Former Associated Students Presidential Candidate Bill Shiebler wrote a $299 check to the Daily Nexus late last month to cover the cost of 300 copies of the newspaper that were defaced by vandals.

While declining any involvement, Shiebler said Sunday that the Student Action Coalition (SAC) agreed to pay full restitution for the damage done during the April 13 incident, in which unauthorized stamps bearing the phrases www.votesac.com and VOTE S.A.C. appeared in red ink over the paper’s masthead. SAC was one of two slates of candidates vying for 2005-06 student government positions in last month’s campuswide elections. The Nexus will not press charges.

According to police reports released last Friday, two witnesses interviewed by the University Police Dept. said they saw Shiebler in the area of the rack in the Arbor where the defaced editions were discovered between the hour they were delivered and the time at which the vandalism was discovered.

When contacted by police, the report indicates Shiebler “was not willing to make a statement regarding the vandalism,” but that after talking with SAC members, the party agreed to pay full restitution to resolve the matter.

He wrote a $299 personal check made out to the Daily Nexus dated April 27, 2005.

Single issues of the Daily Nexus are free, but additional copies cost $1, a policy put in place in 1997 after several thousand copies of the paper were stolen.

Shiebler said SAC members decided to collectively pay the fee to avoid any further inconvenience to anyone because of the incident. He declined further comment.

In an interview with the Nexus shortly after the incident occurred, Shiebler called the stamping “ridiculous” and said SAC members had nothing to do with it, despite the presence of stamps on the party’s table in the Arbor baring the same slogans used to deface the paper.

Daily Nexus editor in Chief Daniel Haier said he was “pleased” with Shiebler’s payment and wished to thank the witnesses who came forward to report the incident to the UCPD. He said the Nexus will fully investigate any future instance of theft or vandalism and seek to identify and prosecute the perpetrators.