Newspaper nabbers return Volante after stealing hundreds of copies Wednesday

Volante newspapers were back on the racks Thursday after hundreds of copies were stolen from the Muenster University Center, the Al Neuharth Media Center and numerous other buildings on the University of South Dakota campus.

University police were made aware of the situation Wednesday night by Volante staff that the newspapers went missing earlier in the afternoon. But after the student-ran newspaper and USD Student Publication Board made aware plans to file a formal complaint and press charges against the culprits over the incident, the newspapers were promptly returned Thursday morning.

Chuck Baldwin, Volante adviser, said that if the papers had not been returned, the paper would have pressed felony charges for the potential of lost revenue from advertising sales and extra expenses to reprint and redistribute the paper.

While The Volante and Publications Board have reconsidered taking any formal action, university police could still file a report over the incident and use surveillance tape of the thefts captured in the Neuharth building.

At the present time, no name or associated student group is being held accountable for the theft, according to the university police.

Those responsible for stealing the paper were most likely responding to a story published in the Oct. 31 issue, but acted in a completely inappropriate manner, Baldwin said.

Surprise and disappointment are two words that describe the possibility of another student organization’s involvement in the crime, according to Michelle Van Maanen, the department chair for contemporary media and journalism.

“You would think established student organizations would be savvy enough to realize the (public relations) issues that accompany an incident such as this,” Van Maanen said. “They were trying to cover up or deny rights of free press.”

Van Maanen said USD student media has provided the campus with great coverage of all news regarding student organizations as of late, and that the newspaper handled the theft situation as well it could. She also offered a few words of advice for those accountable of the crime.

“To demonstrate responsibility, the people involved should make an apology,” she said. “Not doing so only aggravates the situation.”