Students at three colleges disciplined for stealing newspapers


© 2003 Student Press Law Center

July 1, 2003

WISCONSIN — Students at three separate colleges learned there is a high price to pay for stealing campus newspapers. Punishments ranging from probation to fines were handed down last semester to students who stole thousands of copies of the free newspapers at the different schools.

At the University of Wisconsin at River Falls three students received non-academic probation for stealing more than 2,000 copies of the student newspaper.

The students, Chris Riepe, Robert Wicklund and Ashton Flinders, stole 75 percent of the Student Voice’s April 25 press run. In what the group said was intended to be a prank, they emptied distribution bins all over campus and left behind ransom notes proclaiming themselves as the “Army of the Flying Squirrel.”

Riepe and Wicklund will be on probation for the fall semester, said Editor in Chief Jen Cullen. Flinders received one year of probation, she added. He also is required to complete 10 hours of community service for the Student Voice, which will be determined by Cullen, adviser Pat Berg and journalism department Chair Colleen Callahan. Cullen said the community service could range from delivering newspapers to writing an essay on the importance of the First Amendment.

The Student Voice pressed charges through the university and the students were found responsible for the theft at a University Hearing Committee judicial proceeding on May 13.

“I think it is very important the men received the punishment they did,” Cullen said. “We can’t let this sort of thing go unnoticed, and I am very proud of the Voice staff for sticking by their guns. We have set a precedent for the future if this is to ever happen again.”

University spokesperson Mark Kinders said the punishment is a reflection of how the university views newspaper theft.

“The Student Voice is an important communication tool on campus and it should be respected and circulated unimpeded,” Kinders said.

The newspaper staff identified the thieves by tracking a “ransom” email Flinders sent to the newspaper. In his email he demanded that the newspaper publish an apology for everything they ever printed. If the demands are not met, Flinders threatened: “Your paper will befall yet another travesty.” The email was signed “Squirrel Master, a.k.a. Big Nut.”

At the request of the student editors, a university IT staff member searched the campus computer logs and determined Flinders was logged into a lab computer when the e-mails from “Squirrel Master” were sent.

The three students in the “Army of the Flying Squirrel” then sent another email to the newspaper in which they apologized for the theft and said they had no idea that stealing free newspapers was a crime. The idea to take the papers was intended to be a prank, they said. The week after the newspapers were stolen, the group apologized in person to Berg and Callahan.

Rumors led the student editors to find the 2,000 missing newspapers outside chemistry professor Kevin McLaughlin’s office the day after they were stolen and the staff were able to redistribute the papers. Chemistry department Chair Jeff Rosenthal said he let the students into the building Thursday night to deposit the newspapers in McLaughlin’s office, but he did not realize how many papers they had.

Berg said the newspaper did not lose any money from the theft because the staff was able to redistribute it.

Flinders did not respond to an email seeking comments.

At Framingham State College in Mass., three football players and one female student were punished by the college for stealing 1,000 copies of The Gatepost. The theft was in retaliation for an article published in February that alleged that members of the football team had forced first-year players to participate in a hazing ritual.

The three football players admitted to the theft and the third culprit was discovered by campus police when they sifted through campus surveillance videos.

The college would not release the names of the students.

The newspaper’s adviser, Desmond McCarthy, said the students paid full restitution to The Gatepost so it could reprint the stolen copies. Although he did not have an exact amount, he said the newspaper received a check of about $400. The three students on the football team also were suspended from the team, he added.

McCarthy said the students were required to meet with him to discuss the First Amendment and its relation to newspaper theft.

“The school really took it seriously,” he said. “There was punishment, and there was also an educational component. It was certainly not just a small slap in the wrist.”

College spokesperson Peter Chisholm said the students were punished because the school viewed newspaper theft as a crime.

“We don’t appreciate anyone interfering with freedom of the press,” Chisholm said. “It is illegal, that is why we punished them.”

Two students at South Dakota State University were found responsible for stealing 2,325 copies of The Collegiate in what editors said was an attempt to stifle an editorial endorsement of a student government president candidate in February.

University spokesperson Doug Wermedal refused to release the students’ names or details of their punishment. He said the two students turned themselves in to campus authorities two days after the theft. Wermedal said he did not know why the students confessed. The college judiciary board held a hearing for the students last semester and determined a punishment.

“We are interested in SDSU students getting the widest possible information about their community environment and their campus setting,” Wermedal said. “Anything that interrupts that flow of information is an issue for the university to respond.”

Student editors found the newspapers after campus police received a tip that some of the newspapers had been tossed in an off-campus Dumpster. Kara Kristensen, last year's editor, also received a tip that led her to find the rest of the papers in front of the student union. The Collegiate staff redistributed the newspapers and the paper did not lose any revenue.

Current student editors could not be reached by telephone for comment.

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