A new initiative sponsored by Student Government is making The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal available to University students for free.
The papers were available at CEBA, Coates Hall, Tureaud Hall and Middleton Library, starting Monday.
Jason Wesley, vice president of SG, said he and SG President Allen Richey have been considering the idea for a few semesters.
“We come to school and get this in-class education, but how do we apply that to the real world?” Wesley said. “The availability of these papers on campus will help us politically and economically as students.”
Wesley said with the upcoming election year, students need to be informed on national issues the new papers can address.
In September, The Baton Rouge Advocate also began appearing in similar places on campus.
The Advocate’s presence on campus is a partnership between the LSU Athletic Department and The Advocate.
“We developed a relationship with The Advocate’s circulation department that provides free newspapers for students,” said Jenni Peters, director of marketing and promotions for the Athletic Department. “We are paying for them with unused tickets for some of our less popular sports.”
Peters said The Advocate gives out the tickets, which can range from olympic sports to soccer or tennis, to organizations such as the Boys and Girls Club of Baton Rouge and the Girl Scouts.
“We get a bill for the newspapers and send them tickets,” Peters said. “The whole partnership works too good – we give kids free newspapers and The Advocate promotes our lesser-known sports.”
Peters said the 3,500 Advocate newspapers on campus will not compete with The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
“It’s a different readership,” Peters said. “My hope is there will be an interest for local news as well as national news, and we now have both.”
Paul Crain, an LSU alumnus, said he visited campus Monday and picked up a copy of The Advocate.
“It’s pretty thoughtful of the Athletic Department,” Crain said. “Most students don’t just go buy a newspaper off campus. It gives them more of a broader view of the news.”
Wesley also said having The Wall Street Journal on campus is good for some business majors who are required to read The Wall Street Journal for their economics and management classes.
“For the general student who needs to read The Wall Street Journal for class, this will save them money,” Wesley said. “Rather than them have to go off campus or purchase a subscription, they can get it on campus for free.”
Steven Scales, mass communication college president, said he supported SG for bringing national publications to campus.
“Increasing readership among students is essential to raising awareness on national and international issues,” Scales said. “This is something that can truly help students.”
Some students thought the initiative was good for campus and said they would be willing to pay for the service in future semesters.
Erin Thomson, a communication disorders freshman, said she picked up a New York Times on the way into Coates Hall Monday morning.
“I love The New York Times and the news it brings to campus,” Thomson said. “It’s a great paper, and it’s good to hear from something other than the local papers.”
Thomson said she saw The Wall Street Journal but didn’t plan to read it.
“It’s probably a great resource for students, especially economics and finance majors,” Thomson said.
Wesley said the big catch for having the newspapers on campus is that SG only plans to pay for the service for one year.
Wesley said to pay for the 300 Wall Street Journals and 500 copies of The New York Times in the future, students may have to vote on a small fee to keep the periodicals on campus.
Jimmy Murphy, a biological sciences freshman, said he would be willing to pay a fee to continue The New York Times’ and Wall Street Journal’s presence on campus.
“I like it. I think it’s a small price to pay for a paper of that quality,” Murphy said. “It’s something students can look forward to every day and take advantage of.”