Due to an outstanding debt of almost $30,000, delivery of both The New York Times and USA Today to the UF campus has been suspended.
The readership program, which provides free digital and physical copies of both papers to students, is a partnership between the two companies. USA Today handles the contracting and billing to the school as well as distribution of the paper.
According to a USA Today representative who preferred to remain anonymous, Student Government and USA Today signed a service agreement that called for $66,590 for the 2012-13 school year.
SG submitted a purchase order for $40,000.
“We get a call from USA Today within the last month saying, ‘You’ve got to cancel all the papers at UF because they’re not going to pay their bill,’” said Kevin Cappallo, national director of education sales for The New York Times. “There’s an outstanding balance of, I’m thinking, 20-something-thousand.”
But UF Student Body President Christina Bonarrigo said she was not aware of a vote to reduce the allocation.
“I am aware that a purchase agreement was made for a certain amount of money and that UF honored that agreement,” she said.
She said the contract, signed in 2010, featured a clause that said funds were “subject to availability.”
“We went through the proper avenues of the program that was requested,” Bonarrigo said. “It was passed through the senate body and the Budget and Appropriations Committee.”
The USA Today representative said a conference call was scheduled in an attempt to work with SG, but the students were a “no-show.”
Similarly, Cappallo said he’s had trouble reaching SG.
“I have made several overtures to contact the president of SGA,” he said. “I’ve tried contacting the adviser of SGA and haven’t gotten any response.”
However, Bonarrigo said she talked to the USA Today representative twice last week.
“We discussed options about the program,” she said. “[The representative] hoped we would continue the program for the upcoming years, and it’s something the Senate would discuss in the upcoming year’s budget.”
According to the representative, USA Today had been trying to get in contact with SG since the beginning of the year.
It was only until recently that they communicated with Bonarrigo — after she had been contacted by the Alligator for information.
“[SG] didn’t say, ‘You’re spending too much of our money.’ The red flag never went up…then we would have dug further,” the representative said. “But instead, nobody got that message to the USA Today Orlando local office.”
As a result of the reduced purchasing order, both papers will be forced to write off the debt, but for now will not be sending the university’s account to collections, which could show negligent activity and lower the university’s credit score, according to the representative.
“It’d be a shame for [the program] to end,” said Patrick Reakes, Chairman of Library West. “I know it’s been heavily used by the students.”
Brittany Birsner, a 20-year-old telecommunication junior, also noticed the program’s popularity.
“If I go to get a newspaper,” she said, “The New York Times is the first to go. By the time I get to them, they’re all gone.”
While USA Today believes that the university should be liable for the papers used, it still wishes to continue the program and provide The New York Times and USA Today.
“USA Today is willing to work with UF Student Government and the university to renegotiate a new contract for the fall,” the representative said. “We are open to discussions with all interested parties.”
