Students who live in Iowa State’s three residence hall associations might be able to open up a national newspaper every day – for a price.

The Inter-Residence Hall Association will vote Thursday on a plan to implement the Newspaper Readership Program in the residence halls starting this fall.

If approved, students will have access to USA Today, the Des Moines Register and two other papers they could choose from the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune or the Ames Tribune. The final two will be decided Thursday by IRHA parliament. The papers will be displayed next to hall desks or food service areas in every residence hall.

Newspaper subscription charges would be added to residents’ room and board, ranging between $10 for papers offered Monday through Friday, and $17 for Sunday through Friday.

IRHA President Paul Duncan said he was approached last November about the program by USA Today officials. He said he decided to look into it because of the benefits it could provide for residents.

“I think a lot of people really miss having a newspaper that – one – covers their local news better than the Daily can, and – two – gives students a broader perspective on global issues,” Duncan said.

The residence halls participated in a test program Feb. 12 through March 9, with USA Today, the Des Moines Register, the Chicago Tribune and the Ames Tribune offered.

Since the program’s beginning in 1997, 275 universities across the country have participated in the test program, while 140 universities have committed to the paid program, said Mike MacGee, USA Today marketing manager.

“All the schools we’ve done it in have really seemed to like the program,” he said. “It’s more of a university program, but we’re working with all of the papers – we’re equal partners.”

Duncan said ISU student response toward the program has been positive, and he believes the program will pass IRHA parliament approval.

“I think it’s a great deal, and all I’ve heard is positive feedback,” he said. “I would go down to food service [during the test program] and see tons of people reading the Des Moines Register or the Chicago Tribune. It was great.”

Other organizations are less than thrilled to see the program come to Iowa State.

Kathy Lawrence, College Media Advisers chairwoman for external relations, said the newspaper program has injured campus newspapers’ circulation and revenues because of competition.

“Daily newspaper circulation is falling,” said Lawrence, director of student publications at the University of Texas-Austin. “I think the media advisers on college campuses and students who work on the newspapers have some reason to be concerned – it’s something they need to watch. There’s no way the college newspaper is going to be able to compete with the marketing resources of USA Today and the New York Times.”

To counter the program, CMA sends out advisories to its members, warning of the program’s potential arrival at their respective universities.

“In the end, what gets hurt is the student experience,” Lawrence said. “If they don’t have the experience in college, they won’t be as attractive of a candidate in job interviews.”

The Newspaper Readership Program began at Pennsylvania State University in the fall of 1997, MacGee said. Penn State President Graham Spanier felt the program would encourage college students to reach beyond the bounds of campus, he said.

“He thought the students were living in a bubble and were losing touch with the outside world,” MacGee said.

But in the end, Penn State’s campus newspaper, The Daily Collegian, has suffered from the competition it has faced.

Gerry Hamilton, the Collegian’s general manager, said they were surprised by the sudden decision to implement the policy in their residence halls, which ended up going campus-wide.

“The Penn State newspaper readership program has the potential to kill The Daily Collegian,” he said. “The fact that Penn State does not acknowledge the threat – or even that damage has already been done – makes the program even more dangerous for The Daily Collegian.”

Hamilton said that since the fall of 2000 when the program went campus-wide, the Collegian’s circulation has dropped 8.1 percent. He said circulation has dropped by 1,562 since 1998 and their operating expenses are up more than $100,000 a year since 1997.

“I have no doubts that there are positive educational outcomes from reading newspapers – increasing newspaper readership is a good thing,” Hamilton said. “However, it is a damned shame to damage a good student newspaper in the process.”

However, ISU officials said they have no problem with the program because of the potential benefits.

“I think it is a good idea,” said Thomas Hill, vice president for Student Affairs. “I don’t think it could be a bad idea if the students made the decision. It’s from student demand.”

But some ISU students disagree and said they may be too busy to read all of the newspapers.

“I thought it was pretty cool at first to catch up on the news,” said Abby Erdman, undecided freshman. “I read them maybe five times in the first two weeks [of the trial], but never again after that. I think the people who read a paper would go out and buy it themselves. I don’t think it’s going to put people in debt or anything, but it seems unnecessary.”