2008 Woodie Awards
ASR will fund free papers
The New York Times, USA Today, San Antonio Express-News will return to campus in the fall
Eric Washburn
Issue date: 4/11/08 Section: News
Miss your complimentary morning paper? Never fear, the papers will be back this fall.
Earlier this semester, the Association of Student Rep-resentatives (ASR) explored the possibility of providing several different newspapers on campus to students on a daily basis for free. The effort, a joint venture between Trinity and representatives from USA Today, was launched as a four-week pilot program aimed at judging student interest in the program.
"We got back a lot of good numbers, which speaks well for the future of the program at Trinity," said Pam Adornato, senior and president of ASR.
According to Adornato, the program will provide daily editions of The New York Times, USA Today, and the San Antonio Express-News to students on campus with no immediate out-of-pocket expense for students. The funding for the program will come from ASR's budget, which is comprised of a percentage of the annual Student Activity Fee, equaling roughly $3-5 per student, per semester.
"We've received a lot of positive feedback from students about the program," Adornato said. "When you bring it down to an individual level, it is really a small cost for students."
Following the conclusion of the pilot program, representatives from USA Today provided ASR with a report of statistics regarding student response to the pilot period.
According to the report, nearly 9,000 newspapers were picked up by Trinity students in the four-week period. Surveys indicated that 94 percent of students at Trinity would pick up a free newspaper at least once a week, with 73 percent indicating they would pick up a paper three to five times a week.
USA Today's report also included responses from students about the program's presence on campus. Responses varied:
"Amazing! I love reading the newspaper, so this has been a great few weeks. It's much easier to get news through newspaper," said a respondent to the USA Today survey.
"If it is free, I will definitely read. I have been reading more since this program began," said another respondent to the survey.
Earlier this semester, the Association of Student Rep-resentatives (ASR) explored the possibility of providing several different newspapers on campus to students on a daily basis for free. The effort, a joint venture between Trinity and representatives from USA Today, was launched as a four-week pilot program aimed at judging student interest in the program.
"We got back a lot of good numbers, which speaks well for the future of the program at Trinity," said Pam Adornato, senior and president of ASR.
According to Adornato, the program will provide daily editions of The New York Times, USA Today, and the San Antonio Express-News to students on campus with no immediate out-of-pocket expense for students. The funding for the program will come from ASR's budget, which is comprised of a percentage of the annual Student Activity Fee, equaling roughly $3-5 per student, per semester.
"We've received a lot of positive feedback from students about the program," Adornato said. "When you bring it down to an individual level, it is really a small cost for students."
Following the conclusion of the pilot program, representatives from USA Today provided ASR with a report of statistics regarding student response to the pilot period.
According to the report, nearly 9,000 newspapers were picked up by Trinity students in the four-week period. Surveys indicated that 94 percent of students at Trinity would pick up a free newspaper at least once a week, with 73 percent indicating they would pick up a paper three to five times a week.
USA Today's report also included responses from students about the program's presence on campus. Responses varied:
"Amazing! I love reading the newspaper, so this has been a great few weeks. It's much easier to get news through newspaper," said a respondent to the USA Today survey.
"If it is free, I will definitely read. I have been reading more since this program began," said another respondent to the survey.
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