PSA starts news delivery; Penn News sought by lawyers

Penn Student Agencies announced last week that they will assume on-campus newspaper distribution this fall, taking over for the failed, privately-owned Penn News, which was dealt another financial blow this month. Associate Director of Student Life Facilities Tom Hauber said Tuesday that PSA had already sent fliers to all of the undergraduate students soliciting suscriptions to the The Philadelphia Inquirer and The New York Times. PSA will deliver the newspapers to drop boxes located in on-campus housing, abandoning the original door-to-door delivery system that contriubuted to Penn News' demise. Hauber said that he hoped PSA would also soon offer The Wall Street Journal and USA Today. Further details on the PSA offer will be explained in a flier that will be sent to all undergraduate students in August. But, Penn News, last year's student-owned newspaper delivery service, was pursued by lawyers this month for not paying up a $790 bill for renting a personal computer. In documents obtained by The Summer Pennsylvanian, a compancy called 800 PC-Rental had employed New York attorney Jack Tillem to pursue Penn News owner Mike Monk to pay his $790 bill. But, a letter dated June 17 from the attorney's office explains that Monk did not return "numerous" phone messages that the attorney had placed. Mike Monk could not be reached for comment. It is unknown whether Monk has repaid the $34,000 that he owes to newspaper companies and former subscribers. Paralegal for Tillem Bruce Chadwick said Tuesday that he spoke with Monk last week and that the bill for the computers "has been straightened up." Paralegal Rick Williams said that the law office is no longer pursuing Monk since the newspaper entrepreneur is in the process of repaying his debt. One student who spearheaded the movement to secure refunds for students from Penn News last year said this week that little had come from her complaint filed with the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office. "I have not received any refund -- Mike Monk said he was going to return the money," Wharton graduate Alyssa Rokito said. "But that never happened and we didn't think that it would." In April Monk had reported in The Daily Pennsylvanian that he was prepared to repay unhappy customers. Many University students complained that Monk's service had taken their checks, but never delivered the newspapers.