Construction Projects Begin As Students Start Fall Term

Some dare call it conspiracy--but University administrators say the number of on-campus construction projects that are getting underway just as the school year begins is merely coincidental.

Students living near the Lowell House bell tower may find it difficult to sleep past the early morning hours, as construction crews hammer new bricks and remove old ones from the bell tower. Cracks were discovered early this summer, but initial repairs determined that the tower is not falling apart, and the work should take no more than two weeks to finish, Frank Marciano, superintendent of Buildings and Grounds, said yesterday.

The Dunster House courtyard, which one Dunster House junior who arrived early in the week described as looking like a lunar crater, is under going a face lift. When it's all done in three weeks, the results will be improved drainage in the courtyard and new paths designed along student routes--"paths which students have used over the years," Elizabeth Vorenberg, co-master of Dunster House, said yesterday.

The biggest headache for students, however, will be for those who live between Cabot and Whitman Halls, at the site of the South House dining hall extension. Most of the construction should be finished by Christmas vacation, but right now, the drilling starts at 8:30 a.m.

One project that will not inconvenience students was completed last week, as Mather Tower's carpets were replaced in suites on the fifth through the nineteenth floors. The carpeting was damaged when a fire hose "accidentally" gushed water in the tower during the first week of July, causing $10,000 worth of damage.