SKIDMORE COLLEGE, New York - Approximately 1200 missing copies of The Skidmore News were removed from Case Center racks early on Monday by Admissions Director Mary Lou Bates.
   The issue featured a cover story on Skidmore's reaction to possible hate crimes that have occurred on campus, as well as an editorial written by Managing Editor Curtis Morrow called, "12 Reasons to go to a Community College."
   Bates apologized for her decision to remove the papers in a letter to the community on Thursday.
   "My motivation in removing what I deemed to be potentially offensive material in no way reflected an intent to censor or inhibit the exchange of information within the community, but rather to limit the offence to families outside the Skidmore community, who were here at the invitation of the Admissions office, and to whom I felt a responsibility," she said.
   Monday was an open house sponsored by admissions for prospective students and their parents.In response to Bates' decision to remove the papers, President Jamie Studley said, "I'm disappointed that the papers were removed.
   The college policies are in support of an open press, whether radio, television or printed media. But I'm also pleased the person who did it realized that it wasn't good judgment."
   "What it tells us is that it's important to keep the airwaves open in a sense," said Studley. "I appreciate that we and The Skidmore News both have the same commitment to making information available to the community."
   Morrow noticed that more than half of the papers printed each week were missing from bins on Monday afternoon. "It was such a clean job," said Morrow, "I knew there was no way that it was students and faculty [who] had taken them all. Usually there are crumpled leftovers."
   Morrow, believing the copies to be stolen, called Skidmore News Editor in Chief Shawn McCormack to see whether he had received a phone call from administration about the papers.
   "I didn't believe him when he told me that they were stolen, " said McCormack. Eventually, however, Morrow convinced him that investigation was necessary.
   The editors talked to custodian Gary Moore, who confirmed that the papers were empty when he came in for his shift that started at 7 a.m.
   "It helped that we talked to custodians, because they could tell us exactly when they noticed they were gone," he said. "I was trying to nail the exact time, to really know they were stolen and didn't just move on their own."
   Morrow wrote a statement of the theft that appeared in all-campus Student Announcements over e-mail Tuesday, and looked into obtaining the tape from the Adirondack Trust ATM surveillance camera. Morrow said that Adirondack Trust Company was reluctant to provide the tape.
   The editors notified the Saratoga Springs Police Department, and called area newspapers about the story. Assistant Director of College Relations Robert Kimmerle found out about the stolen papers when Kenneth Crowe, a reporter with the Albany Times Union, called him Wednesday night.
   "I drew a blank when he asked how I heard. I told him I'd look into it and call him back."
   By Thursday morning, Kimmerle said he "learned that the Director of Admissions Mary Lou Bates and another staff member or two," had taken the papers. "She admitted taking the papers right away, that pretty much took the mystery out of it," said Kimmerle.
   The issues were gone from the News racks before most students were even awake for classes Monday morning. Kate Nahon '00 said, "I never got to read it. I was a bit dismayed."
   Students were left to guess about whether the issues were extremely popular, or stolen.
   "I could definitely see someone doing it [stealing the papers] in reaction to the stuff that's been going on here...I can't see them [administration] ever doing that...I'd see it as a student attack on students," said Megan Murphy '01.
   Matt Moore '01 was convinced that the issues had been stolen. "My first guess was that it was someone within the Administration. I definitely didn't think it was students. I mean, what would a student do with all those papers?" said Moore.

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