Otto F. Coontz, assistant to the senior tutor,said he believes yesterday's incident marked thefirst time in his 12 years at Adams House that astudent has been attacked.

According to CPD statistics, however, theRiverside neighborhood in which most of Harvard'supperclass Houses are located experienced aoverall increase in crime in 1998. Last year saw20 street robberies, up 25 percent from theprevious year.

Students said they hoped Adams House officialswould respond adequately to the incident.

"I hope that the two men who were attacked getsupport," said Rabia S. Belt '01, an Adams Houseresident who also noted that she had not receiveda community advisory Yesterday.

Kiely, however, said he did not want to sendout a House-wide e-mail message or communityadvisory until he was sure of what had occurred.

Other students said had seen other conflicts inthe Square in the aftermath of St. Patrick's Dayrevelry.

"[The incident] is shocking, but not thatshocking on St. Patrick's Day," said William F.Abely '99, who said he had witnessed several minorbarroom brawls at the Crimson Bar and Grille thesame night