USG assesses student publication funding

The student publications that crowd doorsteps across campus may soon be off the floor, moved to kiosks in the Frist Campus Center or even to dormitory bathrooms — possible results of a new drive for efficiency at the USG Projects Board, which provides operating funds for many of the publications.

A readership survey whose results have not yet been released may be used to justify future budget cuts for the publications, according to USG members familiar with the situation.

The Projects Board surveyed a sample of students last spring to find out how many people are reading each publication and to explore the feasibility of distribution methods that would not require printing 2,500 copies of each publication — one for each room on campus — at the USG's expense, explained Projects Board co-chairs Cole Barfield '03 and Rishi Jaitly '04, who is a 'Prince' staff writer.

The 'Prince' operates independently of the University and would not be affected by the proposed changes.

"The main answers we were looking for were how best to maximize the efficiency with which money is used, and that has to do with distribution," Jaitly said.

"We're hoping to implement . . . the most efficient use of students' money, and we think that distribution will be a huge part of that, whether it be in a kiosk in Frist, in a department or even in a bathroom," added Barfield.

The Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students also provides funds for student publications, and Assistant Dean of Student Life Tom Dunne said the office is not likely to stop supporting them any time soon.

"Very few of our student organizations are self-sufficient. We're interested in making sure that the money is used efficiently and not wasted," he said.

Though in the past three years the campus has benefited from a growing number of publications, the Projects Board's funding has been limited, Jaitly said.

"For events we always ask how many people will attend this event . . . publications are no different. We're asking how many undergraduates are reading these publications," Jaitly added.

The leaders of many campus publications have expressed concern about the survey.

"The University is there to subsidize publications and stimulate the intellectual life," said Pete Hegseth '03, publisher of the Princeton Tory. "I don't think you should just do it based on who's the most popular, because you need that diversity of views on campus."

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At the same time, Hegseth acknowledged that students are often partly responsible for budget shortfalls. "[There is] a lot of money to be had, but we're students, not fundraisers," he said.

Louise Lamphere '04, editor-in-chief of the Princeton Spectator, said that Dunne and the Projects Board have been very supportive of small publications on campus, but she added that "it's very frustrating as a publication to know that our financial status is always in jeopardy."

Lamphere is working with Vincent Lloyd '03 to lead the Student Publications Council, a group formed to represent the concerns of small campus publications to the USG and administration.

"Small publications rely on the fact that students will randomly pick up their newspaper one day and start to read it," she said. "Their goal is not to be recognized as a name . . . Their goal is to get campus debate and ideas flowing."

Small campus publications that depend on the Projects Board for funds do not need to worry, Jaitly said. "We're not going to turn the survey into a concrete [formula]," he said.

Dunne said strategies for controlling costs might include urging some publications to move to an online format. "I think that we can do a better job having online publications or supplemental online versions of print publications," he said.

Dunne said moving publications online would increase their potential readership and make them available as a marketing tool for prospective students.