Last week, The Index covered Student Government elections. The article explained the three issues on the Student Government ballot that were passed. One amendment to the Student Government Constitution made a $1 Student Activities Fee reallocation from the Collegiate Readership Program to Student Government.
The Collegiate Readership Program provides newspapers in dining halls, residence halls and other buildings.
Before elections, Student Government got $2 from the student fee to fund its operations. The fee reallocation passed, increasing the Student Government budget by 50%.
We, The Index Editorial Board, believe money should not have been taken away from an already challenged program like the Collegiate Readership Program, to go to an organization with a stable future.
The idea of the Collegiate Readership Program losing money and going digital on this campus is disheartening, even more so if the program gets defunded all together. That might be a possibility because the language of the Student Government resolution is unclear about whether the future of the Collegiate Readership Program will be online only or provide online access in addition to the physical newspapers.
As a media organization, we understand the importance of having different media to choose from — an opportunity the Collegiate Readership Program provides for students.
As an educational institution, it is Truman’s job to provide as much education as possible to our students and to the larger Kirksville community. The newspapers the Collegiate Readership Program provides not only help educate but can also serve as design inspiration we often use in our own newsroom.
The loss or downgrading of the Collegiate Readership Program will not only be a loss to the communication students who use it for inspiration, but also to the students on campus and our community as a whole.
Some people still enjoy the aesthetic and fulfillment from getting a paper every morning. In such a small community, we pick up a hard copy of the paper more often than large communities. While this percentage of people might be dwindling, student legislation should not be taking away the benefits the Collegiate Readership Program provides.