Posted by TrentReno at 65.204.12.66 on March 04, 2003 at 11:05:21:
In Reply to: Dude... posted by Booty Princess on March 04, 2003 at 10:54:52:
Rather than describe it all, I'll copy and paste an article from my school paper at the time. PS - Universtiy Police are jerkoff rentacops.
For more info on "Disorderly Conduct," the show it was for, click on my link below.
GSTV member interrogated by UP over skit
GENESEO, N.Y. -Ralph Suarez and Jason Casey, members of the GSTV sketch comedy show Disorderly Conduct, entered the Union Station Snack Bar last Thursday afternoon with a camera and an idea. Suarez taped Casey purchasing a taco from Taco Bell. Casey paid for it and brought it into the Snack Bar dining room. They continued recording while Casey inserted a sanitary napkin into the taco. The two then went back to the Taco Bell line and Casey joked with the workers behind the counter that they had served him a taco with a sanitary napkin in it. The workers laughed and Suarez and Casey went on their way, said Suarez. On the way out of the eatery, one of the Snack Bar managers came up to Suarez and Casey and demanded that they give her the tape on which the incident was recorded. She took the pair into the Snack Bar office, and Suarez promptly handed over the tape, said Suarez. "I know that I didn't have to give it to her, but I wanted it to end," Suarez said. Suarez and Casey returned to the GSTV office and Casey left soon after to attend track practice, said Casey. About five minutes later, a University Police (UP) officer came to the GSTV office with the Snack Bar manager looking for Suarez. When the UP officer asked Suarez to come to the UP office for questions, GSTV station manager Gary Cirlin accompanied them, said Cirlin. When they arrived at the UP office, another officer was waiting for them. When Suarez went to shake his hand, the man refused and proceeded to read Suarez his rights, said Suarez. When Cirlin asked if Suarez was being arrested, the officer said not yet, but that the potential charges included food tampering and disorderly conduct, according to Suarez and Cirlin.
John Lockhart, an attorney on Main Street, said that the food tampering charge didn't really make sense in this case, because food tampering involves trying to give or sell tampered food to others for consumption. Lockhart also indicated that while disorderly conduct was a violation subject to much legal interpretation, he didn't really think it applied in this case, especially since Suarez and Casey shut the camera off and left immediately after they were asked to by the manager. Lockhart also said that Suarez and Casey had a right to be taping in that area until they were asked to leave. The officer questioned Suarez about the circumstances of the situation and said that UP had the tape and that he highly doubted that GSTV was ever going to get the tape back, Cirlin said. The UP officers were not aware that Casey had been present during the incident and only took note of his presence when Suarez mentioned him. Suarez and Cirlin said they were dismissed after questioning, and the officer warned Suarez that he might be contacted by Dr. Lenny Sancilio, dean of students.
Cirlin and Suarez were unhappy with the way the situation was handled. "It was a bullshit way of investigating," said Cirlin. Suarez and Cirlin went back to the UP office the next morning and tried to get the tape back, but Officer Scott Kenney, assistant chief of University Police, who was in possession of the tape, was away on business for the day, said Circlin.
Monday morning, Cirlin and Suarez were contacted by UP and told that they were allowed to pick up their tape. Kenney said that the UP investigation was still open,in spite of the return of the tape to GSTV. Because of the open investigation, Kenney wouldn't comment on the case except to say that CAS made the initial call to UP.
On March 13, both Suarez and Casey received letters from Sancilio saying that they were suspected of being in violation of the Student Code of Conduct, showing "dishonesty, including (but not limited to) provision of false information" and "grossly inconsiderate behavior." Scancilio was made aware of the situation through a written report filed by UP and
was called to investigate the situation. Whether Suarez and Casey are in violation of the College policy is still "yet to be determined," according to Sancilio. "Ralph didn't do anything wrong; he just held a camera," Casey said.
"[Sancilio] was the first person besides the media to ask my side of the story," said Suarez regarding the meeting he and Sancilio had. "I don't blame CAS for what they did ... [GSTV's] big issue is with how UP handled it," said Cirlin.
Marylynne Crocker, director of Dining for Campus Auxiliary Services (CAS),
says that she understood that the skit was done in good fun, but that it "becomes [CAS's] liability" when a serious issue like this one involving CAS arises. Crocker has not seen the tape, but trusts that GSTV "will do the right thing" by not airing the skit.
But Cirlin said that GSTV is not sure whether or not they plan to air the piece. He did say they would probably blur out the Taco Bell logo and any CAS employees' faces if the decision was made to air the skit. The decision to air will lie in the hands of several GSTV members: Cirlin and Suarez, the show's producers; Jennifer Renwick, the station's executive producer; and potentially the rest of GSTV's 13-person executive board.
"I think it's a great thing ... to have a discussion about what is OK and what's not OK," said Sancilio when asked about what restrictions can or should be placed on campus television stations. GSTV is a Student Association (SA)-funded organization, and SA has a specific section in its financial policy relating to content restrictions placed on SA-funded media organizations.
The policy states: "SA-funded media organizations shall enjoy the legally protected status of "public forum" for the free expression of ideas and opinions. As such, the regulation of their content (including advertising) will be solely at the discretion of their individual editorial policies, except in situations where such policies allow for violations of local, state or federal law." No party has made any effort so far to keep GSTV from airing the footage, but CAS seemed initially relieved to find out that GSTV was not planning to air the skit. But the message now from Cirlin seems to be mixed, as he is unsure what GSTV will do with the controversial footage.