Do you have a nose for newspapers?<\/p>\n
Would you rather get ink on your fingers than search with them for news on your smartphone?<\/p>\n
Perhaps you just like having something to read that doesn\u2019t have a power switch.<\/p>\n
If so, then you\u2019ve probably already noticed the relatively new additions on campus: New York Times<\/em> news stands stocked with free daily newspapers.<\/p>\n It\u2019s part of the New York Times<\/em> College Readership Program at Wright State University. It\u2019s an effort to get plugged-in students to pick up a newspaper to learn about current events instead of pulling up a URL.<\/p>\n Avid readers may recognize the name David Leonhardt. An economics columnist with the Times<\/em>, he\u2019s a regular contributor, and he is coming to speak at Wright State next week.<\/p>\n Leonhardt writes the weekly column \u201cEconomic Scene\u201d for the business section, and was one of the reporters who co-authored the book Class Matters<\/em>.<\/p>\n He\u2019ll visit Wright State Wednesday, April 6 at 7 p.m. in the Student Union Apollo Room, to discuss, \u201cHow Do We Grow from Here? The Post-Crisis American Economy.\u201d The event is sponsored by the Wright State First-Year Experience Program.<\/p>\n \u201cThe readership program is designed to get students to read beyond what they read on Google,\u201d said Edwin Mayes, director of the First-Year Experience program in University College.<\/p>\n The Times<\/em> news stands started popping up in September 2010 and it looks like some students have taken notice.<\/p>\n \u201c300 newspapers are provided each day, and about 200 get picked up,\u201d said Mayes.<\/p>\n Educators on campus are hoping students, first-year students in particular, are picking up the benefits of reading at such a high level.<\/p>\n \u201cThe readership program strives to enrich student learning inside and outside the classroom, provide an additional resource for students to explore global issues, promote critical thinking and discussion and engage students in active learning,\u201d said Mayes.<\/p>\n Susan Carrafiello, Ph.D., director of the University Honors Program, says using the Times<\/em> in her honors history class is already paying off.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was really good; they were stunned that I would pass out these newspapers for each class and they were free,\u201d said Carrafiello. \u201cSome read on a regular basis, and for those that did, it helped inculcate a habit in them of looking at newspapers that many of them were not doing on a regular basis.\u201d<\/p>\n The readership program has also sponsored activities like poetry writing and spoken word contests on campus.<\/p>\n \u201cI think they felt more cultured because they have access to it, and more aware of things that were happening across the country that they might otherwise have not known much about,\u201d said Carrafiello.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Would you rather get ink on your fingers than search with them for news on your smartphone? Continue reading