Theater Refuses to Honor Harvard Square Coupons

A dispute over the terms of the contract has forced the manager of the University Theatre to stop honoring Harvard Square Book coupons.

Stanley Summer, U.T. manager, yesterday charged that shoe shine boys and others have been selling the books to the general public in violation of the original agreement. The coupon books, which appeared early this fall, offered undergraduates, among other premiums, two admissions at the theatre for the price of one.

Serge Boutourline, Jr. '54, who was in charge of the distribution, could not be reached for comment.

Summer said Boutorline agreed to sell the books only on a particular day and only to Harvard students in Harvard Yard. "The agreement was never kept, and the books were sold continuously," he added.

Some irate students demanded that their tickets be accepted, but Summer did not back down. "We will not accept them until we talk to the distributors," he asserted.

He explained that he questioned a couple of youths, who admitted that they had bought the books from a shoe shine boy. Summer said that this was obviously in violation of the contract, and that it was at this point that he decided to refuse to accept any more tickets.

Summer emphasized that he was not legally bound to accept the tickets, but that he did not want to create ill will. "The affair has been most unsatisfactory from my standpoint throughout," he said, "quite unlike a successful similar experiment last summer."

Summer denied that the theatre was backing down on its commitments, pointing out that as soon as he could find Boutourlino he expected that the dispute would be settled.

Other merchants who also offered premiums in the book said they had not encountered any difficulties.