At a recent concert of the Harvard Glee Club, Associate Dean of the College David P. Illingworth '71 says he was stunned to hear a cell phone that rang more than six times during what he calls a "particularly soft part of the music."

"I was not pleased," says Illingworth, who does not have a cellular phone and has no plans to get one. "I think they're probably a great convenience, but they can be annoying at a public performance."

And as if that weren't bad enough, phones are ringing during class.

Assistant Professor of the Classics and of History Eric W. Robinson says he is accustomed to the sporadic interruption of his lectures in History 10a, "Western Societies, Politics and Cultures", and classes he has taught at other colleges, by a ringing cell phone.

Although he says it doesn't happen enough to warrant any sort of formal policy against phones, Robinson says he hopes students are wary of keeping their phones switched off during class.

"The phone rings, I roll my eyes, the students giggle and hopefully within five seconds the student switched the phone off," he says. "It's an annoyance, but hey, it's not a big deal."

But for the professor and teaching fellows of Chemistry 5, "Introduction to the Principles of Chemistry," a ringing phone during an exam was nuisance enough to make an announcement banning the phones during tests.

Jacob M. Janey, a teaching fellow for the course, says most of the ringing incidents were being attributed to one particular student.