RGA Vetoes Rules Change, 24-20; Students May Request Referendum

RGA yesterday defeated a motion to liberalize sophomore rules.

The roll call vote was 24-20; the four decisive votes were cast by members of the College administration who are entitled to vote on all issues.

Directly after the vote, several students announced plans to request a college-wide referendum on the proposal. It seems certain that the 25 signatures necessary for such a request can be obtained quickly.

One referendum supporter, Helen S. Garvy '64, who proposed the rules extension, said she thought a referendum would reverse the legislature vote. "This certainly doesn't reflect the general feeling in the college," she said yesterday.

Most, but not all of the sophomores on the legislature voted in favor of the proposal. The seniors seemed about evenly split. Junior representatives generally opposed the extension, as did the lone freshman.

The four administration members voting are President Bunting: Miss Mary H. Winslow, director of residence; Miss Ruth K. Porritt, Radcliffe librarian; and David H. Evett, RGA parliamentarian.

If the motion had passed, it would have extended the unlimited sign-out privileges enjoyed by juniors and seniors to sophomores. Proposed last spring, the motion was opposed by the RGA rules committee, which recommended last week that sophomore rules remain unchanged.

Blocking Tactic

The liberalization motion very nearly did not come to a vote today. A proposal to vote on the question obtained exactly the two-thirds majority needed for passage, and a similar proposal, introduced earlier in the meeting, was overruled by Lois M. Rieser '64, president of RGA.

The voting pattern reflected closely the discussion which preceded it. Opinion was about equally divided. The most frequent and vehement debaters were seniors, who supported the motion, and administration members, who opposed it.

Several administration officials objected to rules liberalization now because they said such action would simply add fuel to the fire currently raging in the national press over college morals, while denying a concern for public relations, Mrs. Margeret W. Stimpoon, acting director of admissions, declared. "There is a right time and a time not as good to take certain steps."