Students want the CRP back

Two students out of a dozen given the opportunity to address ASG about the CRP

Anderson Haigler / Associate Editor / The USD Vista
Luke Garrett / News Editor / The USD Vista

Of the packed crowd that filled Associated Student Government’s (ASG) meeting in Solomon Hall last Thursday afternoon, close to half was in attendance to share opinions regarding the College Readership Program. Despite the large amount of students waiting to speak, discussion of the free newspaper access did not begin until the last 10 minutes of the two-hour-long meeting, and discussion of the program was not included on the day’s agenda. Senior Simon Finnie was one of two students afforded the chance to speak.

He focused on Finance Chair George Saunderson’s campus-wide email, which addressed the growing controversy regarding ASG’s decision to withhold funding for the readership program.  He referred to the fact that according to Saunderson’s statement, at least one out of five USD students used the now-defunded digital subscription. 

“To think that one out of five people on this campus does anything is a feat unto itself,” Finnie said. 

He went on to address ASG’s assertion that Copley Library’s newspaper database access is comparable to the free subscriptions provided by the College Readership Program.

“The access provided by the Copley database satisfies none of the needs of the readers at the university,” Finnie said. “The solutions provided in the email were concessions to us. As if to say, we are taking away something you really really want and giving a few things in return.”

In response, Saunderson  turned the conversation from the percentage of student usage  and  instead both minimized the significance of the number of student signatories on the petitions, and seemingly discouraged students from using more meeting time to discuss the issue.

“I do want to mention that 350 students is one third, if not less than the number of those who subscribe to the Wall Street Journal,” Saunderson said. “Finance Committee has a meeting in two weeks where we are strictly talking about the College Readership Program. Until something is actually set in stone, there is just, nothing now.”

Though Saunderson acknowledged that the contentious debate surrounding the College Readership Program is “a pressing matter on campus,”  his plan to address students’ concerns in his meeting next week omitted a significant detail — finance committee meetings are not open to the public or the media.

After Finnie’s statement, the time that ASG allotted for public comment allowed only one more student to offer their opinion.

Senior Tyler Arden, who had previously asked ASG for greater transparency, came back to senate with a similar message.

“The College Readership Program is a manifestation of those transparency issues,” Arden said. “You oversee a budget of over a million dollars of our money as students, yet most students could not tell you where that money goes.” 

He continued on to challenge ASG to take action on increasing transparency in their organization.

“I am urging you to take transparency seriously and pass a resolution within the next couple of meetings to make the whole ASG budget public,” Arden said. “This body is not the Department of Defense, and a black budget does not seem necessary in my opinion.” 

Speaker of the Senate Carolina Moreno Armenta acknowledged Arden’s desire for transparency, but chose to keep her focus on other issues. 

“Personally transparency, yes, is at the top of our  list,” Moreno Armenta said. “But I cannot promise you that I can make that my priority as we have heard there have been students being targeted for their identity.”

After both Finnie and Arden’s statements before the senate, several students raised their hands in attempts to share their opinions regarding the College Readership Program. No more of them were heard. Citing the length of the meeting, the end of dead hours and her colleagues’ class schedules, Moreno Armenta allowed any ASG members who needed to leave to depart as students awaited the opportunity to speak. Since nearly the entirety of the student government left, Moreno Armenta moved to adjourn the meeting due to the subsequent lack of quorum (a minimum level of ASG members present that allows them the opportunity to vote on measures), leaving multiple students frustrated that they were not afforded the chance to voice their concerns, and that ASG did not allocate their meeting time more effectively to allow them that opportunity.

Anthony Catanzaro, one of the two petition leaders, was one of the Toreros who did not have the chance to address the student government body on Thursday.

“Unfortunately (the College Readership Program) was not on the agenda,” Catanzaro said. “If you tell someone to come to a meeting at least give us some time  to talk, which George’s email said.”

He also responded to the justification student leaders gave for their decisions.

“The library’s (access to newspapers) is incompatible and they have been lying to us,” Catanzaro said. 

The College Readership Program, which has been present on the USD campus in some shape or form for more than a decade, was dedicated to keeping undergraduate students civically engaged by providing free access to newspapers like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. 

The program has been incrementally defunded over the past two years by ASG. Last year, ASG defunded the physical versions of three newspapers, and this past month, ASG defunded the program in its entirety, which now leaves students without their free digital subscriptions.