U. Michigan newspapers stolen

Fliers posted across the University of Michigan's Ann Arbor campus yesterday stated that the March 27 issue of The Michigan Daily was cancelled because of its "racist nature." But in actuality, 8,700 of the 16,500 newspapers printed had been stolen. It has not yet been confirmed who committed the theft, but there was a witness to the incident, according to Daily News Editor Megan Schmipf, a junior. "We have reported the theft to the department of Public Safety and their investigation hasn't turned up anything," Schmipf said. The fliers quoted an editorial that appeared in Tuesday's newspaper and also reproduced an editorial cartoon the Daily printed a few months ago. The editorial in question discussed the newspaper's endorsement of a student government party. It came out against a smaller party running on the platform that would have represented minorities better in the student government body, Schmipf said. The cartoon was in reference to affirmative action, she added. University of Michigan administrators said they opposed the theft. None of the missing papers have been recovered, Schmipf said. The Daily will prosecute the group responsible for the theft and plans to file civil charges, according to Schmipf. Yesterday's newspaper included a summer sublet supplement that contained eight pages of ads. The Daily will reprint that section. Schmipf estimated that the total losses for the issue were approximately $10,000. This is not the first time a student newspaper has been stolen because of racial issues in a university community. In April 1993, a group calling itself "the Black Community" stole more than 14,000 copies of The Daily Pennsylvanian, the paper's entire run for the day. Those responsible said they were unhappy with the newspaper's depiction of blacks on campus. In the wake of this incident, many other university newspapers have also had issues stolen by disgruntled community members. At the University of Virginia, a dining service employee confiscated 4,000 copies of the Cavalier Daily after the paper printed a negative review of the food served in the dining halls. According to the Student Press Law Center in Washington, D.C., 38 student newspaper thefts occurred in 1993-1994 and more than 25 occurred in 1994-95.