ILLINOIS — Editors of a campus newspaper at the University of Chicago said they want to be reimbursed for the cost of replacing stolen newspapers.
After about 2,500 copies of the Chicago Weekly disappeared from distribution bins across campus in early May, photo editor Joshua Lucas said he will press the university administration for a permanent policy that would pay the re-printing costs out of general student fees.
“We are taking the issue to the student government and the administration to help refund replacement costs,” he said. “We don’t get any financial support from the school and are the second largest paper here.”
Lucas expressed confidence that the proposed policy will be accepted.
But Bill Michel, director of student activities at the university, said that unless a newspaper thief is caught, refunding a newspaper’s cost may be difficult.
“If a member of the community is caught stealing papers, we can use existing disciplinary procedures to handle the situation,” he said. “We have been asked to consider a policy, but I’m not sure how strong the possibility of that happening is.”
Members of the newspaper said they believe friends of a student government candidate stole the copies, which was the pre-election endorsement issue.
But because nobody has been charged, Michel said they may look into refunds through university insurance options instead of an actual policy.