Residents Roused Early From DeWolfe Dreams

Roxanne C. Abder '95 is setting her alarm for 6:42 a.m. these days. That's three minutes before the jack hammers start operating in front of the DeWolfe street apartments where she lives.

"I get up to enjoy the silence," Abder says.

She is not alone.

Residents of the apartments, which serve as overflow housing for several nearby houses, are growing increasingly frustrated with the noise and stench caused by a project which began last fall.

But with the work on DeWolfe Street not due for completion until this summer, students are learning to put up with the hassle of detours, noise from heavy machinery and the odor of raw sewage.

The most frequent complaint of students, unsurprisingly, is that the excavation, which begins every day before 7 a.m., often disturbs their morning slumber.

"My bed shakes every morning, says Abder, a Winthrop House resident living at 20 DeWolfe St.

Luma Al-Aptar '94 says that she was so bothered by the early morning noise she called representatives of both Harvard University and the City of Cambridge with her complaints, but to no avail.

"We are college students and we are up late atnight studying," she says. "My roommate was tryingto write a thesis with this going on."

Al-Aptar suggests that the work begin at 9 a.m.instead of 7 a.m., continuing later into theafternoon.

"Students don't care how late the workerswork," she says. "The morning is the problem."

Other students have complained about thepungent smell around the excavation sight. The"stench" has been constant since digging began,according to Jamian Lai '96.

"It reeks," Abder says.

"It's really smelly," Jim D. Ebenhoh '94agrees.

Some students also complain that the work,which stretches from Mt. Auburn street to MemorialDrive, blocks access to dining halls and otherhouses.

And still others have lamented theunsightliness of the undertaking. Ebenhoh says theexcavation site resembles "a post-apocalypticplayground."

In spite of their complaints, some students saythey understand the need for the project, whichwill install underground sewage and drainage pipesbeneath the street.

The supervisor working on the site, who refusedto give his name, says the project would reducethe amount of raw sewage being dumped into theocean.

And besides the beneficial ecological effect,at least one student recognizes another importantbenefit of the project.

"You get to play in the cement things," saysChris P. Glew '96

"We are college students and we are up late atnight studying," she says. "My roommate was tryingto write a thesis with this going on."

Al-Aptar suggests that the work begin at 9 a.m.instead of 7 a.m., continuing later into theafternoon.

"Students don't care how late the workerswork," she says. "The morning is the problem."

Other students have complained about thepungent smell around the excavation sight. The"stench" has been constant since digging began,according to Jamian Lai '96.

"It reeks," Abder says.

"It's really smelly," Jim D. Ebenhoh '94agrees.

Some students also complain that the work,which stretches from Mt. Auburn street to MemorialDrive, blocks access to dining halls and otherhouses.

And still others have lamented theunsightliness of the undertaking. Ebenhoh says theexcavation site resembles "a post-apocalypticplayground."

In spite of their complaints, some students saythey understand the need for the project, whichwill install underground sewage and drainage pipesbeneath the street.

The supervisor working on the site, who refusedto give his name, says the project would reducethe amount of raw sewage being dumped into theocean.

And besides the beneficial ecological effect,at least one student recognizes another importantbenefit of the project.

"You get to play in the cement things," saysChris P. Glew '96