Sunday evening a reporter showed up at the East Wheelock dorm room of David Hoftiezer '04, trying to question him and his roommates about a "suspicious" individual who had allegedly been seen loitering on the night of the Zantop's murder. College Proctor Bob McEwen later identified the individual as a Dartmouth student looking for a telephone.
"I thought he was trying to stir things up," Hoftiezer said. He mimicked the reporter who was asking whether the situation was making students "fear for their lives." Hoftiezer said he just wanted to watch the first episode of "Survivor."
Dean of Residential Life Martin Redman clarified that members of the press have no business entering private facilities like residence halls -- "It's like someone walking in my front door and plopping themselves down in my living room," he explained.
Similarly, Earth Sciences Department Chair Richard Birnie told the former students of Half Zantop's Earth Science 15 class on Monday that reporters would not be permitted to walk through Fairchild and would be asked to leave if spotted in the halls. At the same time, Class Dean Teoby Gomez reminded students that they were never obligated to respond to media questions.
However, despite the restrictions being placed on reporters and camera men by the College's official guidelines, their presence on campus is obvious -- with satellite trucks, cameras and tents -- and is affecting the language the community is using to describe the developing investigation.
Luke Britton, who was operating the Hanover Inn's front desk last night, said more than 10 media outlets are currently staying there -- others are camped out in other hotels in the area.
Redman said the media presence on campus might be "feeding the rumor mill in very significant ways" and affecting the way that the on-campus community and the outside world is viewing the investigation.
"It's easy for me to point a finger and say, 'why don't you wait until there's something newsworthy,'" Redman said, calling the relationship between the state police force and the news media "a standoff until they release new information."
However, he indicated that in their "zeal" to report on events, the media could be "disturbing" some members of the community.
Student Assembly President Jorge Miranda '01 said in his opinion the press have not been too invasive, but he said "it will definitely be nice when the trucks aren't lining the Green."
Tara Maller '03 said she thought the national media was "turning this into a dramatic horror movie."
In line with this, Jeff Kleinman, a Boston-based cameraman with NBC told The Dartmouth that the Zantop homicide story "captures people's fears in modern society."
"I think that's the way the press looks at it," he said. "This is one of the safe havens in America, but it's not really safe."
"They're hyping it up to be such a big deal," Johanna Thomas '04 griped. She said she was "targeted" by a newspaper reporter Sunday when she and two friends were walking across from the Green.
Darren Lund '02 and David Smith '02 pointed out that a lot of reporters seem to be repeating what they have been saying since national media began arriving on campus Sunday -- which is not surprising since little new information has been released by the investigation team since then.
"I don't like the media here -- I don't," Smith said. "I don't like people poking microphones in my face. I've avoided them and I plan to continue avoiding them."
"The media isn't concerned with the actual people who died," Tin Ha-Ngoc '04 said, while sitting with Hoftiezer. "They're trying to do their job which is --"
"To sell newspapers," Hoftiezer finished.
"They have to be careful about what they print," Hoftiezer continued. "I mean, if my mom died, I wouldn't want this kind of hype."
Maller and Miranda agreed that vocabulary like "slain" and the "heart of campus" that has been used by some members of the national media has misconstrued the mood on campus.
"There's definitely a disparity," Maller said, explaining that despite reports in the national news about "this whole dramatic story" she and other students are still "walking around alone at night."
"They have bult it up as a story when it's really just a horrible thing that happened here," Miranda said.
However, while some might complain of the media's heavy presence here in Hanover, state Attorney General Philip McLaughlin acknowledged in a news conference yesterday afternoon that the media have a responsibility to inform the community of any progress investgators make on this case.
McLaughlin tried to assure the assembled reporters and camera men that he understood their role as a "conduit" of information to the community, explaining that when there were reportable developments, they would be made public.
McLaughlin shared an example from two years ago when his office informed the Concord public of bomb threats even though it might have impeded an ongoing investigation in order to reassure the crowd of frustrated reporters who filled the room. Many of the reporters stood poised as McLaughlin spoke, ready to hurl questions about whether the Hanover community was truly safe with a "murderer on the loose," as one reporter described it two days ago.
However, he also emphasized that sharing the results of the autopsy report, the forensic team's findings or any leads the investigation was pursuing could jeopardize the investigation.
Cameraman Kleinman said, in general, NBC "tries very hard not to get in the way of any investigation," trying to learn and inform without getting in the way.
However, he speculated that "If the national media stays here a few more days and there's no new information, the level of frustration will rise geometrically."
He said last night that NBC would be in town for at least another day -- and maybe longer, depending on how the story develops.
McLaughlin said his office had scheduled news conferences for the following three days at noon to discuss any further developments. He also said Assistant Attorney General Daniel Mullen would act as a "back stop" for reporters who have logistical questions over the next few days -- but he will not reveal any new information to reporters in between news conferences.
"Our job is the job of doing justice," McLaughlin said, assuring the public that "there is progress being made."
Despite investigators' claim to progress on various leads and their continuing insistence that community members are under no enhanced threat, some students told The Dartmouth that they remain uneasy -- but not gripped with fear as many national media outlets have been insinuating.
"I feel a little bit more unnerved," Jamie Kennedy '04 said, explaining that she is making an effort to walk with friends and saying that she has been locking her doors since she heard about the murder, even when she is inside the room. She said this is a change from the norm, when she -- like many Dartmouth students -- usually leaves her room open.
Other students, including Ha-Ngoc and Hoftiezer, said they were continuing to leave their doors unlocked.
"I wish they would just tell us what actually happened," Hoftiezer said. "There's all sorts of rumors."
Hoftiezer said he had even heard a rumor that arrests had already been made -- a claim that is completely erroneous.
"I'm just assuming the killer had a motive," Ha-Ngoc '04 said.
"Why would [these] professors be singled out?" Kennedy wondered.
Despite lingering questions, most people who talked yesterday to The Dartmouth said they thought the police force was handling the investigation effectively and responsibly.
"I appreciate the fact that they're not jumping to conclusions," Kennedy said.
"I feel like people are being left in the dark, but that's the nature of this kind of investigation," Miranda said, noting that "the feeling of being left in the dark breeds rumors."
