By Jamie Hsiung
Daily Bruin Reporter
The On-Campus Housing Council announced Tuesday that the
Readership Program, which would provide dorm residents with
newspapers like USA Today and the Wall Street Journal for a $9
annual fee, will not be implemented for the 2002-03 school
year.
Of the 1,079 dorm residents who voted, 53 percent voted against
and 46 percent voted for it. Five of the votes were undeterminable
““ those students signed up to vote, but left the ballot
blank.
“We’re happy it ended in a democratic
decision,” said OCHC Chair Adam Harmetz. “We feel that
residents were happy to have the opportunity to vote.”
Although OCHC would have needed 20 percent of on-campus
residents to vote to even consider it valid, Harmetz said the 15.5
percent voter turnout is still good.
“I voted against it because the Daily Bruin is a very good
source of information that we already have,” said first-year
biology student Tara Adele Gomez, who lives in Reiber Hall.
“Everyone would have to pay for something that only a few
would take advantage of. I don’t think that’s
fair.”
Other students say $9 a year is a good deal.
“Three dollars a quarter isn’t bad to get that many
newspapers everyday,” said first-year undeclared student
Bryan Caforio.
UCLA underwent a four-week trial period of the readership
program in mid-January. During that time, 1,000 issues of USA
Today, 200 of the Wall Street Journal and 500 of the Daily News
were available on racks to resident hall students.
USA Today is still interested in approaching UCLA about this,
perhaps next year, said regional marketing director for USA Today,
Thai Trieu. He added that he would remain in touch with OCHC
because “the interest is still there.”
“We will take the advice of OCHC as to what to do next.
It’s ultimately the students’ decision,” he
said.
The Daily Bruin, which has seen its circulation drop from 20,000
to 16,500 over the years, supports the voters’ decision.
“This is good, but I’m worried that similar
proposals like this will destroy student newspapers,” said
Editor in Chief Timothy Kudo. “I encourage every editor that
comes after me to be vigilant and fight this as long as it’s
here to be fought.”
Penn State University, the first to undergo the Readership
Program in 1997, has seen its college newspaper readership decline
by 10 percent every year since the program went into effect.
Though Trieu could not confirm that, he said the goal of the
program is “just to improve readership in general, regardless
of source.”
The program would work with the college newspaper by running ads
in the college paper to promote the program, reserving space on the
racks for the college paper and creating a sign on the rack with
the college paper logo, Trieu said.
Though they would read the newspapers from the program, some
students said they won’t necessarily neglect The Bruin.
“You read USA Today for national news (but) you still read
the Bruin for entertainment, opinion and campus news,” said
first-year history student Kristen Laws.