News: Low score on verbal threat for SAT taker

[administrator]

http://www.trentonian.com/site/news.cfm?ne...44551&rfi=6

02/06/2007Low score on verbal threat for SAT taker

Staff Report EWING -- Police are investigating a bomb threat made to the Educational Testing Service office here by a student angered that the company wanted to charge him extra to send test results to colleges.

ETS officials are still considering whether to file charges against the 17-year-old boy, who lives in Gaithersburg, Md.

On Jan. 30, ETS officials at 225 Phillips Blvd. received a telephone call from the lad, who requested that ETS forward his test scores to two unnamed colleges, police said.

"He was informed that there is a $17 fee for each school that he wishes to have his scores sent to," reported Sgt. Gregory Smith, Ewing police spokesman.

"The caller became agitated after learning about the additional fees, and threatened to bomb the ETS building later this week," Smith reported.

The spokesman said ETS indicated a willingness to pursue the case, but that police are waiting for officials to sign a complaint.

ETS spokesman Tom Ewing said the company doesn't charge for a student's first four colleges.

"As part of the $41.50 registration fee that students pay to the college board to register to take the SAT, they can have their scores reported to four colleges and universities of their choice," Ewing said. "That comes with the registration fee.

"If you want to start notifying a dozen schools, or any more than the four you get, then that's sort of above and beyond the scope of notifying schools," he said. "So there's a charge for notifying additional schools.

"But for the great majority of students, four collegesis pretty much the upper limit."

The case with the Gaithersburg kid was a little more complicated, however, Ewing said.

"When the student registered, he indicated he only wanted one school notified," Ewing said. "And then he went ahead and took the SAT test.

"And the rules say you have until 10 p.m. of the night before the exam to notify us of whether you want additional schools notified," he said.

"He didn't call us until well after the test was all over, a considerable amount of time. He wanted an additional two [colleges] notified. But he had missed the deadline on notifying the schools."

Ewing said there is a process that takes coordination to change the codes and modify the test-taker's original request.

"And he took umbrage at the fact there was a charge to do this," the spokesman said. "And at the end of the call, he indicated that he was making a bomb threat against ETS for later in the week, and we should take this very seriously. And he hung up.

"And we did take it very seriously, and we have been in touch with the authorities here in Ewing ... and we will be in touch with the authorities down in Maryland as well," Ewing said.

"We consider this a serious issue. We don't know whether he was kidding or not. Or whether he was truly serious. We certainly thought it was."

Police wouldn't identify the boy, since he is a juvenile.