How would you like Student Government to throw $350,000 in student fees out the window? That’s what Student Government will be deciding this Wednesday when they vote on the USA Today Collegiate Readership Program.
Student Government was approached by a representative of USA Today attempting to sell us on a growing program. For a supposedly small fee of $10 per student per year, the Readership Program would provide the USA Today, News and Observer, and New York Times to students on campus in a manner similar to how the Technician is distributed now. In slick slides and beguiling smiles, we were assured of what a deal we were getting and what a positive impact this would have on students. However, let’s analyze a few of these glittering generalities.
First off, we’re not talking some small $10 fee. A $10 fee per student multiplied by our nearly 35,000 students amounts to a whopping $350,000 per year that we’re considering here. This means entering classes of freshmen could see up to 1.4 million dollars of their hard earned money deported out of state to some corporate office who knows where by the time they graduate in four years. Perhaps most importantly, by the USA Today representative’s own admission, only 3 percent of the student body would likely make use of these services. Quite frankly, times are too difficult and situations too dire for students to waste their money on a program that will cause the suffering of many to benefit the few.
A little math yields even more startling discrepancies! That $350,000 per year fee divided by the 3 percent of students that would make use of the service means that we’d be paying $333 dollars for each of those student to have a nine month daily subscription. However, a quick check of the USA Today website shows that a 12 month subscription delivered directly to your home only costs $195 dollars. There are plenty of ways to get the news both online and in the library without charging students nearly double the price of a normal subscription.
While I more than encourage newspaper readership, let’s not get confused and start thinking that the USA Today is some kind of angel in disguise. The Readership Program is hiding the facts behind a veneer of pretty lies supported by the bogus claims generated by their own survey data. I don’t know about you, but personally I don’t trust a survey run by the company that’s trying to sell me something. The USA Today Program isn’t an exciting offer; it’s a nest of vipers trying to increase declining newspaper sales by ripping off our student body.
For these reasons and many more, I encourage, urge, and implore my fellow senators in Student Government to vote no to the USA Today Collegiate Readership Program. If this program manages to bully it’s way in to steal the funds of students it will be due to our weakness, not its strength. Do you want to throw away $350,000 of your money? If the answer is no, contact your Student Government representative and tell them to vote no to increases in student fees.
