Student newspaper thefts abound

Some students around the country haven't been able to "read all about it" in their campus newspapers recently, due to another rash of confiscations and other abridgements of student journalists' rights. Officials at the Student Press Law Center say recent incidents at the universities of Virginia, Texas and Nebraska demonstrate a disturbing trend -- newspaper theft as an "almost acceptable" action from dissatisfied readers, according to SPLC staff attorney Mike Hiestand. "It's outrageous," he said. "What's even more outrageous is that school officials and faculty -- whom one would hope would know better and understand the free speech principles at stake -- look the other way." At the University of Virginia in Charlottesville on August 26, food service employee John Darmstadt took 4,000 copies of the Cavalier Daily so incoming freshmen and their parents would not see an unfavorable review of the food served in campus dining halls. Darmstadt first told the newspaper's editors he had thrown the issues away, leading them to order another 6,000-copy press run. But in a meeting with University officials and Cavalier Daily editors later that day, he admitted that he had only hidden the newspapers, and agreed to redistribute them throughout campus. "[The food-service company] and Mr. Darmstadt have agreed to make a $2,000 contribution to a university scholarship fund of our choice," Cavalier Daily Editor Michael Sampson said. They will also repay advertisers for any damage done during the eight hours the newspapers were not on the stands. Later the same week, 5,800 copies of the August 31 edition of The Daily Texan were allegedly taken by Corrado Giovanella, who had been denied admission to the University of Texas at Austin after officials discovered that one of his recommendations was fake. The newspaper had written a story about the case. "I haven't really received too much student reaction" to the theft, said Daily Texan Editor-in-Chief Robert Rogers. "But I hope by taking vigorous action, The Daily Texan can deter other newspaper thefts in the future." Criminal charges were filed against Giovanella on September 7, Rogers said. He added that the newspaper will decide whether to file a civil suit after the criminal case has been decided. Shortly after that case, on September 5, University of Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne banned Daily Nebraskan reporters from practices for the season. The newspaper had run two cartoons critical of football players' off-the-field actions on its editorial page. Two days after announcing the ban, Osborne reversed himself and began letting Daily Nebraskan reporters in again, Editor-in-Chief Christopher Hain said. However, their access -- as well as that given to members of the local and national media -- has been severely restricted. Hain said members of the media are no longer allowed to attend the team's entire practice, and while Osborne used to speak to them as a group, he now takes each person's questions individually. "If things don't change soon, we're going to have to do something," Hain said, although he is not yet sure what his next step would be. But Hain said the controversy has not affected the way in which the newspaper's reporters cover the football team.

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