HONOLULU — A University of Hawaii student accused of using false sources in articles he wrote for the Manoa campus newspaper says he has never fabricated sources or quotes.

Kris DeRego issued a written statement Thursday saying he “never intentionally misattributed quotes or attempted to mislead the paper’s readership.”
He suggested the paper’s copy desk was to blame.
Ka Leo editors say they’ve been unable to confirm the existence of 29 people quoted in DeRego’s stories.
The newspaper says it couldn’t find university records for 21 of the people.
For eight other names, the newspaper found students with the same or similar names who were not enrolled as students at the time they were quoted.
Ka Leo posted a lengthy correction of the stories on its Web site Wednesday.