News service to give refunds

Monk, a Wharton junior, said he will begin hand-delivering cashier's checks to on-campus subscribers next Monday, and will start mailing off-campus subscribers their refunds sometime next week. But Monk said he would probably "shut the door" on customers who have waited until now to seek partial refunds for poor service, both because of his limited funding and the possibility that some customers may exaggerate their claims. "I wish they had told me last semester," he said. "I think I'm not going to be able to help them at this point." Monk, who has insisted since January that he wants to take care of his customers, said he waited so long to begin refunding money because he did not have enough to cover the costs. He said his family has helped him raise the nearly $10,000 he will spend on the refunds, adding that about 100 recently-received subscription payments have helped make up the balance of the costs. Monk also lashed out at former Penn News owner Marc Stanley, accusing him of misspending nearly $18,000 in subscription money. Monk said this money should have been used to help pay newspaper companies for supplying newspapers and the University for providing Penn News with delivery vans. Monk, who claimed he has not spoken with Stanley since early January, said he intends to take legal action against Stanley. Monk would not specify what type of he action he might take, saying he has not yet discussed the case with a lawyer. Monk said when he assumed control of Penn News from Stanley in early November, the Penn News had less than $1000 and already had outstanding debts. Monk owes The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and USA Today at least $24,000, and the University an undisclosed amount. While admitting he knew the company was having financial problems at the time of the purchase, Monk said he "didn't know it was as bad as it was." "I though Marc [Stanley] had already taken care of certain bills," he said. "I didn't know the extent to which we were behind." Monk said Stanley presented a "very optimistic" outlook for Penn News when Monk was preparing to take over from him. Now, Monk said he realizes Stanley "could have better informed me and better helped me deal with the situation when it started to unfold." Monk also harshly criticized Penn Student Agencies manager Thomas Hauber, whom he claims contributed to Penn News' financial problems by not consistently providing vans after Thanksgiving. "[Hauber] pretty much left me on my own to cope with the situation," he said. "We haven't paid for the vans and we don't plan to pay for the vans."

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