ACSR Opposes Xerox S. Africa Sales, Will Meet With Corporation Monday

In its final formal meeting of the year, the Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibility (ACSR) last night voted to recommend that the Croporation send a letter to the Xerox Corporation urging the company to halt its South African subsidiary's sales to the military and police.

In considering a church-sponsored shareholder resolution at Xerox. ACSR members unanimously voted against Xerox's sales to the South African military and police. But the committee voted separately on a more far reaching clause of the resolution that indirectly calls for the eventual, complete withdrawal of Xerox from South Africa. Lawrence F. Stevens '65, secretary to the ACSR and assistant general counsel to the University, said last night.

All in Favor

Six voted for and five voted to abstain on the second part of the proposal, Stevens said, adding that if the Corporation drafts the letter according to the ACSR's recommendation the document would explain the inconclusive, two-part vote.

Although the Corporation must arrive at a consensus and submit only one vote on the resolution, the letter proposed by the ACSR would convey the committee's unanimous opposition to Xerox's sales to the South African military and police and their divided opinions on long-term and complete withdrawal from the South African market.

The ACSR would also like to send a similar letter to the authors of the resolution, with suggestions for revisions in the "complicated, difficult-to-handle" two-part wording of the proposal, Stevens said.

Mali

The ACSR also voted to urge the Corporation to send a letter to the Hewlett-Packard Company's board of directors, explaining the Corporation's February abstention on a proposal that would have suspended the company's "non-humanitarian" sales of computers to the South African government.

The ACSR recommended the abstention because it did not have time to call a meeting to discuss the proposal, which was identical to one it approved two weeks ago at IBM.

Taking a Stand?

Stevens said that the ACSR will meet Monday with members of the Corporation for an informal discussion of the issues and specific shareholder resolutions on which the two groups have voted differently this year. Since September, the Corporation has not voted in accordance with ACSR recommendations on several major shareholder resolutions.

Monday's meeting will address the broad categories of disagreement between the ACSR and the Corporation this year, Stevens said.