University Steps Up Phone Installation

Edith Etter, a University Hall secretary yesterday confirmed that one of the central administration office lines was disconnected, but she blamed it on a routine breakdown.

An undergraduate who asked not to be identified had a different explanation: he says he tampered with the wiring to protest the delay in getting a phone connected in his dorm room.

The vigilante raid is only the most dramatic expression of frustration felt by hundreds of students who, a month after dorms opened, had yet to receive telephone service. Lines have yet to be installed in parts of Leverett and Adams Houses. Officials have blamed the delays on the House renovations, as well as the phone strike which was settled in late August and created a backlog in services.

"We've been hearing the phrase, 'this week' for four weeks now, but they're making progress--every day new phones are installed," said Martha C. Gefter, associate dean of the College, explaining that the administration was pushing for faster service.

Intensity

Workers will intensify efforts this weekend to install phones in Randolph Hall--which includes more than half of Adams House. Residents of Quincy's Mather Hall may have to wait as long as two more weeks before getting hooked up, because the conduits for the telephone wires were clogged up during construction, according to Paul M. Conway, manager of the Harvard Telephone Office.

Conway noted that some of the stream of complaints has come from rooms that do not have applications on file. He said, "some of them may have been misplaced, others may never have been turned in," and he recommended that students who do not have a phone by Monday should check with the Harvard Telephone Office.

In addition to the frustration of lacking phone service, students have complained that people calling from the outside get a ringing signal and do not realize that the telephones are not connected.

Tristan J. Weckerle, '86, said "the most annoying thing is that when my parents try to call they think I'm not in. It just makes every thing very difficult."

Conway said that if phones were not installed by the end of the week, he would consider asking New England Telephone to correct it by a message service explaining the circumstances.

But whether all phones are working or not, the student phone book, listing all dorm numbers will be distributed Monday