Bringing the world to the campus community
BSG’s program provides daily newspapers for students and faculty
By Michelle Laxer
News Editor
In an attempt to burst the proverbial Bucknell “bubble,” the Bucknell Student Government (BSG) Executive Board implemented the USA Today Collegiate Readership Program this Monday. With free copies of The New York Times, USA Today and the Financial Times available to students daily, BSG members hope it will help instill a routine of reading the newspaper.
“Bringing the world to Bucknell everyday, everywhere on campus is a major goal and a necessity,” BSG President Harry Kastenbaum ’09 said.
He believes that knowledge of world events is an important aspect to an undergraduate education.
Monday served as the first day in the four week trial period for the readership program. Within these four weeks, the program’s regional education manager will determine how many of each newspaper will be required for the nine racks located throughout the campus.
The readership program guarantees that there will be enough newspapers made available to meet the demands of the campus community. Kastenbaum said that the empty racks earlier in the week were a result of “growing pains,” because the program managers are still trying to determine the consumption rates of individual publications in their different campus locations. He does view the empty racks as an apparent success.
According to Kastenbaum, there were an estimated 220 total papers for Monday’s delivery. As program managers became more familiar with the consumption trends, this number increased.
Although the program allows for local and regional periodicals to be included in the racks, BSG Congress voted to keep a national and international focus. Kastenbaum also said that BSG will periodically conduct surveys to re-evaluate the needs and wants of the students. If necessary, the available newspapers may change to meet student demands. BSG is working on adding The Washington Post to the racks.
Funding for the Collegiate Readership Program comes from the Student Activities Fee, which was recently reformulated to ensure accurate distribution of finances. According to Kastenbaum, it will cost approximately $11, 220 for three periodicals at a five-percent consumption rate. This number may change depending on the individual price of the newspapers and on consumption rates. BSG is currently working to secure funding to continue the program next year.
Kastenbaum also noted that recycling receptacles are located near each rack to ensure that the program is environmentally friendly.
This readership program is the first of the Executive Board’s six platform initiatives to be implemented.
“I see this as part of the legacy of BSG and this Executive Board,” Kastenbam said.
Despite the large presence of the national and international periodicals on campus, members of other campus publications are not worried about their readership.
Sarah Schubert ’10, editor-in-chief of The Counterweight, is more pleased with the new program than concerned.
“I hope the increased availability of these large newspapers will help to engage and enlighten students across campus,” Schubert said. “The Counterweight reports predominantly on campus events, not national or international stories, so I do not feel our readership will significantly decrease because of similar content.”
Editors of other publications share similar opinions.
“I think the BSG program is great and [I] am not particularly worried that these other publications will draw away readership,” said Brian Thiede ’08, writer and editor for The Catalyst.
He does believe BSG should consider newsstands for the other publications.
“I think something like that would reflect that Bucknell is looking to maximize the amount of news or culture available to students and takes pride in what its students do, no matter what their political persuasion,” Thiede said.
Sara Kurz ’09, editor-in-chief of Be Fashion Magazine, said she would be more concerned if Lucky magazine or Vogue were offered for free on campus.
“Our competition runs more parallel with Mirth Grinder and Fire and Ice. And like those two publications, Be is meant to be read more for a purpose other than gathering up-to-date happenings and news,” Kurz said.
According to a press release from USA Today, over 500 colleges and universities nationwide participate in their Collegiate Readership Program. The program aims to “[promote] civic engagement and broadened awareness through newspaper readership.” In addition to free daily newspapers, students will also be able to access additional online archives of selected USA Today coverage. Faculty members will be eligible for free subscriptions if they chose to incorporate readings from the newspapers into their curricula.
