Lawyers Discuss Files Statute With GSAS Union Members

The Harvard Radical Union met with attorneys last night to discuss the possibility of initiating legal action if the University fails to comply with the law giving students access to their files.

Allan P. Caplan, Lee D. Goldstein and Edward J. Christiansen Jr., members of the Project Place legal commune, discussed possible legal actions the union may initiate if the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences administration destroys students' files.

The administration of the GSAS has announced that student file documents, solicited under the promise of confidentiality, will be destroyed if their authors so desire or if they cannot be reached.

The Union has not retained the lawyers and has not yet decided whether to pursue the issue in court.

"The political implications of Harvard destroying our files could be handled without a suit," Samuel K. Cohn, a second-year graduate student and union member, explained last night. "We just want to know our legal options."

Interpretations

The lawyers declined to comment extensively on the legal aspects of their discussion with the thirty union members. One lawyer said, however, that the student file law could be interpreted in many ways and that he did not agree with the way the administration "has chosen to handle it."

A union member said that the union was looking for financial support for a possible court action and that they had "explored many sources."