Student Government

SGA considers partnership with USA Today

USA Today and the Student Government Association may soon be joining forces to provide national newspapers on campus.

Kate Almanza, a representative for USA Today, proposed that the SGA endorse USA Today’s Collegiate Readership Program at the SGA meeting in the Cougar Den on Wednesday.

“The readership program is designed to promote global awareness, media literacy and civic engagement on college campuses by providing newspapers to students in various locations on campus,” Almanza said.

USA Today wants SGA to endorse the program, which would mean SGA’s logo would be located on all the newspaper bins and therefore help promote the program among the student body.

SGA’s Chief of Staff, Jeff Syptak, said he is in favor of SGA endorsing the project.

“The readership program, I believe, will be a great success,” Syptak said. “It will give students a lot more access to know what’s going on in the world.”

USA Today’s program would begin by surveying UH students and staff to find out what newspapers they would like access to, Almanza said.

They would also place the newspapers in high traffic areas around campus.

“We provide a national and regional or local paper along with the USA Today,” Almanza said. “Two newspapers of your choice to be placed in open air displays or bins around campus.”

The program gives each university a free month of service to decide whether they want to keep it on their campus.

If the university decides to keep it, it will probably cost $1.50 per student each semester, Almanza said.

“You only pay for what’s actually picked up,” Almanza said. “Say we drop off 1,000 copies and only one is picked up, then you’re only going to pay for that one newspaper.”

Syptak said this program would most likely be implemented in the spring semester.

1 Comment

  • [addition to my earlier comments]

    The business of The Daily Cougar, however, is to allow student coverage, student writing,and student opinion. That's where SGA should direct its funding. The development of student journalists often leads to the brilliant type of writing one finds in The Daily Cougar, such as the recent article by Jack Wehman discussing the requirements for reviewing movies. Faculty, such as myself, teaching courses in drama could articulate no better critical understanding than Wehman has offered. His article, of course,does not treat the issue of international news, which is the crux of this discussion, but his writing shows why student authorship should be endorsed, promoted,and nurtured, and not national syndicated newspapers.

    Sincerely,
    Irving N. Rothman, Ph.D.
    Professor of English Literature
    Faculty sentaterepresentative to the Student Publications Committee

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