PSA to redo directories

Univerity student directories will be reprinted next month so that they will contain names, addresses and telephone numbers for all University students, members of Penn Student Agencies said yesterday. The original printing of the directories was halted Monday before the job was "anywhere near done" after PSA officials realized that the copies were missing the addresses and telephone numbers of undergraduates living in University residences, said Morris Massel, publications manager of the PSA directory staff. He said that new, corrected versions of the directory will be distributed to students before Fall Break. "The problem has been taken care of," said Massel, a College junior. "I have been authorized to reprint." The Office of University Life, which oversees PSA, realizes that the "error was caused by trying to be efficient," said Larry Moneta, associate vice provost for University life. "Whatever it takes to reprint, we will support it," Moneta said. According to the University Registrar's Office, which supplied PSA with an incomplete list of students' addresses and numbers earlier this month, there was a problem with the timing of the print-out. The computer program list had a confirmation date -- when students' on-campus addresses and telephone numbers would be verified -- of September 1 for graduate students' information and September 5 for undergraduates' information, said Ron Sanders, University registrar. In an effort to be efficient, without realizing the variable confirmation dates, the Registrar's Office ran the program on September 3, before undergraduates' information was validated. This is why addresses and telephone numbers of undergraduates were not included in the directory, Sanders said. "[It's a] timing issue," Sanders said yesterday. "Had we waited two more days, we would have been fine." Sanders said that both his staff and the PSA staff spot-checked the computer print-out before it was sent to the printer but that no one realized the error. Massel said PSA members looked up students living off-campus and found no problems because off-campus residences were listed. "It is partially my fault," Massel said. "I apologize to the University community but as soon as the problem was found, we've worked straight to make sure the problem was taken care of."