Students can expect to see copies of The New York Times and USA Today on campus sooner than expected as private donations from the LSU Foundation subsidize costs.  The newspapers, originally slated to return to campus Oct. 13, will fill news stands later this week, said Student Government President Colorado Robertson.Robertson said he was notified Monday of the expected arrival date and said it was “not acceptable.” “We want to see if we can speed up the process,” Robertson said. “Students really like those papers.”Robertson said he worked with Eric Monday, interim director of Student Life, to locate supplemental funding. “Eric [Monday] was able to locate some Foundation dollars and has committed to getting the program up and running until the contract kicks up on [Oct. 13],” Robertson said. Rose Mary Wilheim, director of the Office of Purchasing, said because of state laws, Oct. 13 was the earliest possible date for contractors to begin delivering the newspapers. “Procurement Code 39 tells us how to handle purchases over $25,000,” Wilheim said. “We have to advertise for 21 days, but sometimes you’re allowed to do 10. So we did that.”Wilheim said the first advertisement ran in Monday’s edition of The Advocate. Robertson said SG funded the papers to be on campus for nine days in the beginning of the semester.”We said we’d fund it out of our money for $1,000,” Robertson said. “And then the contract was supposed to be completed so there wouldn’t be a gap.”Robertson said he will pay for the expense out of the SG’s corporate sponsorship account, president’s contingency account or Coca-Cola fund. The University verbally committed to have the newspapers on campus within two weeks of SG’s request for bidding, which was submitted Aug. 28, Robertson said. On-campus copies of The New York Times and USA Today are funded by the newspaper initiatives account, which is supplemented by student fees. —-Contact Katie Kennedy at [email protected]