Seniors Punishments Reduced

The Administrative Board Tuesday reduced the penalties it imposed on two Quincy House seniors last month who were rude to their senior tutor and questioned her authority.

The College's chief disciplinary body voted two weeks ago to place William S. Pierce '88 on probation for one year for talking back to Quincy House Senior Tutor Mary McGee last month after she asked him to turn off the music at a party in his room.

In the same session, the board also voted to place Pierce's roommate Alexander Shustorovich '88 on probation for a semester for getting into a shouting match with a policeman whom McGee sent to their room on the same night.

The two students asked the Ad Board to reconsider their cases so that they could appear before the body personally and explain their actions fully, sources close to the two said.

The board granted their request and, after reviewing the case on Tuesday, voted to reduce Pierce's term of probation to the rest of the semester and to admonish Shustorovich without further punishment.

Shustorovich and Pierce yesterday confirmed the facts of their cases but refused to comment further.

McGee acted as the students' advocate at the first hearing of the case, as the senior tutor of the two students. But the students asked to be assigned different advocates for the rehearing, because McGee was involved in the incident.

Under a rule change instituted last year, students who do not want their senior tutor to represent them are assigned one of three Ad Board members instead: Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III, Assistant Dean of theCollege Georgene B. Herschbach or Dean of FreshmenHenry C. Moses.

Moses represented Pierce, and Herschbach servedas Shustorovich's advocate.

"The case was viciously mishandled at thebeginning," said a student close to the case whospoke on the condition of anonymity. At the secondhearing Shustorovich's case "was presented muchbetter," the student said. "Herschbach reallyimpressed the Ad Board."

Herschbach would not comment on the case. andneither Moses nor McGee could be reached forcomment.

In addition to appearing personally and havingdifferent advocates, both students gave the AdBoard more thorough statements about the case, thesources said. While the two students had turned ina joint one-page statement for their firsthearing, Shustorovich's second statement was 10pages long and Pierce's second statement was fourpages.

Edward Rak, a Quincy House tutor who was in theroom during Shustorovich's argument with thepoliceman, also gave the Ad Board a statementabout the case for last Tuesday's hearing. Hecould not be reached for comment.

Dudley House Senior Tutor John R. Marquand, whoserves as secretary of the Ad Board, said the bodychanges its decisions in about one-third of allreconsiderations. But only one-third of allstudents who are eligible to do so ask forreconsiderations, he said.

"We reconsider cases several times a year,"said Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57, whochairs the discipline body. He would not commenton the specific cases.

"We are somewhat more likely to change theduration of a term of probation," Marquand said."We are less likely to [change a decision]requiring a student to withdraw because we makethat decision with such care."

The cases of Shustorovich and Pierce stem froma party the pair threw in their room on October 9.

On the night of the party, the studentscomplied with a first request to turn their musicdown, but when McGee asked the students to turnthe music off around 2 a.m., Pierce argued thatCollege rules allowed him to keep the music on ata low level. When the argument grew heated, McGeeconfiscated Pierce's bursar's card and left.

McGee then asked both Rak and a Harvardpoliceman to make the students turn their musicdown. Rak arrived first and then left to get acopy of the Quincy House handbook to check thenoise regulations.

While the tutor was out of the room, thepoliceman arrived and got into a shouting matchwith Shustorovich. Rak returned, and the policemanleft but took down both Shustorovich and Pierce'sbursar's card numbers before departing.

Both students sent letters of apology to McGeeand the policeman, but the Ad Board decided tohear both students' cases because the policemanfiled a five-page report on the incident