Campus police investigate, suspects could have been disgruntled about content
March 5, 2003
Three football players at Framingham State College have
admitted to stealing at least 1,000 copies of the student newspaper, its adviser
said, in reaction to an article published Friday that alleged that members of
the football team had forced first-year players to drink an excessive amount of
alcohol during an annual hazing ritual. The theft of the Massachusetts
college's independent weekly marks the fourth such case of stolen college
newspapers throughout the country reported to the Student Press Law Center in
one week. In late February, students also stole papers at San Antonio
College, University of Connecticut and South Dakota State University. Each theft
has spurred a campus police investigation, yielding suspects who might have
acted in retaliation for strong stances in those stolen editions. At
Framingham, campus police officers are currently sifting through several
videotapes taken from the school's surveillance cameras in order to identify an
additional female student who is believed to have stolen papers with the
football players, said Desmond McCarthy, adviser to The
Gatepost.After the police investigation is completed, the
unidentified students could face a campus judiciary hearing where the players'
status on the team will be decided, along with additional sanctions that might
include the repayment of printing costs, said Peter Chisholm, a spokesperson at
the Massachusetts college."We certainly don't tolerate it," he said. "By
taking newspapers you are interfering with the ability of other students to read
it."In the article, one former and two current football players,
speaking under the condition of anonymity, alleged that football players haze
new players.McCarthy applauded the response by the campus police,
administration and football coach. First-year head coach Mark Sullivan brought
members of the football team to the newspaper's staff meeting this week to
apologize for the theft. "The journalism was taken seriously by the
school. And the school's response to the theft was entirely supportive,"
McCarthy said. He said, however, that some of staff members might be
less interested in tackling such a controversial issue in the future. During the
week of the issue's release, two female staff reporters said they were harassed
by football players, who called them, "bitches," said
McCarthy.Investigative reporting in the student newspaper at San
Antonio College led to theft by a student.Four hundred copies of
The Ranger were snatched up Feb. 21 by a campus cybercafe student manager
who claimed he wanted additional copies for the cafe to promote a front-page
article about the establishment. But one student told the weekly paper,
The Ranger, that Bailey's Cybercafe Manager Ron Smith had expressed anger
over the article, which reported that all food sales at the cafe were halted
until it received proper city food licenses. Journalism Professor Chet Hunt said
a staff photographer found a bundle of the papers under a table in the cafe out
of view of customers."We're not happy because it deprived 400 students
in one of our main classroom buildings from picking up copies at our optimum
distribution time on Friday morning," Hunt said. In a Ranger
article, Smith said about his taking the newspapers, "There was no malice
involved. I wasn't trying to hide anything. If anything, I've tried to support
The Ranger." Smith declined to comment and directed all questions to the
department of student life.Student Life Director Kathy Armstrong denied
that Smith had stolen The Ranger, but she said, if Smith had collected
the copies other than for promotion, it would have been inappropriate. She
lambasted the front-page article, "Bailey's Cybercafe violates city code,"
calling the violation "much a do about nothing" and the newspaper reporting, "a
gross misrepresentation." She said the student newspaper, which she labeled a
publicity tool, was full of half-truths. Campus police officers are
investigating, but an officer said they are unsure whether the collection of
papers from the four floors of the library constitutes a crime. Hunt remains
adamant that any mass collection of papers without the staff's consent is wrong.
Thousands of copies of The Daily Campus at University of
Connecticut were discovered in trash bags in front of the school library on
Friday. Although campus police are remaining mum over their investigation,
editor Elizabeth Hathaway pointed to a controversial commentary as being the
potential instigator for the theft of nearly the entire 10,000 press run.
The Feb. 27 issue carried a piece written by student Josh Levinson, who
claimed the campus African-American Cultural Center was propagating segregation
and racism by holding events that he said were exclusively for black students.
Friday's edition included two pages of letters to editor in reaction to the
piece. Hathaway heard that the theft was in "silent protest" of the commentary,
but a representative from the cultural center told The Daily Campus that
he heard no such plans.Hathaway said footage obtained from a
surveillance camera at the campus bookstore shows two women stealing armfuls of
newspapers on Friday morning. Lt. Craig Rich said the police have possession of
the tape but would not comment on the contents of it. He said police would
decide whether to pursue criminal charges or university sanctions after it was
determined what crime, if any, the suspects committed.Although The
Daily Campus is a free publication, Hathaway said it should be considered a
theft because each student pays $7 each semester in student fees to fund the
student newspaper. She also estimated the theft cost the newspaper $3,573.62 in
printing and advertising revenue losses."It is very disappointing that
people chose this very cowardly way to react, rather writing for or writing to
the newspaper," Hathaway said.At South Dakota State University, a
student editor says an election day endorsement of one of the student government
president candidates could have been the motive behind the trashing of 2,325
copies of the weekly newspaper on Feb. 26. After a Sioux Falls TV
station reported on the theft that evening, campus police received an anonymous
tip that a portion of the papers were thrown away in an off-campus Dumpster.
Soon after editor Kara Kristensen received another tip that additional papers in
garbage bags would be left in front of the student union. Initially
Kristensen said, "The staff was disappointed because we spent a lot of time
putting together the paper. I was there until 5 a.m. People who should read that
information and benefit from it were not able to." Although The
Collegiate was able to redistribute all the newspapers again, the campus
police department is still investigating the theft. Chief of Police Tim Heaton
said they have suspects, and if they identify the thieves, the matter would be
forwarded to the state attorney for prosecution. Heaton said he is unsure if the
students will be prosecuted because the newspapers are free; however, he said
the college judiciary board will likely hand down sanctions.There have
been successful criminal prosecutions of free college newspaper thieves in other
states.
For More Information: Visit the Student Press Law Center's Newspaper Theft Forum
© 2003 Student Press Law Center
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