Faulty Phone Service In Currier Hallways Causes Mammoth Bill

Radcliffe students will contribute an estimated $10,000 to the Harvard University phone bill this month.

Last September, all 16 of the Currier House hall phones, as well as several others scattered throughout the Radcliffe dormitories, were installed as unlimited free extensions of the Harvard 495 line.

Students from all over the University flocked to Radcliffe to take full advantage of the free telephones: one boy from Wintrop House made a two-hour call to his girl friend in California; another student used to call home to Delaware three times a day.

By the time the New England Telephone company got around to cutting off service last Monday night, the Harvard phone bill amounted to about $10,000.

"So this is what it will be like when the Revolution comes," one enthusiastic Radcliffe student exclaimed about the free "communal" hall phones.

Radcliffe Buildings and Grounds had originally ordered telephones limited to the Centrex system. The phone company "erroneously" installed the long-distance phones, said Jim O'Shea, manager of communications for the University.

Radcliffe is not responsible, according to Jerome S. Bruner, Master of Currier House. "We informed the telephone company a month ago to cut off the long-distance service.

"Perhaps they don't have a vice president in charge of cutting off phones," he added.

The phone company claims that Harvard will be considered responsible for all calls made on the University line. Not only will it probably try to identify the students by tracing the calls to their destinations, but it may even try to force Harvard to pay in a court case.

One Harvard student, commenting on this possibility, remarked it was the first time he had ever wanted both sides of a law suit to lose the case.