Operators with the campus directory assistance line are being overwhelmed with phone calls due to the tardiness of the 1996-97 student directories.

No one is sure when the directories will arrive. They were supposed to be available the first week in October, then the first week in November … and now? They haven’t been shipped yet.

Iowa State has its student directories printed in Conshokocken, Pa., by College Directory Publishing. The directories came to Ames on time, but they were sent back to Conshokocken because the quality was “unacceptable.”

John Kingland, director of telecommunications, said the publisher agreed to reprint the directories at no cost. The unworthy campus directories were shipped back to College Directory Publishing.

Now, with less than six weeks left in the semester, students, faculty and staff are still waiting to reach out and touch someone. Last year’s directories are all but worthless because many students have moved and new students aren’t included.

“We’re just waiting. We’re working very hard with the publisher to get them here as soon as possible,” Kingland said.

As of Monday, Kingland said the directories had not been shipped.

Sheiree Mitchell, a junior in agricultural business and campus information employee, has been trying to keep up with the requests for phone numbers.

“We have been getting a lot of calls since the directories have not been distributed,” she said. “We have to get more help because the calls are so overwhelming.”

Because students do not have updated directories, Mitchell said campus information has had to put two people on every shift to answer the calls. Normally only one person mans the line this time of year.

“There is no break here,” she said. “The only advantage is that we’re getting more hours, but this is supposed to be work study. But it is called work.”

Tension is mounting.

Amy Miller, a student employee at the Wallace Wilson Towers Residence Hall post office, said people stop in and ask when the books will be coming out everyday, and they’re asking more and more frequently.

“I just wish they’d come out,” Miller said.