Noisy Poonsters Prompt Adams Petition

An Adams House resident tutor has written a petition, now supported by nearly 80 House residents urging the City of Cambridge and the Harvard administration to do "whatever it takes" to end disturbances coming from the Lampoon castle.

"I was awakened by screams at 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday," Scott F. Kocher said. "It seems a group of Lampoon members thought it would be funny to wake us up by screaming 'fire' and banging on windows. I live on the courtyard side of the building, so they had to work pretty hard to wake me up."

That is when Kocher decided to take matters into his own hands.

Kocher sent an e-mail over the Adams House "schmooze" list urging students to write letters complaining about the noise level or any other problems they have had with the Lampoon.

Kocher has also received a number of suggestions for resolving the conflict, including asking the College administration to revoke the Lampoon's student organization status, and making the Lampoon give a large donation to a charity each time they disturb Adams residents.

Kocher also wrote a petition saying that those who signed it had "endured chronic problems with disorderliness and late-night noise from the Harvard Lampoon."

Since then the issue has become a hot topic on the Adams House e-mail list.

Some Adams' residents have complained about a joke Kocher made in an email shortly after being woken up last Wednesday which read "(useless bastards) + Lampoon - (useless bastards) = (useless bastards)."

"Several Lampoon members took offense at my 6 a.m. e-mail, and I've discussed it with each of them," said Kocher. " My wit at that hour was more impressive than theirs."

The recent tension is the latest in a string of problems between Adams House residents and the Lampoon.

"I would be woken up when they had speakers out on Bow Street and they would play really loud music with a bunch of people dancing around outside," said Adam R. Abate `02 whose room used to look out on the Lampoon castle.

Soon after a series of complaints by Adams House residents last year, Lampoon President Stephen C. Hely `02 met with Associate Dean of the College David P. Illingworth `67 to discuss the problems.

"I...told [Hely] that these kinds of disturbances were unacceptable and was given the assurance that there would be no further problems," Illingworth said after the meeting.

In an e-mail message, Hely said that since his meeting with Illingworth the Lampoon has "followed his recommendations on keeping noise levels down. We'll make every effort to keep things under control."

"I anticipate that in the future the only noise the Lampoon will be responsible for is the echoing laughter caused by our latest issue," Hely wrote in an e-mail.

Many residents of Adams House E, F, G, and H entryways, however, have not been laughing.

"Recently it has gotten very bad," said Svetlana Rukhelman `02, who lives in H-entryway.

"When it has been warm outside they just sit out on the stoop constantly and play their music loudly into the middle of the night without regard for whether it is the weekend or a weekday," she continued.

Kocher said he plans to meet with a Lampoon board member tomorrow to discuss his complaints.

--Staff Writer Joseph P. Flood can be reached at flood@fas.harvard.edu