The College Fix

Here’s one of the more puzzling reasons to steal campus newspapers, courtesy of the Student Press Law Center:

Two members of Auburn University’s Student Government Association have admitted to stealing more than 1,000 copies of the student newspaper’s Aug. 28 issue in an attempt to censor an editorial criticizing changes to a campus shuttle bus service.

They’ll personally pay for half of the paper’s losses in printing costs and ad revenue and they’ve already written letters in apology, printed in The Plainsman:

In his letter, [Executive Vice President of Programs Colson] Smith said he was “disappointed in an article that minimized the work of one of my good friends seemingly without regard to the months of thought and effort he had invested on behalf of Auburn students,” referring to the editorial about the bus service changes.

The editors are actually more miffed at the school for taking so long with the investigation – courtesy of an anonymous tip, the editors had given the names of suspects to the city police.

They also learned that it’s not illegal in Alabama to steal free newspapers, so the paper has a new disclaimer that says “that the first copy is free and each additional paper costs 50 cents,” according to the Student Press Law Center.

So, there you go. Settle your differences over shuttle-bus service by talking.

Read the Student Press Law Center story.

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