Letters to the Editor

Be thankful for the 'wealth' — not 'glut' — of campus publications

I write on behalf of the USG Student Groups Projects Board. We were taken aback by Aileen Nielsen's editorial "Glut of free campus publications is often wasteful." As a source of funding for student organizations, our Board makes possible some of the publications with which Ms. Nielsen takes issue. We assume she thinks our funding would be better spent elsewhere.

The money provided by the University and guarded by the Projects Board exists to help students shape the diverse intellectual and cultural climate that should be endemic to Princeton. Undergraduates use Projects Board funding for a wide range of projects, from dance performances and heritage months, to guest speakers and, yes, publications. We believe each group helps make Princeton a more complete university. Students should be lauded, not criticized, for taking advantage Princeton's resources and contributing to the life of this campus.

Of course, we also require the responsible use of our funds. This means negotiating with speakers regarding honoraria, finding inexpensive caterers, and seeking out the most cost-effective places for publications to be printed. To this end, we played a key role in the recent acquisition of a new publications kiosk on the 100-level of the Frist Campus Center, just outside Café Vivian. We hope that with this kiosk, publications will begin improving the way they distribute their work.

Ms. Nielsen, you say that we have a "glut" of publications on this campus. We at the Projects Board prefer to say that we have a wealth of them. Rishi Jaitly Co-Chair, USG Projects Board