My meeting with Sheprow was not an isolated incident, but part of a pattern of university officials trying to suppress student journalists at Stony Brook — the only SUNY institution with a journalism school.

Several hundred trees were cleared for the construction of a 759-bed residence hall and 60,000 square-foot dining facility on Toll Drive. Three out of four "exploitably vulnerable" trees were replanted in the Research & Development Park.

Roth Food Court closed earlier today after a small fire broke out in the Wendy's kitchen. The fire took place around 11:20 a.m., according to Food Manager Edward Urena. Urena said the chefs were cooking when oil caught on fire at one of the stations. Wendy's employees were cleaning the area following the incident.

When a string of muggings took place in the South P Lot earlier this academic year, the campus was notified. When a student committed suicide last spring, everyone received a text. So why is it that when Brianna Bifone was hit by a police officer and pinned under a cruiser for 30 minutes, the university fell silent?

Rarely do most public universities have public relations as sophisticated as those of Stony Brook University. The typical university might market their news and events through student workers overseen by an administrator a scant few years older than their staff. If the university has a little more oomph to its name, it might even entrust a PR firm to handle what media presence they might have.