University Tries to Untangle Mystery of Mixed-Up Cards

Officials in the Office of Fiscal Services, University Hall and in the Houses can't seem to figure out how over 70 students obtained identification cards authorized for board when they had notified their House they wished to be removed from the board roles.

They also disagree on how the students carrying the wrong cards should be charged for meals.

"If a student has a board card, he or she will be charged," Stephen W. Homer '62, director of the office of student accounts receivable, said yesterday. The daily board charge is $5.50.

The University maintains a list in Holyoke Center of students with ID cards and knows which students are eligible for board, he added.

But Susan Neer, the housing officer for Harvard College, said yesterday the officials in Fiscal Services who issue ID cards may have used information from last spring when many of the students now off-campus or in cooperative houses were still on board. The Housing Office updates the computer files periodically.

The Housing Office removes students from the board list after receiving official notice from them or their Houses that they will be living off-campus or in cooperatives.

Neer said the problems with the ID cards left her "wondering if in fact they (Fiscal Services) are using the same computer banks."

Snafu

House secretaries said yesterday they are correcting the board records by filing forms to stop board charges when the students appear with the wrong cards.

If dining hall record show that students have not eaten any meals the University should not charge them anything for board. Shirley Broner, secretary of South House, said yesterday.

"Fiscal Services is quite wrong if they think they're going to charge those kids," she said.

Gail M. Boose, secretary of Adams House, said yesterday "it seems information didn't get from University Hall to Holyoke Center," adding that the same thing happened last year.