An ominous hairline crack has developed in the concrete roof beam of a footbridge in the year-old multi-million-dollar married students dorms.

The footbridge connects the apartments in the low-rise building to the sixth floor of the west tower.

According to Dr. Othar Zaldastani, of Nichols, Norton and Zaldastani, construction engineers for the complex, the crack is probably due to the malfunction plates" in the footbridge which allow for expansion and contraction of the concrete.

Zaldastani conjectured that either there had been an "imperfect construction joint" or else the plates had frozen, causing the beam to crack.

A four-by-four brace has been applied to the inside of the passageway to help pinpoint the source of the trouble.

Most of the tenants seemed unconcerned by the quarter-inch fissure, a sample poll revealed.

A representative of Vappi & Co., construction agents for Peabody Terrace, said about the crack. "Maybe it is predictable. I don't know anything about it."

Carlo Mantini, superintendant of the buildings, had no comment to make on the situation.