Calls by groups not being closely checked

Long-distance phone calls made by students in groups with Student Activities Council-funded phones are not being closely monitored by the Office of Student life or their own leaders. Lynn Moller, financial administrator of Student Life activities, said last week that phone records are kept in her office and students are supposed to keep tabs on what they spend. "It's the students' responsibility to check up on themselves," Moller said. And although many student leaders said they could monitor long-distance calls more easily if they recieved copies of their phone bills, Moller said her accounting methods will stay as they are. "All they have to do is walk in and get [their phone bills]," she said. "We're not going to send them to the groups." Moller added that in most cases she pays the bills without questioning the students unless she finds charges that are obviously excessive. But, according to the student leaders of several SAC-funded groups, few groups actually do "check up on themselves." Through Penntrex groups are able to acquire codes to identify the person who makes each long distance phone call. Presently, only UTV reports using this system, which UTV station manager Stephen Golden said began last week. According to the past year's phone records of 26 groups, UTV had one of the smallest long distance phone bills, but a very large percentage of the phone calls could not be explained by Golden. Four phone calls totalling $24.32 were made to England during the last week of September 1992. "Those were not calls made on UTV business," he said. "The [person] who made those calls has paid SAC back." Elissa Lattin, editor-in-chief of The Record, said that although she knew that it was possible to use identification codes for long-distance calls, "that's not how we've chosen to run our office." The yearbook office had three phone lines. Lattin said she has worked at the yearbook for three years and to her knowledge the phone line was never used. SAC was charged $13.50 monthly for over two years for the phone. But after being told about the third phone line, Lattin said she terminated that line. The yearbook had the most international calls of all of the groups with phone bills paid by SAC, with eight from June to October of 1992. Although she could not explain calls to New Jersey, Connecticut, and a 202-minute call to Bryn Mawr, she said that phone abuse was fairly rare in the yearbook office. Hallie Levin, former Student Committee on Undergraduate Education chairperson, said that while unnecessary long-distance calls from the SCUE offices are rare, she has occasionly called her father in Chicago on SCUE phones. "I've called home, but I really don't feel guilty about it," Levin said. "I know of personal monies that I've spent for SCUE that total over $30 that I haven't reported." SCUE member David Hanes also admitted that he had called his home in Lewisburg, Virginia on the office phones. "The effect of a one or two dollar phone call wasn't the first thing on my mind," he said.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.