Student Assembly

The Appropriations Committee felt that Collegiate Readership Program (CRP) provides a highly used service to the Cornell undergraduate body. While some sentiments were shared regarding a shift in student demand to online media, the majority of the committee felt that there was still a very strong need for print media on campus that CRP was adequately fulfilling.

Committee members felt that there was currently ample opportunity for CRP to take advantage of current resources on campus and improve the efficiency o its current operations. One recommendation was to shift current locations to areas that would have higher traffic and accessibility. Specifically, the committee felt that current locations such as dormitories which can only be accessed by students within those buildings (such as North Campus dorms, eg. Court-Kay-Bauer) should be moved to areas on central campus, primarily where food is sold or students study in group environments (eg. Goldie’s Caf� within the Physical Sciences building).

The committee also requests that for future evaluation, CRP expand the data it collects on it distribution centers. Particularly, the committee was interested in not just how many papers are read from each location, but how many papers are dropped off so that the number of issues read versus available could be evaluated as a more appropriate efficiency metric.

Members of the committee thought favorably of the online subscriptions that were made available this semester through the new NY Times package and believes that the USA Today program should be released as soon as possible.

Finally, while the committee was interested to see how much student demand would be seen for these online services and what the alternatives to the USA Today are that can be provided in the Ithaca area under the current CRP program, it was in agreement that based on student interest and the current pricing scheme, it would be most efficient to shift the current distribution to be more strongly favored towards the NY Times. The committee officially voted to suggest an increase in NY Times versus USA Today subscriptions, barring currently unknown alternatives, by a vote of 11–1−2.

Overall, the committee felt that CRP provides a much used good to the entire student body and has adequate room to grow in the upcoming year.

Respectfully submitted,

Roneal Desai ‘13
Vice President for Finance
Student Assembly