Students being approached by newspaper solicitors should be cautious of their claims after an unknown man has reportedly been telling students The Arizona Republic is a requirement for UA courses.
Students have reported being approached at their homes by an unknown person wearing a UA T-shirt and claiming the university is requiring a subscription to the Phoenix-based paper for the semester, said journalism adviser Paul Johnson.
Johnson said he has been telling anyone reporting a similar incident the Republic is not a requirement for journalism courses and to make sure they give their information to a legitimate sales person.
"If someone shows up claiming to represent the Arizona Republic, definitely check further with their instructor and check your syllabus for required reading," Johnson said.
The University of Arizona Police Department received one report of a similar incident occurring at 6:10 p.m. Sunday when a student reported that a clean-cut, suspicious looking white man came to her door, reports stated.
She said the man told her the UA had paid for subscriptions of the Republic for students. The man allegedly told the student all she had to pay for was the delivery fee and delivery could begin as early as yesterday morning, reports stated.
According to the report, when the student said she was not interested, he asked if her neighbor was a student. The student said she felt the man was knocking on doors at random with a scam, reports stated.
Students have also reported being approached by an unknown man who was urging students to purchase a home-delivery service for the Arizona Daily Wildcat.
Wildcat Editor in Chief Aaron Mackey said the Wildcat is free for all students and does not offer a delivery service.
Anyone who is asked to pay for a Wildcat delivery service should contact police, Mackey said.
UAPD spokesman Sgt. Eugene Mejia said if students see anyone who looks suspicious or out of the ordinary to contact UAPD.
Mejia said if the man is misrepresenting himself he is committing a crime and police will investigate.
"If the person is representing themselves as a vendor and is not, he is misrepresenting himself and we want to investigate," Mejia said.
Anyone with information on suspicious solicitations can contact UAPD at 621-8273.