Over 1,000 copies of The Free Press were stolen from the Portland and Gorham campuses last week.
Executive Editor Steve Peoples was alerted to the absence of papers at key distribution sites by a staff member early Thursday. Further investigation revealed that papers had been removed from the Woodbury and Brooks campus centers as well as from Bailey Hall.
“Even the older issues that are usually under the newer ones had been taken,” said Peoples. “The boxes were totally empty.”
Peoples immediately alerted USM Police Chief Lisa Beecher, Sgt. Detective Ron Saindon, and USM President Richard Pattenaude, who all expressed serious concern.
“Everyone I spoke to assured me that they were taking the situation very seriously,” said Peoples. “They’ve already begun a criminal investigation.”
President Pattenaude reacted immediately to the thefts by issuing a statement condemning theft of newspapers and encouraging the prosecution and redress of those responsible.
“Any of us who have been the subject of press scrutiny know that it is not always a pleasant experience,” the statement reads, “yet I am steadfastly committed to a free, open, and responsible press . any attempt to censor or disrupt the constitutionally protected free expression of ideas is antithetical to our foundation and beliefs.”
Stealing papers from a college campus may not seem like a big deal, but the volume of papers stolen is the smallest of concerns raised by the event.
“We believe that stealing newspapers is both a crime and an affront to freedom of expression,” said Mark Goodman, director of the Student Press Law Center in Arlington, Virg. “No one who expresses unpopular views can feel safe in doing that if newspaper theft is tolerated.”
The disappearance of the papers came at the end of a tumultuous week at The Free Press. In reaction to the “Question of the Week” in last week’s issue, which asked students about Greek organizations, several outraged Greek-affiliated students descended on The Free Press office on the Portland campus.
The “Question of the Week,” formulated weekly by The Free Press staff, is asked to random students on campus. Their responses are compiled and printed. In their responses to last week’s question, some students made pointedly anti-Greek comments. The Free Press chose to print these as representations of student opinion.
“I agree that it could have been more fair,” said Peoples. “It definitely came across biased. Obviously, nothing was intentional. I think they overreacted.”
Brittany Esposito, vice-chair of the Student Senate and of the sorority Sigma Iota Sigma, expressed concern about the responses printed.
“As a student senator, I have received complaints from my constituency with regards to The Free Press,” she said. “Last week’s Question of the Week raised even stronger concerns, especially about their commitment to not printing offensive or misleading information.”
Peoples said he referred those upset to submit a letter to the editor.
This incident is the first time that massive quantities of the paper have been stolen, supposedly in reaction to the paper’s content.
“The reason this whole thing upsets me is that it’s a freedom of speech issue,” said Peoples. “If people ran out every time they didn’t like something in a newspaper and stole them all, there is no way to have freedom of expression. I can’t believe that someone would be that ignorant.”
Pattenaude’s office sent a copy of his statement to all campus offices on Friday. The crime is currently under investigation by the USM Police Department. As of last Friday night, no arrests had been made.
“The University has a responsibility to make clear what its standards are, and that newspaper theft will not be tolerated,” said Goodman. “Incidents happen again and again when University officials don’t respond to them. Since 1993, thefts have exploded on campuses, carried out specifically by those who are trying to silence the paper or punish it for something they disagree with.”
Alive Editor Kristie Green can be contacted at: [email protected]