Students mad over late papers

Scott Anchin was "very ticked-off" Wednesday morning. Expecting to find a copy of The New York Times chock-full of stories about the newly-elected president, the Wharton freshman instead found an empty Penn Student Agencies newspaper drop box. Anchin and other students who subscribe to The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer and USA Today through PSA said recently that they have not gotten what they paid for at the beginning of the semester. Students who subscribe through PSA are promised morning newspaper delivery to a drop box near the students' residence. Subscribers pick up their newspapers from the boxes, which are secured with combination locks. "I'm very upset with the way PSA has been handling the deliveries," College freshman Dave Fenig said yesterday. "I'm supposed to get USA Today but a lot of times I go out and buy one." Fenig added that he had to buy Wednesday's issue which featured election coverage. College senior Lisbeth Witt, who manages PSA's newspaper deliveries, acknowledged yesterday that PSA did not deliver newspapers Wednesday morning. "I definitely understand that people are upset about [not getting Wednesday's newspapers]," Witt said. She added that the student responsible for picking up and delivering the newspapers to the boxes did not do his job. But Witt said that the problem is usually caused by tampering with the drop boxes, especially in the Quadrangle. "The vandalism has been a lot worse this semester," Witt said. "We didn't have this problem last year." Witt said the locks on the boxes in the Quad have been stolen "four or five times this semester." "Locks were taken off the Quad this week," Witt added. The frequent changing of locks is the source of much of the irritation that subscribers feel. "My complaint was, when they changed the stupid lock they didn't take the effort to tell anybody about it," College freshman Craig Wellen said last week. "Eventually, I did get the combination -- but they didn't let anybody know." Wellen, who lives in High Rise East, added that each time he calls PSA, "They're very polite over the phone," but they say that the manager is never in. "The biggest problem definitely has to be they don't tell you the locker combos," said Anchin, a Quad resident. "They change like every two weeks." He added that it "seems like" people who have not paid for subscriptions know the lock combinations and steal newspapers. Quad resident Fenig also blamed PSA for not being more responsible. He said that when he calls to get the locker combination, "They don't ask for your name." Wharton freshman and Quad resident Gus Sheha laughed at PSA's claim that the boxes were vandalized. "Who would vandalize boxes for a newspaper?" Sheha said. PSA's Witt said she suspects that it is the subscribers who are stealing the locks from the boxes. She added that she is working on solving the problems, including trying to get the boxes in the Quad moved to a different location. "It's not a perfect system," Witt said. "[But] this is the system that the University has approved of and this is the system we have to work with." "I think we're doing the best we can with the problems we've had this year," Witt added. "It's tough when the locks get stolen every week." She said subscribers can get refunds for issues they miss. In recent years, the University has lacked a consistent, efficient method of delivering newspapers to students dormitories. In 1990 the University allowed the student-managed Penn News to attempt door-to-door dormitory delivery for students for one year. But by the end of its first semester of operation, Penn News was mired deep in debt and unable to deliver to a substantial number of subscribers. PSA took over dormitory newspaper deliveries from Penn News at the beginning of the fall 1991 semester, abandoning door-to-door service in favor of drop boxes.

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