Jesuit School Exorcises Devilish Phone Prefix

For years, the Jesuit-run University of San Francisco suffered through bad jokes because of its telephone prefix “666,” the so-called devil’s number.

Until now.

The Catholic school has worked out a deal with Pacific Bell to transfer its existing prefix to a less sinister “422” prefix.

No one is quite sure what the telephone company was thinking several decades ago when it issued the number, known as the mark of the beast in the Book of Revelation.

Despite the notorious number, university spokesman Marlon Villa said the main reason for the change is that the new prefix allows for twice as many extensions.

Villa said the Catholic school has experienced no major calamities from using the devil’s phone number.