Columbia Siege Continues After Amnesty Denied

The senior faculty of Columbia University voted 466-40 against a general amnesty for student demonstrators yesterday and called for the protestors to turn over the five campus buildings they have held since Tuesday.

But the students, now estimated by the school to number between 500 and 600, refuse to budge until their demand for no punishment is met.

Meanwhile, conservative students, members of the Majority Coalition, moved to "starve out" demonstrators in Low Library by encircling the building to prevent food from being brought inside. An agreement made with the faculty Friday stipulated that food was permitted.

One student bearing food broke through the conservatives after a scuffle, but was reportedly stopped by faculty members, who also ring the building which houses President Grayson Kirk's offices.

Columbia's board of trustees met Saturday and also rejected the demand for amnesty but placed all decisions on the matter in the hands of Kirk.

There is widespread speculation at Columbia that New York City police will soon be called in to clear the demonstrators out of the buildings. The students, however, are securely barricaded in their classroom-fortresses. All entrances have been locked and blocked off with furniture and filing cabinets.

As early as Friday, faculty and administration members expressed the fear that police would have to do a great deal of damage in order to get the demonstrators out of the buildings. Immanuel Wallerstein, a professor of sociology, said that if police were called onto the campus, the University would be "burned down."

Another fear is that members of the neighboring Harlem community, generally sympathetic with the demonstrators, will pour onto the campus if police use force against the students. The two main entrances to the campus do not have gates, but large numbers of police have been on guard since Friday. The entire campus remains sealed off by police, with only Columbia and Barnard students allowed to enter.