A recent study conducted through a joint effort between the mathematics and English department found that a large amount of paper is being wasted on student publications because of limited interest in each periodical.
"We concluded that of the three major student newspapers, all that was really needed was about four pages a week," said surveyor and professor of mathematics Michael Blanchett.
Surveyors conducted an exit poll at the recently concluded Student Assembly elections to "get an adequate amount of student input" regarding The Spectrum, Generation, and Visions, said Blanchett.
"The questions were highly technical so that we would be able gauge their reaction," said English professor Stanley Mulvaney, who headed the study.
Results showed that of the three publications, The Spectrum, printed thrice weekly, had the most readers interested in more than one section while the bi-weekly SA publication Visions, had the most readers interested in no sections. Generation had nearly as many readers at The Spectrum, but of those, 95 percent read only one section of the weekly magazine.
"I love grabbing The Spectrum on my way to World Civ every morning because those Safety Reports really help to keep me awake," said freshman anthropology major Daniel Jackman. "Did you see the one about the Lockwood Masturbator?"
Other popular sections in The Spectrum were the front page and sports articles.
"I love the front page of The Spectrum because all the important news is covered," said junior Janelle Brooks, a political science major. "I never would have known that Krispy Kreme was going to open new locations if I didn't read about it on the front page."
Generation Editor in Chief Christopher Davis said he attributes the positive response gotten by The Spectrum to the fact that the newspaper has a 10,000-copy circulation three times a week as opposed to Generation's 10,000 copies weekly.
"Of course students are going to want to read something more often and with [The Spectrum] not only is there the Safety Report, but there is always a picture of one of their hot staff members on page five," said Davis.
Student response showed that most students that read Generation opened only to the last page to the Personals section.
"We could never get enough personals to fill three issues per week so it wouldn't make sense to sit there and make up pointless advice to fill up the rest of the pages," said Davis.
"They think they're chill but someone over there needs to learn how to write about CDs," said Dmitri Salavalous. "At least they have the Personals. That's all they're really good for anyway."
The other publication included in the survey, Visions, is the least interesting, according to the surveyed students. Less than a quarter of those surveyed said they have ever picked up a copy of Visions and of those, only 15 percent said they would look through the periodical again.
"Visions is cool. I think it's cool that I can write an editor's note every two weeks that every student at UB will read," said SA Vice President-elect Jennifer Brace. "Also, clubs have a place to announce their meetings for free so that the increased club budget we're working on can be spent on more pizza."
