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Computer Pranksters Let Off By Ad Board

Sentence Cut to Disciplinary Probation

Gicewicz said he told the Ad Board in a35-minute interview that he recognized the needfor punishment, but that he did not foresee the"big mess" the prank would cause.

Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57, whochairs the Ad Board, said that cases areoverturned "reasonably frequently." He said thattwo cases involving two students have beenoverturned this year.

Jewett said that students choose to appear intheir appeals in over half of the cases. He saidpersonal appearances do not always help theimplicated students. Jewett refused comment onyesterday's case.

The seven expressed mixed feelings about the AdBoard.

"[The verdict] shows the Ad Board isn't totallydesensitized to students." Mitchell said.

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The four other freshmen receiving probationuntil next year are H. Glen Abel, Paul T. Nakada,Eddy J. Rogers III, and Kevin W. Ryter.

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Computer officials last week gave conflictingreports of the extent of the prank's damage. CoreCurriculum Director Edward T. Wilcox, who is alsovice chairman of the Ad Board, said last week thatthe pranksters "crashed the system"--making thecomputer stop functioning for several minutes--andthat withdrawal for one year was not excessive.

But said Mitchell: "[Wilcox] was totallyoff-base. No one crashed the system."

Students last week expressed outrage at theseverity of the Ad Board's initial punishment.

Residents of Weld North sent a letter to Jewettprotesting the punishment. Freshmen alsocirculated a petition asking the Ad Board toreconsider the case and to give an explantion forthe punishment, calling it "unduly extreme anddrastic."

"I had a roommate who committed a felony in thestate of Massachusetts and received a one-yearwithdrawal," said Thomas F. McConnell '89 ofGreenough Hall. "To put a computer prank, andbeyond that, the protecting of friends, on thesame level, to me, is a shame and a travesty.

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