Amid calls for accountability for his role in the theft of 4,000 copies of the Justice, Class of 2004 Senator Mark Brescia resigned at the Union Senate meeting Sunday.Nearly all printed copies of the Justice were lifted from the loading dock outside Usdan between 2 and 4 p.m. last Tuesday before any were distributed on campus.

Police recovered most of the missing copies on Wednesday after Brescia was confronted by Assistant Dean of Student Life Alwina Bennett. Justice Editor-in-Chief Meredith Glansberg '05 said that approximately 1,600 copies are still missing.

Brescia said in an interview he "didn't really have any intentions at all" and that he "was trying to be funny."

"I didn't think of it as a crime or stealing someone's property," Brescia said. He denied any connection between the theft and the events surrounded the Oct. 21 issue of the Justice which led to the resignation of three editors.

In his resignation speech, Brescia criticized the Senate for excessively emphasizing procedure and politics.

"It makes me sad I'm leaving the Senate," Brescia said as he resigned. "This is a game. When it stops being fun, it's not worth doing anymore."

According to Glansberg, it costs approximately $2000 to print an issue of the Justice.

"I want to acknowledge Mark's resignation as the first step toward taking accountability for his actions," Glansberg said in student communications at the Senate meeting. "The Justice was deeply hurt, deeply saddened and deeply angered by the things that happened over the past week."

Glansberg said she filed a University Board referral on Student Conduct Monday, but the Justice would not be pressing criminal charges.



Missing Papers

Glansberg said that after dumpsters were checked for the missing papers, it was determined that the papers had been taken. Justice Associate Editor Igor Pedan '05 said he filed a police report at approximately 8 p.m., prompting the start of an investigation.

Around 11 a.m. Wednesday, Glansberg said she received a call from former-Senior Editor Matthew Bettinger '05, in which he told her he found about 300 copies of the paper in East Quad.

Brescia said he "was trying to move (the papers) back. There was a lot of rumors that the police were 'hunting' for the so-called thief, I didn't want to be walking along trying to put them back and redistribute them and be hassled or accosted by Brandeis police."

Later that day, however, the location of the papers was discovered.

"We received an anonymous call that there were some thousands of newspapers at a location on campus," Director of Public Safety Ed Callahan said.

According to Glansberg and Pedan, this call came between noon and 1 p.m. Wednesday, and cited Brescia's residence, Foster Mods, as the location of the papers.

"Multiple parties called to tell me not to reprint (the issue) after public safety received the tip," Glansberg said. "If we had heard 10 minutes later, we would have reprinted at a huge environmental and monetary cost"

Assistant Dean of Student Life Alwina Bennett said she was informed of this and left her office to request entrance to the Mod, which she was voluntarily granted. She says she ran into Brescia on her way there.

"I didn't think I had really done anything illegal," Brescia said in an interview. "When Alwina (Bennett) had asked me if it was true that there were several copies of the Justice in my mod, I said, 'Ya, absolutely.'"

According to Pedan, Public Safety recovered approximately 3,000 copies of the Justice from the Mod. Those copies were distributed later in the day, Pedan said.

Brescia said his decision to take the Justices "wasn't a long thought- out process."

"I was checking my mail and they were all sitting on the loading dock and thought this would be kind of funny if the Justice disappeared for a little while," Brescia said. "It was just a joke, a prank that I didn't give much thought to it at all actually."

When asked about rumors that placed others with him while taking the papers, Brescia said, "That I don't know about. No one's come forward to me and said, 'Hey, I saw you taking the papers,' so that I can't answer for you because I don't know."



Community Response

Student and administration officials across the campus reacted strongly to the theft.

"I think it's a terrible thing," University President Jehuda Reinharz said Thursday. "I hope Ed (Callahan) is taking measures to the attention of the judiciary. Anyone who has a beef with the Justice should write a letter to the editor, protest outside the (Justice) office or start their own publication. Stealing is absolutely abhorrent."

Glansberg said Public Safety Detective-Sergeant Dana Kelley informed her that Brescia could be charged with felony larceny over $250, which in Massachusetts carries a penalty of up to five years imprisonment or a fine up to $25,000 and up to two years imprisonment.

"It should not be forgotten that this is a crime and that our property was stolen," Glansberg said. "While the papers are free for the Brandeis community, they were taken before they were distributed and therefore were still the property of the Justice."

On campus, he could be found in violation of "Rights and Responsibilities" by the University Board on Student Conduct, which could result in a penalty up to expulsion.

Some say the theft has led to further campus tension.

"A person who would commit this kind of act betrays a trust in the community, particularly given the events on campus over the last couple of weeks," Bennett said. "However this was intended, it resulted in an increase of hurt and mistrust."

Brescia advocated for the Senate resolution of Oct. 26 to "take a stand on the (Editor-in-Chief)," according to Senate meeting minutes, and he participated in the Black Student Organization's protest outside the Justice office on Oct 27.

"Our resolution (concerning the Justice) did nothing, and that upset me," Brescia said in his resignation speech. "I feel disempowered."

Glansberg emphasized the effect the theft had on the Justice.

"After Matt (Bettinger) called me to tell me that he found 300 copies in East, I went dorm to dorm looking for more copies," she said. "The Justice works very hard to ensure that the paper prints on Tuesday. People stay up all night long so that the paper prints on Tuesday.

