sorry, i shoulda mentioned i already did that. it's still the same, even after i did cleanup.php. well...i think maybe it can process without the phone #, but people won't know that until i get rid of that star...
ok, i went and found
skin1/main/register_contact_info.tpl and changed
<tr valign=middle>
<td align=right>{$lng.lbl_phone}</td>
<td><font class=Star>*</font></td>
to
<tr valign=middle>
<td align=right>{$lng.lbl_phone}</td>
<td></td>
done
