Some administrators and students may disagree with The Volante’s decision to publish the salaries of university employees every two years, but at least they have enough respect for freedom of speech and open record laws to not steal the newspapers (yet).

North Dakota State University had no such luck.

A week ago, NDSU’s newspaper, The Spectrum, published the salaries of their university employees, as many newspapers, such as The Volante, do. Hours later, 4,500 newspapers were off the racks– and editors don’t think it was from students who just really wanted to read them.

As The Spectrum’s editor in chief, Stephen Baird, says, it might seem like an oxymoron to say that free newspapers can be stolen, but when you take into account the thousands of dollars it takes to pay for those papers, you can see how it can quickly rise to a felony.

If administrators or professors did in fact take the newspapers away from the students because they disagreed with the content, it is not just a felony, but censorship.

The Volante has been lucky. The University administration has followed their agreement to let the newspaper remain an independent entity. So many universities in this country are not so fortunate. Many newspapers rely on the funding from the school to publish their paper, and if the administration doesn’t like the content, guess what? No newspaper.

Censorship at any level, whether it be intentionally through the administration or from the theft of controversial newspapers, must be avoided and fought at all costs. Salaries of public officials (which includes public university staff) are public information. These salaries are funded by the taxpayer, and taxpayers have the right to know how their money is being spent.

Let this serve as a reminder to students and faculty how fortunate they are that they attend a University where the freedoms of speech and press are valued and protected. And even though you may disagree with our choice to publish the salaries, thank you for respecting our right to print them.