At least 200 copies of The Primary Source were stolen from the Campus Center this weekend, marking the third mass theft of the conservative campus publication since October.
The theft of the Jan. 31 issue - which accused the Pan-African Alliance (PAA) of orchestrating the theft of "at least one print run" of the publication - brought the total value of Sources stolen this year to $2,000, according to Editor-in-Chief Sam Dangremond. The PAA executive board, led by president Abdul Farah, has firmly denied the allegations.
Yesterday, Dangremond appeared before the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate and called for students to "obey the laws of the Commonwealth and of Tufts."
According to Dangremond, about 200 copies of the Source disappeared from the Campus Center between Friday night and Saturday afternoon. While he acknowledged that the magazines could have conceivably been picked up by legitimate readers, Dangremond said that the lack of student traffic during those hours makes this possibility very unlikely.
An editorial written by Dangremond in the Jan. 31 edition of the Source accuses the PAA, and former PAA president Carl Jackson, of organizing the theft of "at least one print run" of the publication. Dangremond based the accusations on an e-mail in which Jackson allegedly wrote that the PAA "engaged in magazine dumpings." According to the Source, that Dec. 18 message was posted on an e-mail list for African-American alumni.
Farah denied any knowledge of the e-mails and of Jackson's involvement in the thefts. "PAA has taken no part in magazine dumping and these accusations are false," Abdul told the Daily in a statement from the PAA executive board last night. "The evidence is inconclusive."
Dangremond first complained to the Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) and to the Dean of Students Office in November, when stickers proclaiming "imagine a campus free from sexism" were placed on over 600 copies of the Source.
No suspects were identified, and then 1,300 copies of the Oct. 25 issue were stolen from various campus locations in mid-November. A week later, nearly 1,000 copies of the Nov. 22 issue were stolen. In total, at least 4,300 issues have disappeared - a value of just under $2,000, which is mostly funded by the Students Activities Fee.
Dangremond acknowledges that there are limited options to guard against future thefts, and admitted that a TUPD officer can't be stationed next to each Source distribution site. But after Dangremond asked the Senate to "go forth into the community at large and make others aware it is unacceptable to steal the Source, no matter how much they don't like it," several senators proposed methods of safeguarding future print runs.
Senate Assistant Treasurer Nick Abraham is drafting a complaint to the Treasury regarding the financial stipulations, and calling for an end to the thefts. Parliamentarian Andrew Potts suggested installing surveillance cameras to monitor any future thefts. If more issues are stolen, he proposes halting all funding until the culprits are found. This proposition, however, has not been suggested by the Senate nor is it Senate opinion.
The Source is also using a new, random distribution system in order to "get it to the students before they are stolen," Dangremond said. Only a few Source issues were distributed on Friday, and more will be placed around campus this week. Issues will also be placed in different areas than usual, rather than just the Campus Center and dining halls.
