NAM Collects 1000 Signatures In Campaign for ROTC Vote

About 1000 students yesterday signed petitions circulated by the New American Movement (NAM) calling for an undergraduate referendum on the return of ROTC.

The petition calls for a student vote on the basis that ROTC "is an issue which directly affects undergraduates."

President Bok, whose June 13 speech to alumni rekindled the issue at Harvard, said yesterday he could not speculate on the impact a referendum would have on the faculty, but said that his opinion "would not be formed on the basis of a referendum."

Bok said his position had not changed since his speech, in which he said "I do not believe...our conscience can be fully clear until we manifest our willingness to entertain an ROTC program" compatible with Harvard's standards.

A report on the status of ROTC at other Ivy League schools appears on page 3.

The petitions have been circulated in seven Houses, but spokesmen for NAM said they plan to distribute them to all the Houses by Monday night.

If the petitions are signed by a majority of undergraduates, NAM will solicit the aid of the Committee on Houses and Undergraduate Life (CHUL) to set up a referendum, Steven Carlip '75, a member of NAM, said yesterday.

NAM plans to hold the referendum within the next three weeks, Carlip said.

The most favorable reaction to the petitions came from Currier and South Houses, James Lampl '74, a NAM member, said yesterday. He added that the majority of students who did not sign the petitions said they had not yet thought about the issues.

But several NAM members who gathered signatures in Leverett and Adams Houses reported instances where students refused to sign the petitions because they favored the return of ROTC and they thought a referendum would oppose its reinstatement