Dartmouth Disciplines Former Editor

HANOVER, N.H.--A Dartmouth University committee recently found a former editor-in-chief of The Dartmouth Review guilty of misappropriation of college property, stemming from an incident in January in which the student allegedly stole a news release from the college office of information services.

The college committee on standing and conduct, in a nine-hour hearing, placed Gregory A. Fossedal on college discipline for the remainder of his senior year, but did not find him guilty of violating the school's honor code.

The incident that led to the charges arose when Fossedal photocopied a news release hanging on a hook marked "cleared for release" in the information services office, and rewrote the story for The Union Leader. The release dealt with a discovery in cancer research.

The information office wanted to hold the new release until the discovery was published in a medical journal, but Robert Graham, director of information services, said the story was hanging a hook marked "cleared for release" rather than the hook marked "hold."

Graham sent a letter to Russel Stearns, an associate in the dean of students office, advising him that Fossedal had committed "a serious violation of privacy," in publishing the story.

On February 3. Stearns officially informed Fossedal that he had been charged with violating the college honor principle and the college regulation regarding misappropriation. The committee dismissed the first charge for lack of evidence.

Before the testimony, Fossedal's lawyer challenged the impartiality of the six members of the committee because of alleged prejudices against the defendent. Fossedal has decided to appeal his conviction of misappropriation to Ralph Manuel, dean of the college.

Graham said he was unsure if Fossedal was aware that the release he took was not yet public, but added that the fact that it was marked as a draft and that Fossedal failed to ask for permission to publish the story, makes him punishable.

Fossedal said he knew the release was a draft but assumed that releases posted on walls marked "ready for release" were public. When asked why he did not ask about the procedures for releases, Fossedal said "I wouldn't ask if I went into the dining hall if I could take a fork." After the decision, Fossedal said "There was no way I got a fair trial," adding that "some of those people were blatantly unqualified to judge me."

Fossedal's lawyer said "Everything in the trial smacked of unfairness," adding that "it's extremely disappointing that an academic institution of Dartmouth's reputation doesn't have a first-class judicial system."