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Publishing names of students charged for Cedar Fest wrong

Originally Published: 09/01/08 6:34pm Modified: 09/01/08 6:42pm 30 comments

As I begin my senior year at MSU, I have always used The State News as an informative and entertaining tool to stay updated on my campus town. Unfortunately, I have recently become concerned with articles published about students involved in the Cedar Fest riots/celebration.

I am well aware that everyone has their own opinions of the situation, and I do not intend to deliver mine. I do, however, find it unnecessary and almost degrading to publish the names and complete information of students being criminally punished for actions during the riots. I understand that they made it everyone’s business by performing the acts. However, as a student at MSU, I know that I look to The State News as my friend, not my foe. I feel by publishing their information on the front page, you are tainting their good name.

I think you should help keep their information private, especially because the East Lansing court system is probably helping them suffer enough.

Heather Allman

interdisciplinary studies in social science senior


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Commentary

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Jake Jackson
(09/01/08 7:50pm)
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I feel by publishing their information on the front page, you are tainting their “good name.”

Their names aren’t good if they are rioting.


Mark
(09/01/08 7:51pm)
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*I feel by publishing their information on the front page, you are tainting their good name. *

If they were rioting, they should not have a good name … and should have a taint.


Fredrik
(09/02/08 2:24am)
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I think that charge is a personal matter with the police, not a public matter, just like speeding or running a stop sign.


Steve
(09/02/08 7:03am)
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It’s public information, why shouldn’t the State News publish it? God forbid the State News help deter crime.


Steve 2
(09/02/08 7:43am)
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I hope that publishing their names makes it very difficult for these idiots to get jobs when they graduate. I personally enjoy seeing these morons hung out to dry so that our school’s reputation does not have to suffer.


John
(09/02/08 8:53am)
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Bold Text*I personally enjoy seeing these morons hung out to dry so that our school’s reputation does not have to suffer.*Bold Text

Steve 2, by continuing to publish people’s names and photos throughout the SN, we are not pushing Cedar Fest aside. Instead, the situation continues to be at the forefront where it shouldn’t be.

The State News is OUR school paper; we pay a fee for it. Why is it then, that the State News goes against our own student body and sides with the City of East Lansing on majority of issues pertaining to us and them. The SN needs to rethink who’s paper this really is. East Lansing’s or MSU’s?


Just Me
(09/02/08 9:02am)
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Some of them weren’t even MSU students. Is it wrong to publish those names?


Captain Obvious
(09/02/08 11:14am)
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Dumb bitch.


awesome
(09/02/08 11:52am)
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leave her alone she is right


Freedom of the Press
(09/02/08 12:07pm)
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Seriously? I bet if these kids did something good they would want the publicity. If they did something wrong, they get their fancy picture & name in the paper too. I have no doubt they don’t like it, but they sure as heck shouldn’t have done what they did. They earned the “public humiliation”. Its not like the news was untrue, why not report it? To make the criminals feel better about themselves? Who gives a rat’s …?


Blaine
(09/02/08 12:17pm)
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So John, are you saying that you have never made a mistake in your life? Or ever embarrassed yourself? Would you have want the details of those situations publicized for all to see?

That is the same situation here. Some of the people that got in trouble during the riots are not idiots, or morons, or uneducated. They simply made a bad decision. No one died from what they did.

And Steve 2. I mean really? I just think you seem really angry. Who are you to say that the people who got in trouble should have their entire future ruined.


Blaine
(09/02/08 12:19pm)
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And captain obvious… you just suck.


HEY girl HEY
(09/02/08 12:26pm)
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I agree with Blaine. Everyone makes a mistake they regret that they want to forget. How can they forget if there names are posted for everyone to see. Many people participated that didn’t get caught, their names aren’t posted. By publishing their names it doesn’t help our schoools reputation, nor does it help deter crimes. The people posting that these individuals should be hung out to dry, probably have no life and get satisfied in seeing others mistakes…


Yeah Right
(09/02/08 1:11pm)
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“The people posting that these individuals should be hung out to dry, probably have no life and get satisfied in seeing others mistakes…”

NO, we’re tired of idiots like them doing whatever the hell they want without consequences.


Oh And...
(09/02/08 1:13pm)
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Heather, why do you care so much? It’s public information and it’s not hurting anyone for it to be put in a news source. Who cares if the offenders get a little butthurt over it, they’re the ones who chose to act like jackasses in the first place.


MSU GRAD
(09/02/08 2:40pm)
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It’s public record anyway, so publish away SN. Rioters don’t have a good name to save. If you burn down or destroy any part of my alma mater, then you should be punished and publically humiliated in the paper, as well as punished in court. Face the consequences freshmen and GROW UP.


Blaine
(09/02/08 2:52pm)
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First of all, who said that all of the people who were arrested during the celebration burnt down or destroyed MSU property.

A handful of those arrested and then published did not destroy any property. It just seems a little unfair to keep the punishment going – the courts make sure they know they made a mistake, why embarss them too.

