FCC Plans to Seek Court Order Against Delinquent College Stations

The Federal Communications Commission is planning "strong action against WHRB and other college stations that persistently flaunt the law," an FCC official said yesterday.

"The least they can expect is a 'put up or shut up' letter similar to the one we sent Wellesley," Nathan A. Hallenstein, FCC's Chief Engineer in Boston, said yesterday. The Commission told the Wellesley station Tuesday to "comply at once" with spurious radiation regulations or suspend operations. The station then went off the air.

Meanwhile, another FCC official in Washington said that the Commission would seek court injunctions against some college stations "if they continued to disregard Commission orders."

Turner pointed out that the Commission had already obtained court orders against five TV booster stations, whose violations were similar to those of WHRB, but "much less serious."

The two officials agreed that punitive actions against the station were necessary to "restore respect for the law." Hallenstein, who said that many college station operators were "scoff-laws," stated that "WHRB and its counterparts at other universities obey the law as long as it doesn't hurt. When compliance is inconvenient, they stop."

Geoffrey M. Kalmus '56, president of WHRB, denied that his station defied the law. "The charges that we either flaunt the law or are disrespectful of it are untrue," he declared.