ne'er-do-wells in evansville have absconded with 2,500 copies (nearly the entire print run) of USI's student paper the shield.
Campus officials said someone stole nearly 2,500 copies of the University of Southern Indiana's student newspaper, an edition that featured a photograph of two women in bed, one of them nude.
Journalism instructor Patricia Ferrier, who is faculty adviser to student publications, said almost all copies of The Shield were taken from newspaper racks some time after 10 p.m. Wednesday.
Another 2,500 copies of the edition were printed Thursday, and Ferrier said there were plans for increased campus security near newspaper racks. Ferrier said the student publications committee will decide whether to contact the Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Department about the theft.
Julia Hunter, managing editor of The Shield, said whoever stole the newspapers brought more attention to the picture than it would have received otherwise.
"I think their purpose was censorship, and they did themselves a disservice because this is a much bigger issue now," she said.
to be sure, i never would've heard about this nude photo if some jerk hadn't stolen all those newspapers. so what was this photo?
The edition included a photograph of two women together on a bed as part of a story about the controversy the picture created when it was published in a campus magazine. After the picture ran in the magazine, a group of college Republicans issued a statement condemning it as "soft-core porn" and noting that the magazine's funding is partially comprised of student fees.
the shield itself (reg. req'd) also has an article about the disappearance. if you register (or you're 1337 enough), you can also read the the original shield article about the controversy.
so... right-wingers threw a fit about the photo appearing in an art publication. (nudes in art? what will they think of next?) they threw such a fit that the student newspaper did a story on it, which only fueled more attention. then someone (let's face it, probably one of the prudes who was so angry about the photo in the first place) tries to suppress the news by stealing newspapers... which only draws yet more attention and news coverage in the associated press.
perhaps sensing that this approach of trying to overtly censor the photo wasn't working, USI's branch of the college republicans tried the reverse approach. they were apparently so disgusted by the photo that they scanned it and posted it to their website, thereby helping spread the hot lesbian action by ensuring that any hornball like me who hears about the story can see the photo, no matter how far from evansville we might live. thanks for the face full of titties, CR. i (and my readers) wouldn't have gotten to see them titties without you.¶