Two first-year students in Penny-packer Hall said they received sexually-harassing phone calls earlier this week from a man who claimed he was conducting a Newsweek poll.

The students, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the caller initially sounded professional. But as the discussion proceeded, his questions developed sexual overtones--including one request that a student touch his own genitals.

The students, who were not aware that the caller had contacted both of them, said they were unnerved by the phone call, but neither reported the incident to the Harvard police.

Police spokesperson Peggy A. McNamara said no other harassing phone calls to Penny-packer have been reported to the police this week.

The records for all first-year dorms have not yet been checked, she said.

The caller began the conversation by questioning the students about their interests, hobbies and reading habits.

"He didn't sound like a sicko; he asked all the questions in a survey voice," said one student.

"He asked me what magazines I like to read, what I don't like to read and to rate things on a scale of one to five," said the second student.

But the caller soon changed the tone of his questions.

"[H]e started to ask about clothing and how people feel about it," the second student said. "He asked what I was wearing at that point and why would someone wear something if he might be more comfortable in other clothes."

The caller then asked the student to take off his sweater if it would be more comfortable, according to the second student.

The student stayed on the phone, because he said he was interested in discovering the true nature of the call.

"I was curious to see where he was going with this line of questioning," he said, adding that the caller then asked the student to remove his shirt, and after the student pretended to do so, asked him to also remove his pants.

"When he asked me to put my hand on my penis, I hung up," he said.

A spokesperson for Newsweek said that the magazine was not currently conducting polls of college students on sports, reading material or clothing.