 From April 9 to May 1, USA Today will join The New York Times and The Boston Globe on the shelves.
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On April 9, the Quality of Student Life Committee (QSLC), which is run through the Office of the Dean for Student Development (ODSD), will begin a trial program to provide free copies of USA Today to undergraduates. The New York Times and The Boston Globe will still be available to students, and both publications have been cooperative in the QSLC's efforts.
Jorie Soskin, co-chair of the QSLC and A&S '08, said, "Starting Wednesday, April 9, students will also see USA Today available on campus, and that will run through May 1." This trial period is designed to gauge student reaction to, and demand for, the paper, and will also determine how many copies of each issue will be made available.
"A few years ago, the Quality of Student Life Committee launched the Be Current program, which provides the newspapers on campus," Soskin said. "Our goal is to increase the budget for the program because there has been such a demand."
The new program would provide the resources for a number of newspapers that would match the demand of the undergraduate student population. "We'd love to have enough papers to run out at noon instead of 10 o'clock, so that every student who really wants a newspaper can get one," Soskin said.
Lauren Viola, a member of QSLC and A&S '11, said that the program will hopefully be able to supply newspapers to all students interested in getting one, as well as curtail professors and other faculty from taking copies of the papers, which are intended only for students. Viola said, "Our biggest problem is that in Hillside a lot of professors are taking them."
The new program would include a system of dispensers that would require a swipe of a student ID to distribute a copy of any of the three papers.
This change in distribution, as well as an increased number of copies, would increase the likelihood that a paper would be available for every student who wants one, Viola said. "It's not a charge, it's just so no outsiders are taking the students' papers," she said.
The Boston Globe and The New York Times are both involved in the new program, and have agreed to give free copies of both papers to help in determining demand.
Soskin said that, over the trial weeks, the amount of copies available will increase incrementally until demand is determined. "They're basically giving us an unlimited number of newspapers to see how many we'll need," Viola said.
Over the trial period, representatives of USA Today, along with members of the QSLC, will poll students on campus to help gain a better sense of the response to the program.
The change to the program run through USA Today will provide some new opportunities for professors to integrate the paper into their classes, specifically through an online program.
"Our goal in this is really to make a case for more newspapers on campus, and we hope that students respond to it," Soskin said.
He said that since the papers are usually all gone before lunchtime, many students who are interested cannot get one. "We're excited about the program and hope that students take advantage of the free papers," Soskin said.
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