Reporter Brian Newsome has worn a path in the carpet from his newsroom mailbox to the recycle bin from tossing a profusion of announcements from the higher education beat.He explains why:After nearly two decades of child-rearing, parents are understandably proud when a son or daughter succeeds in college.But the general public? Not so much. Newspapers everywhere are deluged with hometown press releases from colleges and universities about students who, well, do just about anything.Graduation (aka not dropping out). Acceptance (aka being a student). Dean’s list. Honor roll. Scholarships.In a city of a half-million people, thousands in college, this means countless pages destined for the recycle bin. For colleges, the expense and effort – from postage costs to tracking down hometowns – comes as annual tuition increases at most schools outpace inflation.Some are abandoning the practice, but at The Gazette there’s still enough paper to represent a small forest.Granted, putting a dollar figure on staff members’ time or a newspaper’s discarded mail is tough. And it’s sure to be a tiny fraction of a college’s multimillion-dollar budget. Yet, at a time when colleges use sophisticated marketing like ZIP code tracking, why do colleges do it?The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and Pikes Peak Community College said: We don’t.”We put our energy into things we think are more effective,” said Nan Heflin, PPCC spokeswoman. Years ago, when the college was a fraction of its size, she said it would send such mailers. But to track down hundreds of hometowns in hopes a small weekly or daily newspaper might list one of thousands of honored students each year didn’t make sense.UCCS spokesman Tom Hutton said he’s been approached by higher-ups about sending them, but so far he’s successfully argued against it. Once a mainstay of college press offices, he said the practice is losing favor.Colorado College doesn’t use snail mail, but it sends hundreds of e-mail announcements to hometown newspapers. Spokeswoman Leslie Weddell called it time well spent. About 400 were sent last year, and every student can opt to have one sent when he or she graduates. About 100 do.”It’s time-consuming,” Weddell said, “but I think it builds goodwill among the students, the parents, the alumni, and it also gets Colorado College’s name out there.”She concedes the releases are mostly for the benefit of family and students, but in small towns such accomplishments are an important part of the public record.”In a way it’s kind of a throwback to the newspapers maybe a generation ago, but I really do think that’s what people want,” she said, noting students, alums and parents have praised the practice.For local students and parents, The Gazette has YourHub, a neighborhood-driven publication at ColoradoSprings.com, in which people can write about their children’s – or their own – accomplishments.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0198 or pam.zubeck@gazettedev.gazette.com