HSA: JUDGE, JURY, AND ADVERSARY?

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

In view of the long-overdue protests which have arisen concerning the propriety of the charter-flight operations of the HSA. I wish to add my tale of woe to the collection. Early in the spring of last year, I obtained a reservation for a trip to Europe, and pre-paid the entire amount, as required by the HSA. Late in April or early May, concluding that my financial condition required me to take a summer job in the U.S. rather than touring Europe, I attempted to cancel my reservation and obtain a refund.

To shorten the story, to this day I have been refused the refund of a single cent by the HSA, although my cancelation was nearly a full month in advance of flight. This is a staggering individual loss, in the face of the profits of HSA which must run in the thousands of dollars ($10 per head times at least 100 in each plane times 10 to 12 charter flights). It is not clear that even their unconscionable contract covers my case, and I have been refused access by Mr. Burke to look at their records to ascertain this. I was willing to compromise so as to get anything refunded; but Mr. Burke in his "discretion" knew that I would have to pay court costs, legal and investigatory fees to even attempt it, so that he was necessarily judge, jury, and adversary in this controversy. Needless to say, the interests of justice and fair-dealing are seldom furthered by such an arrangement. Gilbert T. Graham 3-L