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Newspapers dominated the discussion at the Student Government Association's meeting on Friday, as the results of the USA Today Collegiate Readership Program pilot were released and The Current proposed to change its funding to a direct student fee.
Kathleen O'Brien, circulation account manager with USA Today, told the assembly that 8 percent of students picked up a newspaper each day during the four-week pilot program between Jan. 10 and Feb. 4. Each week, around 4,200 newspapers were picked up.
O'Brien said that if approved by a student referendum, the program would cost $49,950 annually, based on a daily distribution of 900 newspapers. Each student would pay $4.54 annually for the program, assuming an enrollment of 11,000 students.
During the free pilot program, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The New York Times and USA Today were available Monday through Friday at five open-rack displays on campus and one machine that could be opened with a student ID card.
If the newspaper program is approved, the newspapers would be distributed solely through machines equipped with card-readers.
SGA representatives were divided on the accuracy of the data collected during the pilot.
Muhammed Lamotte, freshman, social work, and SGA representative for Pi Kappa Alpha, said, "Out of the 8 percent of students they said picked up papers, I'd say probably 50 percent of those weren't even students. I saw a lot of staff people picking them up."
However, Shawn Cooley, sophomore, physics, and representative at large for the College of Arts and Sciences, said he has heard only positive feedback about the program, particularly in the dorms.
"In Provincial House, the Post-Dispatch would often be gone before noon," Cooley said. "People there like the papers and are also wondering why we don't get newspapers on the weekend, too. Doesn't news happen on the weekends?"
O'Brien said that a USA Today survey of 300 students at UM-St. Louis showed that 66 percent of students surveyed would be willing to pay a student fee for the Collegiate Readership Program.
Zach Meyer, freshman, English, said those statistics were compelling. "I would just like to note that we're supposed to represent the students," Meyer said. "And according to the data...the people we represent more than likely do want this program."
Some representatives balked at the idea that student fees from all students would only allow newspapers for only 8 percent of students each day, but O'Brien said that a different 8 percent would likely take papers each day throughout the semester.
SGA President Scott Bopp said that all student fees provide services only for students who choose to use them.
"Everybody sitting in this room is being supported by a student activity fee to support their organization," Bopp said. "Enrollment of these student organizations is not 8 percent of the University. So 16,000 students are paying for us to be in this room."
Bopp said the assembly would probably vote on the Collegiate Readership Program at its next meeting, March 11. If the assembly approves the program, a studentwide referendum will be required before the paper program would begin.
Kate Drolet, editor-in-chief of The Current, also unveiled a proposal to change the way the student newspaper receives its funding from the university.
Currently, the newspaper receives a portion of its operating budget from an annual allocation by the Student Activities Budget Committee, which distributes funds from student activity fees to student organizations. Drolet said she would like to change that to a direct student fee of $1.72 per student per semester.
She said that based on an enrollment of 12,000 students, the fee would provide roughly the same amount that the newspaper requests each year from SABC. Last year's request was $41,000.
Drolet said that the change was necessary to avoid conflicts that have arisen the past between The Current and SABC.
"Because of our complex situation and media law, it kind of puts SABC in an awkward situation as to how much they are able to cut us," she said.
Drolet said she and other Current staff members have been meeting with administrators over the past year to find a consistent funding mechanism that would not be affected by "personality conflicts" between the paper and SABC.
An SGA approval would send the proposal to a studentwide referendum. If passed, the new fee would not be implemented until 2006.
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