Dartmouth May Punish Student Writer

The Dartmouth College disciplinary board plans to review the case of a student who taped a Dartmouth Gay Students' Association (GSA) "rap session" on a concealed cassette recorder and published excerpts in a campus publication last spring.

Theresa A. Polenz, a Dartmouth undergraduate and a reporter for the Dartmouth Review, secretly recorded the conversation while posing as a student unsure of her sexual preference.

The State Supreme Court considered the issue in May, but ruled federal laws defending privacy did not apply, according to Stephen A. Carter, president of the GSA. The state attorney general then issued subpoenas on new charges, but decided last Thursday not to prosecute.

The Committee on Standards, the disciplinary organ of the college, had a hearing scheduled on the case, according to Kery Clark, the university's counsel, but when the attorney general issued the subpoenas, the hearing was postponed in keeping with a school policy deferring to the legal system.

The committee will convene within a week to decide what action, if any, should be taken in the case, Clark said.

Members of the GSA allege that Polenz, by recording the meeting after an "oath of confidentially" had been read, was in violation of the "Principle of Community," a college rule stating "a student is expected to be sensitive and respect the rights and interests of others and to be personally honest."

Douglas Fulton, editor of the Dartmouth Review, said that Polenz attended the meeting to find out how the GSA spends its $475 annual grant from the school and that she used the tape recorder so she would not disturb the students.

Fulton said he saw no problem with having a reporter at the meeting because it was publicly advertised. He added, "The Review is not out to persecute homosexuals in the least."

Polenz was unavailiable for comment.

Carter said the GSA is "disappointed with the decision of the state," and that it looks for action on the part of the college.

Both he and David C. Garling, who was quoted in the disputed article, said they were considering further legal action, possibly including a civil suit. However, they said they planned not to take any legal action until the committee makes its decision.

All members of the committee contacted refused to comment on the case.