Last semester, The Hamster published three issues. Budgetary Committee chair Livia Angiolillo '04 signed a check for the September and October issues last Monday and also paid for a Hamster publication in December.
"The AAS has accepted monetary responsibility for these three issues and The Hamster had no other relations with Collective Copies, so any other outstanding balance is irrelevant to the fact that our bill has been paid," said Ansell.
According to Angiolillo, neither the budgetary committee of the AAS nor the AAS has assumed responsibility for an outstanding balance of a $5,510 bill. Collective Copies has no record of the bill. The bill was paid, but it is unclear by whom.
"Although last week two checks were signed and sent to Collective Copies, these bills are separate from an initial dispute regarding a $5,510 bill," said Angiolillo.
Rumors that Hamster co-editor-in-chief Jonah Ansell '03 or another member of The Hamster's staff inappropriately passed off Angiolillo's signature were unfounded. "The Hamster paid none of it out of its own pocket," said Ansell. "We are glad that our name has been cleared and we hope to take an active role in facilitating smooth relations with the budgetary committee from this point forward."
AAS senators hope this sort of confusion will not be a problem again. "We aren't sure exactly what happened between the Budgetary Committee and The Hamster," said Ben Baum '03. "The AAS has installed safeguards to make sure money will not go missing again. In the future, Collective Copies will require [Angiolillo's] signature on checks," said Baum.