After four unnamed students wrote hate speech in the Free Expression Tunnel last week, students across campus are curious where the investigation is going. Paul Cousins, director of the Office of Student Conduct, has been asked several times to reveal this information, but said he is barred by federal law from doing so.”We’ve got those elements that have impaired for our ability to talk to the community about any part of the case,” Cousins said.Along with the names of the students, the Office of Student Conduct cannot give any details regarding the progress of the investigation nor can it give details of the punishment administered to the students, he said.Cousins said the processes for investigating an allegation are very similar.”The first thing that would have to happen is we would get a report about alleged behaviors from a variety of places, such as Campus Police or Residence Staff,” he said. “We would compare those allegations to the Student Code of Conduct and use that language to make a determination about whether or not charges under the code should be filed.”If enough information is collected to suggest the code might have been broken, the student would be called in to talk with the Office of Student Conduct regarding the allegation.”There would then be a review process,” Cousins said. “The student is involved in this process and the review board must decide whether or not the code was violated.”If students were charged as a group, they could choose to meet the review board together or separately.Chancellor James Oblinger was not available for comment.Features Editor Alison Harman contributed to this story.