Student Senate discusses possibility of dropping Bobcat Readership Program, which provides newspapers to campus

Following the placement of a sign in Baker Center, Student Senate addressed a potential threat to the Bobcat Readership Program, which funds the New York Times subscriptions on campus. Matthew Mamone, a senior studying Biological Sciences, advocated for the program’s continuance.“I read it every day. We need news right now, and we need good news right now,” he said, referencing the current concern of fake news.The budget for the program is currently just under $60,000 per year and is based on the number of copies of the New York Times, USA Today and Columbus Dispatch picked up. Student Senate controls the funding for the program, which includes $12,000 for The Buzz app made in November. The Buzz draws articles from USA Today and campus news outlets (including The New Political).Graduate College Senator Mitchell Smith spoke in defense of the Bobcat Readership Program —  but against The Buzz — in part because he does not see USA Today as a serious journalistic newspaper. His opinions were greeted with some support. “(Students) need these physical subscriptions to continue to operate for prospective journalism and hold people like President Trump accountable for whatever nonsense they’re spewing, every hour of the day,” he said. “Journalism students will be using newspapers in disproportionately larger numbers, but any effective student body that wants to be informed of the issues should have these opportunities available to them. Furthermore, any informed citizen should have these opportunities.”Senate President Hannah Clouser briefly addressed the executive session from last week’s meeting, which was called to let the Senate body do a vote of confidence on the executive staff. “People are confident in us, so we were not impeached,” she said.Members of Student Senate also voted to appoint Nicole Schneider, Amal Afyouni, Haley Klier and Raphaelle Antwi to the Committee on Community and Social Activity, which is chaired by Kelley Zebrowski.Student Senate meets weekly on Wednesdays at 7:15 p.m. in Walter 235.