Book Vandals Hit Law School Library

Books relating to the Ames Competition, a required, non-graded program for first-year law students, have recently been vandalized, Robert C. Berring, associate librarian of Langdell Library, said yesterday.

Several volumes have had important pages cut out, while other books have been hidden or held for an extended period of time. "The problem has not hit epidemic proportions, but it's bad enough," Berring said, adding that there have been five incidents in less than two weeks.

The library staff placed a notice in the Law School's weekly newsletter appealing to all students to "cooperate" in putting a stop to the trend. "We've seen this kind of thing before, but we want to head it off before it becomes a big problem," Berring said.

The Ames Competition culminates in an oral presentation of an original brief before a three-person panel.

Many Law School students said they believe the outbreaks of vandalism surrounding a non-competitive event like the Ames Competition reaffirms the reputation of the Law School.

"Harvard Law School students are competitive and compulsive, like Harvard undergraduates, but twice as much so," James V. Feinerman, a third-year law student and member of the Board of Student Adviser, said yesterday.

Lance M. Liebman, professor of Law, said yesterday, however, he does not believe the vandalism indicates that this year's law students are excessively competitive.

David Clarke '78, a first-year student, attributed the vandalism to the nature of the competition itself. "It comes closer than anything we've done to what we're going to do in the real world, and I guess that really excited some people," Clarke said yesterday. "The competition also gives you a chance to know that you're doing well," he added.

As soon as the library staff noticed the problem, they contacted the Board of Student Advisers, who in turn contacted the Disciplinary Committee, Patricia L. Wells, as member of the advisory board for the committee, said yesterday. "We didn't vote on the matter, but we decided that if someone was caught, it would be a matter for the board," she added.

Wells said that this kind of vandalism would probably not result in dismissal, but the student might lost credit for the Ames Competition.

The vandalism is probably the work of some "jokers" who see it as a kind of prank, Liebman said, adding, "The whole affair is more 'Animal House' than 'Paper Chase.'