UPDATE: Hundreds of copies of the UP stolen and dumped
Within hours after hitting the bins in the Breezeway, 300 issues were taken.
UP bins were emptied along the Breezeway within four hours of distributing. Photos by Bill Good, Distribution Manager
March 30, 2016
Update – April 1, 2016: The count of stolen issues has risen to around 800 issues. The Sun Sentinel covered the theft.
Update – March 31, 2016: By the end of the issue’s second day on stands, Wednesday, March 30, about 700 issues were taken out of their bins and trashed. Most were recovered by the University Press. The UP also filed a police report with the FAU Police Department. For a better look at the backlash the UP has received including the stolen issues and threats, check out Editor-in-Chief Emily Bloch’s account she wrote for Broward New Times.
Copies of the University Press’ most recent issue were stolen, thrown into trash cans next to their bins and recovered — all within four hours after their distribution.
On Tuesday evening, the UP placed its latest issue in bins around the Boca Raton campus, totaling just under 50 stops. The student paper releases 3,000 copies every other Tuesday during the fall and spring semesters.
The Breezeway’s six bins were full by 6 p.m. They were emptied by 9:30 p.m.
The stolen issues featured a cover story on an upcoming annual party where a Florida Atlantic student said she was gang raped last year. The UP’s story revealed ties between the party and FAU’s chapter of Omega Psi Phi, an international fraternity.
The cover story was released online the same morning.
This isn’t the first time copies of the UP have been stolen. This makes twice in one year.
Last September, FAU engineering students stole bundles of the latest issue to build newspaper bridges for a class project. Over 1,500 issues were stolen.
After the UP wrote about it, FAU’s associate dean of engineering declared that the bridge building project, which takes place at the beginning of the semester, would no longer use any newspapers, but a new material instead.
He also agreed to reimburse the UP for a partial printing cost of $948. The cost of printing is around $1,200.
As of publication time, only the Breezeway bins seem to have been affected. About 300 issues were taken and around 250 were recovered.
A digital version of the UP’s latest issue is available here.
View all our publications on at issuu.com.
Emily Bloch is the editor in chief of the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet her @emdrums.
