10 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 9, 1998 N ATION/ WORLD Regulators attempt to clarify telephone bills WASHINGTON (AP) - C.F. Cline com- plains that his 17-page telephone bill is so com- plicated it must have been dreamed up by the same people who create tax forms. Hes baffled by the new fees, confused by the maze of taxes and frustrated by explanations written in tele- phones. "It appears to have been written by a retired IRS agent," the Port Charlotte, Fla., retiree said with a sigh. Even experts confess they have difficulty decoding their bills. Larry Irving, President Clinton's top telecom- munications policy adviser, leaves that job to the family MBA - his wife, Leslie. "I'm just a lawyer," Irving said. "A college degree and a law degree are not enough to deci- pher it. I need somebody who has had account- ing and finance." Telephone regulators - led by Federal Communications Commission chair Bill Kennard, who says he has trouble understanding his own bill - are expected this month to issue proposals aimed at making phone bills less con- fusing. It's not clear how to accomplish that. The agency now lets companies decide how to list and explain charges. "Reading your phone bill should not be like reading Ulysses - long and complicated," Kennard said. Phone companies, meanwhile, insist they are trying to make bills easier to understand. They don't want regulators dictating bill formats. One reason phone bills have gotten more complex in recent years is because there's a growing number of companies offering a wider variety of services, including Internet access, second lines and voice mail. Many of these charges usually end up in one big bill customers get from their local phone company. Also, phone companies, fearing customer backlash, are breaking out the government- ordered subsidies that once were included in rates and itemizing new federal charges from last year's government overhaul of phone fees. "There are so many more different things being charged for, it's hard to figure out the bill;" said Bell Atlantic customer Matthew Davis of Washington. Most phone customers say they don't mind that charges once hidden in rates now are spelled out. Some think bills should state in plain English where these and other charges come from and what they finance. Phone bills should be simpler and more infor- mative, Kennard says, because that makes it eas- ier for consumers to shop around and figure out if they're charged for something they didn't buy. Bell Atlantic, the nation's largest regional Bell telephone company with 30 million customers along the East Coast, plans in late December to begin providing some customers with a more readable bill. All customers should have the new format by 2001. In a 1994 Bell Atlantic study comparing its own bills against utility and credit card and other types of bills, consumers ranked the phone com- pany's at the bottom, said Frank Bennett, vice president of customer billing. "I think medical billing is a good analogy to telephone billing in that it is a fairly complex discipline that the customer doesn't necessarily understand," Bennett said. Davis complained that his Bell Atlantic bill is "printed on little teeny papers, which are hard to read. And, there's no attempt whatsoever by the phone company to explain charges in plain English." Bell Atlantic's new bill will be larger - 7 1/2 by 10 1/2 - about the size of credit card state- ments, and printed on both sides. The first page will have a summary of charges with a tear-off payment coupon. It will include longer and clearer explanations of charges. After customer complaints, Sprint redesigned its long-distance bills in 1995, including listing the amount due with a tear- off payment coupon up front, and summariz- ing charges by service - residential phone paging and phone card. The company also i5 considering a redesign to local phone bills, said Steve Dykes, a spokesperson for Sprint's local phone business. Cline, who is billed by Sprint for local service and for long-distance provided by AT&T, wants the FCC to make all phone companies use the same format. The administration's Irving thinks phone companies should agree voluntarily to use "plain language;' and believes federal legislation may be warranted if they don't. Roy Neel of the United States Telephony Association says all customers really need to do to understand bills is give them a careful review. Michiga fior natior NOVI, Mich. (AP) - He' too young to be president, but Adam Jones is start- in Inow to line up his support. re has a Web site, a campaign man- ag&, and knows where he stands on the issues. ines is just 17. Yesterday, the Northville High School junior begins a yearlong stint in Wshington as one of 66 congressional pages. He'll attend classes in the Lilrary of Congress and deliver legisla- tivo material to various buildings on Capitol Hill. Ue was nominated for the $1,100-a- moth job by U.S. Rep. Joe Knollenberg, (R-Bloomfield Hills). It is just another step, Jones says, tovard capturing the Republican presi- deial nomination in 2024. His mother, Cheryl Jones, was among the biggest skeptics until she took a phone message for her son in 1906 while doing dishes. "After Bob Dole's office called, we figured he might really do this," Jones told the Detroit Free Press. Her son "ha focused in, has a direction and a tintable. "Nothing he could do would surprise me;- he was born 30 years old." IW kindergarten, Jones liked to drags in a suit when he accompanied teen plans to run is highest office "I've always had a passion for politics." - Adam Jones Novi 17-year-old Free Willy his mother to the grocery store. In the second grade, he ran unsuccess- fully for the school council. In the fifth grade, he won first place in a school essay contest that asked youngsters what they wanted to be when they grew up. Jones wrote that he wanted to be president so he could change the world. While his peers watched MTV, he watched C-SPAN. He solicited auto- graphs and advice from politicians, including former President Gerald Ford, U.S. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. While his parents and two younger brothers were sightseeing last year in the nation's capital, Jones met with members of the Senate and House in their offices. On his 16th birthday, he had his picture taken with House Speaker Newt Gingrich, (R-Ga). "I've always had a passion for poli- tics," said Jones, who heads a 20-mem- ber Republican club for Oakland County teens. Jones opposes term limits and affirmative action. He is anti-abor- tion and favors campaign-finance reform and the impeachment of President Clinton. By the time he is ready for his presi- dential run, Jones figures the major issues likely will be exploration of plan- ets and cloning. Jones was elected freshman class president but lost in a re-election bid as a sophomore. "There's a benefit in being defeated," he said. "You learn that life goes on - you go back at it." Jones, who carries a 3.7 grade point average, plans on majoring in political science in college and becoming an attorney. He said he will seek statewide political offices before his run for the Oval Office. TQ Keiko, a Killer whale, and the star of Free Willy Movies, takes a look at spectators on his last day at the Oregon Coast AP P0& Aquarium in Newport, Ore., yesterday. 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