Organizations Shocked by Large Back Phone Bills

Most students wouldn't mind a year without a phone bill. But as Harvard Model Congress (HMC) found out, the result can be rather shocking.

The phone service recently sent HMC a telephone statement spanning June 1995 to June 1996, totalling $5,700, according to HMC Business Manager Hayle Chun '98.

HMC had not received any monthly statements during the previous academic year, Chun said.

In the meantime, members of the organization significantly increased their long-distance calling: the bill is about 60 percent higher than the $3,500 phone budgets of previous years, according to Chun.

Chun said he didn't know how to explain the discrepancy between past phone budgets and last year's bill, but he did cast doubt on the accuracy of the University's records.

As one example, he cited a $300, 150-minute phone call to the Phillipines--a line item he termed "suspicious."

"Regardless of whether HMC has made a lot of phone calls, from what I've seen it shouldn't amount to $5,700," he said.

Nancy Kinchla, group manager of network services at the University, declined to comment on the billing, citing customer confidentiality.

Meanwhile, HMC isn't the only Thayer-based organization to have received delayed phone bills.

The World Model United Nations (World MUN) also did not receive its phone bills for about a year, and then received a telephone statement of $900, according to Director Andras Forgacs '98.

World MUN, like HMC and other student organizations located in Thayer, has an outside mail box, which may explain the delay in billing.

HMC's office, where Chun received the bill, is located in Thayer basement. However, HMC's standard mailing address is a post office box.

"I'm pretty sure [the phone bill] wasn't mailed to our actual mail box, just the Thayer basement," Chun said.

In World MUN's case, however, the bill was sent not to its office, but to the office of the Harvard International Relations Council, which is not affiliated with World MUN.

Forgacs also complained of the ambiguity of the recent statement, saying there were unspecified service charges.

"As an international organization, we do make international calls," he said. "But what I don't know is whether all the costs are due to phone calls. Maybe they charge for incoming calls."

Although Forgacs said World MUN will pay its bill, he suggested that the University itemize their bills in the future.

Thong Q. Le '98, treasurer for World MUN, could not be reached for comment.

Like World MUN, HMC initially received a one-page statement. However, Chun said that upon HMC's request, the organization received a detailed bill showing the telephone numbers called in the past year, sorted by month.

"I had to call them up, and they were cooperative, which was nice of them," Chun said.

Nonetheless, HMC officials are skeptical.

"Since I took over, [we have] used the phone minimally because a) we were on vacation, and b) it's the beginning of the school year," said Steven R. Hill '98, who was named president of HMC Europe 1997 this spring.

While the large phone bill won't cripple HMC, it will cause a significant dent in its $100,000 annual budget.

"[I had] this dread that all our financial success is going to go down the drain," Chun said.

HMC Co-president Lawrence J. Lee '97 refused to comment last night

Although Forgacs said World MUN will pay its bill, he suggested that the University itemize their bills in the future.

Thong Q. Le '98, treasurer for World MUN, could not be reached for comment.

Like World MUN, HMC initially received a one-page statement. However, Chun said that upon HMC's request, the organization received a detailed bill showing the telephone numbers called in the past year, sorted by month.

"I had to call them up, and they were cooperative, which was nice of them," Chun said.

Nonetheless, HMC officials are skeptical.

"Since I took over, [we have] used the phone minimally because a) we were on vacation, and b) it's the beginning of the school year," said Steven R. Hill '98, who was named president of HMC Europe 1997 this spring.

While the large phone bill won't cripple HMC, it will cause a significant dent in its $100,000 annual budget.

"[I had] this dread that all our financial success is going to go down the drain," Chun said.

HMC Co-president Lawrence J. Lee '97 refused to comment last night