In addition to buying books and straightening out schedules, many students living off campus have found themselves with one more expense and hassle — purchasing cellular phone plans and being without telephone service.

Because of a two-week strike by Verizon Communications employees, many off-campus students have not been able to get phone service in their apartments and houses.

Samantha Bunten (junior-advertising and public relations) bought a cell phone this week because a service representative at Verizon told her and her roommates they could be without phone service until December, she said.

The company will move through requests for new service as quickly as possible once the strike is resolved in the mid-Atlantic region, but a waiting period of up to three weeks or more is expected, said Harry Mitchell, a spokesman for Verizon.

Verizon, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Communications Workers of America in New York and New England reached a tentative agreement on new contracts late Sunday. Negotiations continue with the CWA in Pennsylvania and the other mid-Atlantic states served by Verizon.

Verizon is hopeful about resolving the strike with their 35,000 employees in the mid-Atlantic region, Mitchell said.

"We have a very good proposal on the table, that, among other things addresses overtime," he said. Mandatory overtime work was one of the strikers' grievances. Mitchell said, however, no new workers would be hired to eliminate the overtime.

New orders for service can be filed at the company's Web site (www.verizon.com), but customers are warned that service will be delayed because of the strike.

Borrowing a computer and using the Internet to file service requests could be an easier option for students such as Dan Johnstone (sophomore-liberal arts), who had difficulty reaching Verizon representatives.

While Johnstone was initially told he could have phone service as early as Aug. 16, his apartment still remained without phone service yesterday. Johnstone said he has no idea when to expect service.

"Every time I've called it's been busy or no one's answered; I haven't talked to anyone from (Verizon) in a week," he said. In the meantime, Johnstone has opted not to buy a cell phone.

"I considered it, but decided I can walk down to Uni-Mart and use the pay phone," he said. "The thing that is frustrating is no one can call me."

Mitchell described the problems preventing an agreement between Verizon and its mid-Atlantic employees as small.

"There are a couple of very minor and local issues that could have been resolved without prolonging the strike," Mitchell said.