MISSISSIPPI — Almost half of the press run of the University
of Southern Mississippi's student newspaper disappeared from racks last week,
but editors say the police are reluctant to investigate the theft because the newspaper
is free.
Student Printz Executive Editor David McRaney said
between 2,000 and 4,000 copies of the Nov. 2 edition of the bi-weekly
publication were taken from the racks, with some being thrown into nearby
trashcans. He said while he does have theories about why the papers were stolen,
he would not go so far as to place blame.
"I have no idea why," McRaney
said. "I have a lot of suspicions, but no proof."
McRaney said he and his
staff received reports throughout the day of disappearing newspapers. One of the
paper's distributors came to his office citing an abnormal disappearance of
papers from the liberal arts building just hours after they were placed, he
said.
During a news staff meeting, the paper's news editor received a
phone call from a friend in the school's cafeteria who said they had seen a
group of young women taking copies of the paper and throwing them in the
trash.
McRaney and his adviser, Maggie Williams, said they attempted to
file a police report with campus authorities that Thursday night, but the campus
police asked them to wait and contact an investigator on Friday.
The
police gave the newspaper's staff "the run-around," McRaney said.
"They
pretty much just told us they were hesitant to do anything," McRaney said.
"Their stance continues to be that the paper is free and that you don't have to
pay to receive the paper. They don't want to deal with it."
University of
Southern Mississippi Police Chief Bob Hopkins said he had no written report and
that editors could not say who they spoke to on the day the newspapers were
taken, but that he has since been contacted and is beginning an
investigation.
Hopkins said he told student editors that while no
criminal charges can be filed "because the paper was free," the police will
investigate the theft and turn any student identified over to the school's dean
of students for disciplinary action.
Hopkins said that if those
responsible are not students, it will be "difficult" to charge them "being that
it is a student paper and it is free."
While Mississippi does not have a
specific free newspaper theft law, other states have prosecuted newspaper
thieves under general theft statutes.
McRaney said the
Student
Printz contains a disclaimer that states the first four copies of the
Printz are free, with every copy afterward costing .25 cents. The
disclaimer was placed on the newspapers a few years ago after a request from the
police department, he said.
The newspaper has come under fire recently
from student religious groups and administrators for a sex column called
Pillow Talk. University of Southern Mississippi President Shelby Thames
was openly critical, saying in an October letter to editors that "I vigorously
oppose the printing of the
Pillow Talk column ... and characterize the
content as offensive to the quality and respectability of our student body and
institution," according to the Associated Press.
McRaney said although
he conceded that the papers could have been taken because of the
Pillow
Talk column, which was in the edition, the complaints have mainly been from
religious organizations and administrators, not students.
McRaney also
said that the stolen paper's front-page story exploring a recent
Playboy
Magazine visit to campus had an unintentional error. One of the women posing
for the
Playboy shoot was misidentified as a member of the Chi Omega
sorority. McRaney said the paper ran a correction on its Web site and in its
Nov. 7 print edition that the woman was a former member of the campus
group.
"She was wearing a Chi Omega shirt with the emblem on it, she
never said that she wasn't a member," McRaney said. "We got phone calls saying
that she was not a member but a former member."
McRaney said he is
focusing on putting out the next edition of
Student Printz before
considering his other options, including going to the local Hattiesburg Police
Department.
By Scott Sternberg, SPLC staff writer
