Media conglomerate Gannett, the largest circulator of newspapers in the United States, may have to wait another year before the newspapers in its Readership Program appear across the ISU campus.

Last week, the Government of the Student Body sent the Rules Committee a resolution that would have initiated a four-week trial program for the program. The Rules Committee agreed Monday on a substitute resolution that would delay a decision on the Gannett Readership Program until next school year.

The decision was made because of time constraints and a number of unanswered questions about the program’s implementation, committee members said.

The Readership Program, a campuswide version of a system used in Iowa State’s residence halls, would provide newspapers such as the New York Times, USA Today and the Des Moines Register to university students. The cost of the program would be covered by a $5 per semester per student fee added to each student’s university bill.

The Rules Committee actions follow a lengthy debate last week in the senate, after which a resolution advising GSB President Mike Banasiak to authorize a test version of the program met resistance from senators, who said more time was needed in order to make an informed decision.

The resolution to place the program on hold will be voted on by GSB senators Wednesday.

The new bill cites unanswered questions regarding waste management, circulation disagreements with the Ames Tribune and estimated student demand as reasons why a decision shouldn’t be made yet.

“I have yet to make a decision,” said Tony Luken, the bill’s author and GSB speaker of the senate.

“But someone needed to step forward and do something … So I put this up, and hopefully it will strike a compromise among the senate.”

Luken also authored last week’s resolution proposing acceptance of the program.

“I think, for all the program aspires to be as a program where students get access to a broader range of information, it does that, but it also gives Gannett a heck of a lot of money,” said William Rock, vice speaker of the senate.

Rock said it’s unlikely the substitute bill would end debate in the senate over the issue.

Even if the resolution is passed, Rock said, a special resolution that could trump the delayed vote bill could be introduced to the senate.

He said Banasiak could also adopt the bill regardless of the senate’s wishes, because the decision ultimately falls to him and not the senate.