Approximately 1,800 copies of the Renegade Rip disappeared from newspaper racks on campus Oct. 8 within an hour after Bakersfield College journalism students had distributed them.
Public Safety is investigating the incident and has interviewed a member of the Rip staff as a witness to the possible removal of some of the papers. Sgt. Chris Counts said, “We don’t discuss ongoing investigations.”
BC journalism professor Danny Edwards, upon hearing of the missing papers, sent an e-mail to all of the BC faculty and administration regarding the issue. Numerous members of the Rip staff guarded newspaper racks to be sure that the second batch of papers did not get taken, although several racks were emptied more than once throughout the past two weeks.
The reason behind the removal of the student newspapers is still unclear. Some of the faculty and administration who had responded to Edwards’ mass e-mail speculated that it may have been due to some controversial stories in the issue.
One story on the front page was about three Student Government Association members being sent home early from a summit in Washington DC and being removed from SGA positions for consuming alcohol on the trip. Also, the paper included a staff editorial on voting no on the same-sex marriage initiative, Proposition 8, on Nov. 4.
“I personally feel that the newspaper stealing shows a high level of immaturity, intolerance, ignorance and closed-mindedness amongst the culprits,” said Natalie Bursztyn, BC earth science professor. “Those responsible should be ashamed of themselves.”
“If someone doesn’t like what is written, there are many ways to respond,” Clark Parsons, a professor of Academic Development at the Delano campus, said. “The way it was done doesn’t even clearly let anyone know what the point was or what was trying to be accomplished.”
The student code of conduct states that “theft of or damage to the property of the college, another student or staff” is prohibited and punishable.
“The student code of conduct is covered in orientation and also in student development classes,” Angela Guadian-Mendez, BC dean of students, said of the student body’s awareness of the rule of conduct upheld.
Guadian-Mendez would not comment further regarding either the SGA incident or the investigation still in progress. “There is a student confidentiality rule that has to be abided by.”
“I am very disappointed in by the immaturity of the incident,” said psychology professor Becki Whitson. “I just hope that those individuals who were involved are found and held accountable.”