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NEWS / WEDNESDAY, JULY 14, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
CAMPUS
Readership Program downsizes for summer
Newspapers are still available for free on campus, but distribution sites are limited
BY LUYAN WANG
lwang@kansan.com
The Collegiate Newspaper Readership Program is distributing newspapers in fewer locations during the summer. Students can still get newspapers — The Kansas City Star, The Lawrence Journal-World, The New York Times, and USA Today — on campus, but they may have to look a little harder.
Amanda Muhammad, a senior from Kansas City, Kan., noticed the empty Newspaper Readership Program distribution box in front of the Burge Union. Muhammad said she usually got newspapers from the boxes during the spring and fall semesters, but she began reading news online in the summer because she didn't know whether the Newspaper Readership Program was funded in the summer.
Terry Wade, who works in the Burge Union, said the newspaper distribution box there was always empty during the summer.
During the summer semester, papers are only distributed in the
areas where they are most highly used, such as the Kansas Union, Wescoe Hall and Watson Library.
"You will see full service restored at the beginning of the fall term."
said Student Body President Michael Wade Smith.
Smith said the University's newspaper contract was managed by a collegiate readership program through USA Today. The
"You will see full service restored at the beginning of the fall term."
"There isn't a set number of copies of each paper per day." Pishny said. "It is really all about demand from the students."
more frequently used.
Jordan Post, a senior from Scottsbluff, Neb., said he read a newspaper every day, but seldom picked up newspapers on campus.
USA Today Collegiate Readership Program decides on the number of papers to distribute based on daily, weekly, monthly and annual distribution numbers. It uses the card swipers on the machines to keep count.
Student Senate Treasurer Erin Pishny said that if one location had all of the papers taken every day, then the distributor might look at shifting papers from another location with less traffic to one that's
MICHAEL WADE SMITH Student Body President
He was afraid the distribution box would empty by the time he arrived.
"I have seen the empty boxes," Post said. "I feel like I don't pay much attention during the summer."
Students
enrolled in more than five credit hours at the Lawrence Campus pay a summer newspaper readership fee of $2.20.The fee is $4.45 in the fall and spring semesters. This includes an 85-cent subscription fee for The Kansan, which was put into place during the last fee cycle.
Pishny said that anyone enrolled in fewer than five credit hours paid a fee of approximately 44 cents per credit hour.
ECONOMICS
US trade deficit widens to $42.3 billion in May
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — The U.S. trade deficit widened in May to the highest level in 18 months as a rebounding economy pushed up demand for imports of foreign-made cars, computers and clothing.
The trade deficit increased 4.8 percent to $42.3 billion, the largest imbalance since November 2008, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. American exports of goods and services rose 2.4 percent but this increase was outpaced by a 2.9 percent rise in imports.
American manufacturing has been a standout performer so far in this recovery, benefiting from a global economic recovery. But the concern is that export sales will be hurt by the European debt crisis, which has dampened growth prospects in Europe.
Through May, the U.S. trade deficit is running at an annual rate of $474.8 billion, up by 26.6 percent from $374.9 billion deficit for all of 2009. That had been the lowest annual trade gap since 2001,
another year when the country was in recession.
The rise in the May deficit came despite the fact that oil imports dropped by 9.1 percent to $27.6 billion as both the price of oil and the volume of shipments declined slightly.
The 2.4 percent rise in exports in May compared to April pushed sales of American goods and services to $152.3 billion, the highest level since September 2008. While sales of soybeans, wheat and other farm products were down in May, demand for American-made autos, industrial machinery, medical equipment and commercial aircraft all increased.
Imports rose 2.9 percent to $194.5 billion, the highest level since October 2008, reflecting big gains in imports of cars, computers, oil drilling equipment and industrial machinery.
The deficit with the European Union rose 7.5 percent to $6.2 billion as imports from Europe rose by 3.2 percent, ouptaining a 1.9 percent rise in U.S. exports to that region.
The concern is that American exports could falter in coming months if a debt crisis in Europe pushes that region back into recession.