After receiving numerous complaints about dead bugs, mold, and chipping paint in freshman dormitory bathrooms, Harvard in the last few weeks has sent repair crews to repaint--in some cases rebuild--dozens of the most run-down bathrooms.

When Alison Keenan '89 first walked into her Holworthy Hall bathroom at the beginning of the year, she was appalled. "The window sills were covered with dead bugs and dirt. You were afraid to look up because something might fall on you," Keenan said.

Keenan's father was also incensed, and dashed off an angry letter to President Derek C. Bok, saying that he had seen a number of other East Coast colleges with superior rest rooms.

Alison's dad soon received a reply from Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57, and within days a crew was scraping old paint, replastering the ceiling, and painting over rusted gratings.

Assistant Dean of the Faculty for Facilities R. Thomas Quinn, the official who oversees bathrooms, acknowledged that "things had gotten really bad. People who had to use them were disgusted. I would be if I had to use them."

The main problem was the sheer number of people who used the bathroom facilities, Quinn said. Those serving an entire floor were used by 15 to 25 people, and therefore suffered more than bathrooms used by just a suite. And in Canaday Hall, ventilation systems couldn't deal with steam from the showers and had to be rebuilt.