Arent we all allowed to make a mistake? Especially one that does not directly result in harming someone else.


MSUAlum2001
(09/02/08 3:37pm)
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I actually think it’s a good move by the SN. It actually shows they’re being professional. Additionally, no one had any problems last year when they published all that stuff on Nigel Scarlett, nor when they published about the student who embezzled from the College of Education. How is this any different? It is public information and any employer will find out whether they look at this paper or not. Background checks have become a fact of life in most jobs. So saying that publishing their names and crimes is only going to make it worse for them, obviously doesn’t know that any future employers can easily find out if they choose so.

On a tangent, since they are publishing these names with pictures, does this mean they are finally going to start publishing suspects races on the police briefs again?


MSUAlum2001
(09/02/08 3:39pm)
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John, you could actually ask the question of ASMSU as well. Students pay a fee for it too and yet they never really seem to care about the students and more often than not side with the administration or city.


Straight forward
(09/02/08 5:47pm)
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When you commit crimes it is published in the news. This is nothing new and is practiced by journalists everywhere. Let it be a deterrent.


student
(09/03/08 11:16am)
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PUBLISH ALL THEIR NAMES AND SEND THEM TO JAIL. I, REALLY, DON’T WANT TO SEE A MORON CLIMBING A STOP SIGN WITH AN MSU DEGREE. GET THEM OUT OF HERE!!


Heather
(09/03/08 5:01pm)
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Why do I care so much?

Aside from all of your presumptuous opinions, I care so much because I have been standing by watching one of my friends’ lives be ruined for absolutely no reason. On the night of Cedar Fest, yes my friend was there. What did he get arrested for? He pushed his friend in a joking manner and was immediately charged with inciting a riot. He pushed HIS friend. Not into someone, not through the crowd, just a friendly push, like you probably shove your friends when they make fun of you. Or maybe not, because some of you seem too serious and flawless to joke around.

My friend has NEVER been in trouble before, and is a very good kid and an amazing, hardworking student. Although you all assume that ALL of those being persecuted are delinquents then maybe you should stop for a second, and think about someone you know who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I wrote this letter because of the fact that I have watched him live on an 8 oclock curfew with an in-house tether for 6 months (not preventing him from partying, as you are all going to assume, but preventing him from IM basketball and even going to the Library to study), get charged with an assload of fines, and now, if not to make it better, they are ruining his future by suspending him from school and sending him to jail. The night before the article about him was published, the day of his court date, I asked him if he had to go to jail, and he said yes, but please don’t tell anyone. And THAT is why I wrote this letter. Not to protect those assholes who ripped out signs or destroyed property. NOT to protect the non-MSU students that shouldn’t have been there at all. No, I did it, because I knew how much it hurt him. The fact that they are making an example out of someone who was wrongfully charged is what made me write this letter. He can no longer step foot on the campus he has loved and been loyal to for 3 years, and now his last year, he is banned. And why? Because instead of a fair trial, he’s being treated just the same as the pricks that make MSU look bad everyday. Does every person who gets an MIP get put in the State News? No.

This is my question for you: Why did the EL police permit this to happen? They were there and armed with their weapons and tear gas, why didn’t they stop it before it started, knowing it would go too far? I’m not saying that you should all agree with me, which I know that you don’t.

I am a student here, and I obviously understand the Freedom of the Press. But the Freedom of the Press has 2 sides. Maybe if the State News had chosen to interview my friend and take his story, I wouldn’t have cared. As he is one of the few MSU students arrested, rather than blatantly publishing his information on the FRONT PAGE, which I think this is just to make an example, they could have asked HIM questions, got HIS take on that night, and maybe all of you close-minded Spartans would have realized he doesn’t deserve the treatment he is getting. I guess I thought in one aspect of his life, he deserved a break. I guess all of you are so perfect, you’ve never done anything wrong on this campus that you wished you could take back.

The purpose of the State News is to inform, not to attack and embarrass. But if attacking is its goal, a certain some of you readers are obviously in the right place.


Melissa
(09/04/08 10:08am)
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I am sorry to hear about your friend, Heather. But this is not a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was his choice to attend Cedar Fest despite of warnings to everyone NOT to attend. The City and Police made it very clear prior to the event that they were not in favor of the party and would arrest anyone who might incit a riot.

Actions during a party that frequently has become a riot situation are going to be taken more seriously than those same actions elsewhere. Punishments for Cedar Fest are more frequent and harsher because the City does not want it to happen. Yes, it is ridiculous that he got arrested for pushing his friend. But realistically, if he didn’t want to get into trouble he shouldn’t have gone in the first place.


Rubbeband Man
(09/04/08 11:39am)
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getting arrested at Cedar fest is slutty. period.


MSU ALUM
(09/04/08 3:46pm)
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Heather – If you break a rule, you get arrested. That’s how it works. Time to get out from under that rock you’ve been living.