For many Iowa State students, the strike between U S West and the Communication Workers of America (CWA) came at a very inopportune time.

A customer service representative at U S West who asked that his name not be released said even if the technicians returned to work this week, it would be at least a month before they would be caught up to all the work that needs to be done.

As of Aug. 16, 32,000 members of the CWA went on strike after not accepting a proposed contract from U S West.

The strike is affecting telephone service in the 14 states that U S West represents. And for many students in Ames, getting new service has come to an abrupt halt.

Justin Hoffman, junior in advertising, said he called to have service re-established after he moved. However, he was told that a technician would not be able to get him connected until Oct. 1.

“This is unbelievable that it will take just over a month to get someone from U S West to come out to my house and most likely just flick a switch,” Hoffman said.

However, when Hoffman was able to provide U S West with the old number and name of the person who used to pay for the service, he was informed that he would have his line activated on Sept. 1.

According to a press release from U S West, automated installation that does not require a field visit is occurring at a rate approaching pre-strike levels. However, the press release further states that “delays are being experienced largely where the dispatch of technicians is required.”

For many ISU students, the importance of telephone service is compounded by the need for access to the Internet.

Nick Healey, sophomore in computer science, said he does not think that U S West is helping him get the service he needs to do well in his courses.

“I read somewhere that Iowa State is the eighth most-connected university in the nation,” Healey said. “Right now I am not connected, because I cannot get telephone service from U S West.

“I am a computer science major, and because of that the majority of the information I need for my courses is on the Internet,” he said.

Without phone service, Healey said he has to walk 20 minutes to a campus computer lab to access the Internet.

“The problem is that you have to compete with 25,000 other students for computers,” Healey said. “It is simply more time efficient, for me, to have a computer at home.”

Talks between U S West and the CWA have been slow and labored, with both sides claiming that the other side is slowing down the process.

“U S West is totally out of step with the mainstream of the telecommunications industry,” CWA President Morton Bahr said in a press release.

Bahr further stated that other major issues in the contract negotiations center around forced overtime and performance pay. He said U S West wants workers to accept inferior health plans for their families, or else pay thousands of dollars a year to remain in their existing managed care networks.

The majority of on-campus students are unaffected by the strike, unless they need to call friends and family in one of the 14 states affected by the strike.