WHRB Ignores Costs of Problems

Your article entitled "Radio Interference Irks Apley Court Residents" (news story, Feb. 7, 1995) missed several important points about the problem with WHRB's signal. First, it is not true that Apley residents have not registered their complaints with the radio station. We have in fact contacted the station several times since September; on each occasion we were told the transmitter was scheduled to be moved in a matter of weeks. Nothing, of course, has been done, and the proposed remedies have been ineffective. Second, Harvard administrative officials, including Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III and University Attorney Allan Ryan, have been contacted numerous times beginning in early November. To date, neither has been able to resolve the problem.

Third, the article's suggestion that "Apley residents will have to continue tolerating the music" is an unsatisfactory solution. We propose that Harvard at the very least provide the necessary noise-reducing equipment. The ferrite cores described in the article cost eight dollars for a pair and are designed to be used in sets of four or eight on every write connected to an affected appliance. Students should not have to bear this expense.

Since there is no guarantee that WHRB will raise the $250,000 needed to move its transmitter by the end of the summer, the ideal solution would be for Harvard to subsidize the expense now so that its current and future students might sleep in peace. It is simply inexcusable that we should be forced to grin and bear this constant noise. John a. Dooley '96   Andrew M. Popper '97