Ad Board Asks CLUH For Advice

The Civil Liberties Union of Harvard (CLUH) has been asked to edit a booklet detailing Administrative Board procedures before students receive the pamphlet, CLUH associate director Allan H. Erbsen '94 said yesterday.

College officials interviewed yesterday were, however, reluctant to call their request an "edit," saying they only wanted significant input from the student organization.

"Edit wouldn't be the word I'd use," said Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57, "but we wanted to have them look at the booklet to get some suggestions and criticism."

The office of the Dean of the College is preparing the booklet, which should be done by the end of this month. The Ad Board is the College's most important disciplinary body.

The booklet will include information on the history of the Ad Board, the body's jurisdiction, precise disciplinary procedures and a section on the little-used Judicial Board, an alternative disciplinary body composed of students and faculty.

Jewett, who chairs the Ad Board, said the report would also include a year, along with the assigned punishments.

Last April, CLUH issued a report proposing anoverhaul of the Ad Board's disciplinary process.At the time, Erbsen, the report's author, arguedthat the College's current system of meting outdiscipline denies students due process and failsto educate them of their rights.

Among its 18 recommendations, CLUH proposedthat accused students be permitted to appearbefore the Ad Board in all cases, and for Jewettto release more information about the disciplinaryprocess. The report also recommended that the AdBoard publish previous decisions without namingthe students involved.

Erbsen said he had written a revised version ofthe April report over the summer, but had not yetsubmitted it to the Ad Board.

In a recent conversation with Jewett, the deangave CLUH the option of editing the booklet,Erbsen said. He said he did not know what theexact nature of the editing would be, but that hewould have more details by the end of this week.

"[Jewett] said he'll release a report by theend of the month," Erbsen said. "Jewett saidchanges of procedure would be part of it."

Virginia MacKay-Smith, special assistant toJewett, told The Crimson last month that CLUH,along with several faculty members, would receivea copy of the booklet before it was issued tostudents. But MacKay-Smith, who is working on thepamphlet, made no mention of CLUH editing thedocument.

"We want to send it out to some of theinterested groups for comment," MacKay-Smith said."We don't want to go ahead printing 6500 copieswithout some kind of review."

MacKay-Smith, who was acting dean of freshmenlast year, said the booklet would supplementinformation on the Ad Board already contained inthe student handbook. She did not return a phonecall yesterday

Last April, CLUH issued a report proposing anoverhaul of the Ad Board's disciplinary process.At the time, Erbsen, the report's author, arguedthat the College's current system of meting outdiscipline denies students due process and failsto educate them of their rights.

Among its 18 recommendations, CLUH proposedthat accused students be permitted to appearbefore the Ad Board in all cases, and for Jewettto release more information about the disciplinaryprocess. The report also recommended that the AdBoard publish previous decisions without namingthe students involved.

Erbsen said he had written a revised version ofthe April report over the summer, but had not yetsubmitted it to the Ad Board.

In a recent conversation with Jewett, the deangave CLUH the option of editing the booklet,Erbsen said. He said he did not know what theexact nature of the editing would be, but that hewould have more details by the end of this week.

"[Jewett] said he'll release a report by theend of the month," Erbsen said. "Jewett saidchanges of procedure would be part of it."

Virginia MacKay-Smith, special assistant toJewett, told The Crimson last month that CLUH,along with several faculty members, would receivea copy of the booklet before it was issued tostudents. But MacKay-Smith, who is working on thepamphlet, made no mention of CLUH editing thedocument.

"We want to send it out to some of theinterested groups for comment," MacKay-Smith said."We don't want to go ahead printing 6500 copieswithout some kind of review."

MacKay-Smith, who was acting dean of freshmenlast year, said the booklet would supplementinformation on the Ad Board already contained inthe student handbook. She did not return a phonecall yesterday