"There are subscribers that received their issues late this week, and there are advertisers that could potentially be upset that the issue didn't come out on Tuesday."





Calls for Resignation

Calls for Brescia's resignation came as early as Wednesday, when Union Vice President/Senate President Kenneth Gantz '04 said he had spoken with Brescia.

"In a brief conversation, I asked if he was willing to consider resigning from the Senate," Gantz said.

According to Gantz, Brescia replied with "something to the extent of 'absolutely will never happen.'"

Union President Joshua Brandfon '05 also called for Brescia's resignation.

"I wanted to make sure Mark (Brescia), as a colleague of mine, understood the severity of what he allegedly did," Brandfon said. "I laid everything out on the table... and basically asked him to consider resigning from his position in the Senate."

Explaining why he didn't resign initially, Brescia said, "being asked to resign and resigning are two different things."

"If someone asks you to resign its not really asking. I resigned for my reasons not because someone tells me or asks me to do things," Brescia said. "Ken (Gantz) asking me to do something will almost guarantee I will disregard him completely.

"I do things for my reasons, not because other people think that it is the thing I should do or think that it is better in their best interests. I do my own actions and people don't tell me what to do."

Thursday night, Brescia, Glansberg, Gantz, Brandfon, and Executive Senator Erica Lemansky '05 met at Brandfon's request.

"I explained to Mark on Thursday night that if he resigned that weekend, the Justice would not take off-campus action," Glansberg said referring to pressing charges.



Brescia Speaks

At the start of student communications at Sunday's Senate meeting, Brescia asked to be recognized.

"I resign to speak in student communications," he said. "Everybody knows why I'm resigning, or at least you have a good idea... I pulled a prank. It was a joke."

Holding back tears, he spoke of his respect for the Justice saying that his "opinions (about the paper) are irrelevant" and that he "respects (the Justice staff) a lot."

But the majority of his speech criticized the Union government, particularly the Senate. He criticized a lack of cohesiveness within the Senate, contrasting it with the cohesiveness of the Justice Editorial Board.

"(The editorial board) back up their people until the end... right or wrong... and I see them as a good group of friends," Brescia said in his speech.

He characterized the Senate as a "game."

"I don't take student government ultra-seriously," Brescia said in an interview. "I just find it's a good venue to voice my opinion."

Brescia concluded his speech pointing to specific Union officials and quoting the movie "Half-Baked."

"Fuck you; fuck you; you're cool; fuck you; I'm out," he said.

He left the building immediately after finishing his statement.

Reactions to Brescia's speech have been mixed.

"He was sharing his feelings," Brandfon said. "I thought that the speech for the most part, in talking to underclassmen senators, was fine and appropriate. Obviously what he concluded with, with Senior Vice President Jean Eddy and Assistant Dean (of Student Life) Alwina Bennett in the room was extremely unprofessional."

Gantz echoed that view, saying that with the exception of the conclusion, which he "regret(s) that (Brescia) said," the speech was "well articulated and appropriate."

"I feel fine about it," Brescia said of his resignation speech. "I've never regretted anything I've done. I don't live in the past. I don't live in regret. Things happen. I accept responsibility. I take the consequences.

"I'm not going to look back and say, 'Hey, maybe I shouldn't have done that,' because maybe I shouldn't have done the whole thing at all. But that's stepping back.... You can't do that. That's not the way the world works."

Though WBRS usually airs the weekly Senate meeting from 7 p.m. until 10 p.m., this week it did not begin its live broadcast until Brescia had finished speaking.

Brescia is a former WBRS General Manager.

"I know a lot of the things that have to go with the legal requirements of a broadcasting station, and anyone who knows me, knows my demeanor, knows I'm very emotional and that sometimes I use profanity. I had alerted (WBRS) to this beforehand."

WBRS General Manager Lousie Au Yeung confirmed this Sunday night, saying "we're really grateful he gave us that warning."

"We didn't want to get in any trouble with the FCC," Au Yeung added.

FCC regulations prohibit radio stations from broadcasting profanity before midnight or after 6 a.m., according to Au Yeung.

She added that due to technical difficulties, his speech was also not recorded.

"We're very disappointed that we were having trouble with our equipment last night," she said Monday.

Brescia said he wasn't disappointed the student body couldn't hear his speech.

"If they heard it that would be good," he said. "If not, you can't do anything about that now. It was a Senate resignation. It was to Senate."

Asked if he now regrets taking the Justices, Brescia said, "it's not a statement I'd be willing to make."

"It happened; it's the past," he said. "I'm not going to dwell on it. It was a wrong thing to do... but that's that. It happened, it's there, it's done. I can't reverse it, I can't change it. I don't have that ability."





Looking Ahead

Glansberg said she filed a University Board on Student Conduct referral which recommended "university sanctions."

"We filed a University Board of Student Conduct (UBSC) referral because it's vital to be accountable for your actions," Glansberg said. "In fact, the Senate resolution from three weeks ago explicitly stated the need for members of the Brandeis community to take responsibility for their actions"

Other parties could also file UBSC referrals against Brescia.

"The University also has reserved the right to take action," Bennett said.

Glansberg said the Justice will not file criminal charges because Brescia "took what we thought was the appropriate action on campus."

"It was disturbing that an elected Senator and former general manager of WBRS took it upon himself to take our property," she said. "He was elected to represent the class of 2004, and he should have taken his role on campus more seriously.