Dan DaranciangNewsstands across campus stood empty Wednesday after hundreds of copies of Student Life were stolen and stuffed into nearby trash cans sometime during the morning.
Papers were yanked from at least nine buildings on the Hilltop campus, including Mallinckrodt, Holmes Lounge, McMillan and Cupples I. Yesterday afternoon, Student Life staffers discovered neat stacks of papers dumped in trashcans in Louderman, Lab Sciences, the Psychology building and in Holmes Lounge.
Washington University police said yesterday they were proceeding with an investigation.
“We’ll follow up on any leads or anything that we come across,” said WUPD Lieutenant James Roth. “It could be criminal, or it could be referred to the Judicial Administrator.”
Student Life General Manager Andrew O’Dell estimated the total financial loss to the paper at around $3,000, including printing and advertising costs. Student Life is offering a $250 reward for information leading to persons responsible for the theft.
“This is very serious and it’s no different than stealing a car or a laptop,” said O’Dell. “We hope by offering a reward, individuals with knowledge of the theft will come forward.”
In the policy box, located in the Forum section of every Student Life issue, readers are informed that the first copy of the paper is free; additional copies cost 50 cents.
“The size of the reward is commensurate with our perception of how serious a crime this was,” said Student Life Editor in Chief Jonathan Greenberger. “It indicates that we are very serious about tracking down the perpetrators of this crime.”
Though O’Dell could not compile an exact total, the stolen papers numbered in the many hundreds.
In an area with as much student traffic as Mallinckrodt, Student Life deliverymen distribute at least 1,100 copies of the paper three mornings a week. Every Student Life paper stand in Mallinckrodt was empty yesterday afternoon.
Chancellor Mark Wrighton said he was “dismayed” about the thefts in a letter to the editor (see page 4).
“While I don’t always agree with what is written in Student Life, I believe that it is important to have campus and student news available to students from an independent source,” Wrighton said. “When there are differences of opinion on important issues, as there will always be, it is crucial to have forums for constructive debate.”
On its Web site, the Student Press Law Center (SPLC) calls newspaper theft “a terribly effective form of censorship.” The organization has reported eight cases of newspaper theft at universities during the 2004-2005 academic year, all of which involved a student or groups of students hoping to suppress a specific story.
SPLC Executive Director Mark Goodman said students often see newspaper thefts as a prank, not as a criminal offense for which they could face prosecution.
“It’s a prank in the same way shouting down a speaker on campus is a prank, or stealing books from the library is a prank or blocking the entrance to a film being shown on campus that people want to see,” said Goodman. “It’s a very serious threat to free expression, and I just can’t fathom that any college or university that cares about free and open debate would tolerate it.”
In “a handful” of similar cases, Goodman said students had been criminally charged. Others have been fined or put on probation.
“It is serious,” he said. “It is a crime and can be treated as such.”
Greenberger said the theft prevented the University community from having access to the news and opinions published in Wednesday’s issue. About fifty students are on staff at Student Life, and many more contribute to the paper.
“It’s important to remember that Student Life is a student product,” said Greenberger. “Many students on this campus put a lot of time and energy into producing the paper. So in stealing the paper, the thieves destroyed the work of students on this campus.”
Greenberger said the paper would continue to publish stories the editors deemed newsworthy.
“If this was an attempt to intimidate Student Life or to prevent Student Life from covering certain kinds of stories in the future, the perpetrators of this crime should be aware that they have not succeeded and they will not succeed,” he said.
Two years ago, a shipment of Cadenza-then published as a separate edition-was stolen off the loading dock before it could be delivered. A business in Clayton later reported that the papers had been deposited in their dumpster. The perpetrators were never discovered.