'Room 13' Gets Second Threat; Police Evacuate Stoughton Hall

Residents of Stoughton Hall Saturday night evacuated the building after Room 13, a poor counseling organization located in the basement, received its second telephone bomb threat of this month

A woman identifying herself only as "Marcia" telephoned Room 13 and warned the student staffers of an imminent bomb explosion, Harvard University police said yesterday.

Patricia F. Sanchez '84 and Jeremy Rabinovitz '83 answered the call and informed the police of the threat. The caller telephoned and repeated he message one minute after her first call

The alarm system, triggered by the Harvard police, cleared Stoughton Hall. The police then searched the building for objects that appeared to be out of place, a police spokesman said yesterday.

Nothing suspicious was found, and students returned to their dorm rooms within an hour.

The caller is "just someone harassing them." Chief of Harvard Police Saul L. Chafin said yesterday.

"My gut feeling is that it is someone who is just getting their kicks this way and getting attention, someone who thinks it might be fun to tell us there's a bomb down there." Room 13's co-director Daniel H. Null '83 said yesterday

Null received an anonymous call to Room 13 on January 10. "Nothing was discussed explicitly" with the police as far as further action to counter the threats, Null added.

"We suspect she's not a Harvard student," Null said. "The voice was identified as a little bit older," he added.

Robinovitz and Sancticz could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Null emphasized that because of their hotline, Room 13 is "a vulnerable target for anyone who wants to make a prank call."