this point in the program, campuses using the Collegiate Readership Program have an average response of 8 percent of the campus participating. At Truman, however, the response is 21 percent.
Bagniewski also said the student response has been predominantly positive.
"They feel like they're getting information outside Kirksville and Missouri," he said.
USA Today is responsible for distributing the newspapers on campus, Bagniewski said. The number of newspapers distributed each day changes so that the number of papers at each distribution point meets the demand. He said that if no papers remain at the end of the day, the distributors add more until extras are left.
Constant adjustments are made to keep the supply meeting the demand without having an excessive amount of newspapers, Bagniewski said.
He said the distribution points that require a Truman ID in Violette Hall and the Student Union Building are being used to prevent people who are not part of the campus community from getting a newspaper for free.
Bagniewski said he thinks the program fits well into Truman's mission.
"With the rather rigorous overall liberal arts experience that we have, papers are perfect," he said.
Still, Bagniewski said the complaint he receives most concerns the newspaper selection. He said he has heard that some students who also would like The Kansas City Star to be an option in the program. He said the initial 350 surveys given to students at two separate times, however, found that The Kansas City Star was a distant fifth choice after USA Today, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, which does not participate in the Collegiate Readership Program.
Despite the numbers, Bagniewski said Student Senate would consider putting The Kansas City Star as an option on the ballot in the April election.
"We are going to gauge the students, and if they feel that they still want to vote on it, then we are going to allow that," Bagniewski said.
Freshman Frances Dusseault said she thinks including another type of newspaper would be beneficial.
"I want a paper that pisses people off," Dusseault said. "I want a paper that moves people, that makes them care about their world, not just informs them about it."
Dusseault said she still enjoys being able to read The New York Times regularly.
"I wish I lived in New York, so I could get this kind of reporting in my own city," Dusseault said.
Junior Kimberly Sessoms said that as an art history major, she reads the arts section of The New York Times, and she also uses the newspapers to stay aware of current events.
"I think it's a good way to get better informed," Sessoms said. "I don't watch a lot of TV. I don't watch CNN, so it's a way to get news."
The program also has impacted the Truman Recycling Center. Howard Worcester, recycle and surplus property coordinator, said that when he learned about the program, he was enthusiastic.
"First reaction was, actually, kind of excited because we're always wanting more and more recycling material," Worcester said.
He said that since the beginning of the program, the recycling center has received four times as many newspapers than before.