NEW JERSEY — Drew University officials are investigating thetheft of about 2,400 copies of the Feb. 1 edition of the student newspaper.
University officials have no witnesses to the theft but are talking topeople on campus, Director of Public Safety Tom Evans said.
“We’ve checked out all leads and have nothing new at the moment,” Evanssaid.
Staffers at the weekly student paper, The Acorn, believe the theftis related to an article reporting on a campus drug bust in December, Editor inChief Jackie Ryan said. The article also listed the drugs police found in thedorm room.
“We just report the news,” Ryan said. “If we have that information, we oweit to the students to give it to them.”
On Feb. 2, stacks of papers were found in the trash behind some studentresidences, she said. About 300 papers were left to distribute after thetheft. Someone anonymously returned a cardboard box with about 350 copies of thestolen papers to the Acorn staff. The paper also reprinted 1,500 copiesand distributed them on Feb. 5, Ryan said.
The article and a photograph of the student who was arrested are posted onthe Acorn Web site. Staffers decided to remove reporter Anna Sohn’sbyline from the online version after some students harassed Sohn verbally and onFacebook, Ryan said.
The theft resulted in a loss of about $960 in printing fees, Ryan said.
This is the third time copies of the Acorn have been stolenin recent years. The previous two thefts were of an issue containing anarticle dealing with drug use on campus and an April Fool’s issue, she said.