PREPARING FOR FACULTY DEBATE Faculty Will Vote Tuesday On Resolution Demanding Vietnam Troop Withdrawal

At Tuesday's special meeting, the Faculty will have an opportunity to call for an immediate troop withdrawal from Vietnam.

Mark Ptashne, lecturer in Biochemistry, will present the resolution, which was signed by 11 of the 12 members of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, including Nobel Prize-winners Konrad E, Bloch, Higgins Professor of Biochemistry, and James D. Watson, professor of biology.

Department members have mailed a letter to all Faculty members presenting the resolution and asking their support.

Paul M. Doty, Mallinckrodt Professor of Biochemistry and chairman of the department, was the only department member who did not sign the letter.

Doty said he felt the resolution was imprecise. "I'm tired of signing things that only approximate what I believe," he said. "I support a prompt and orderly troop withdrawal, but immediate withdrawal is impractical." However, Doty said he would oppose the resolution only if he felt a more precise wording would get more votes.

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The resolution is an exact copy of the one passed by the Columbia University Faculty Senate on Sept. 26, "People there wanted an opportunity to protest the war and they came up with this statement. I hope we can follow Columbia's lead," Ptashne said.

Ptashne had circulated the resolution informally among department members last weekend and had received, he said, their enthusiastic support. He obtained the signatures before last Tuesday's Faculty meeting and had the resolution placed on the Oct. 7 agenda.

"There are people of varying ages and political opinions in the department, but we felt we could agree on this resolution," Ptashne said. "This issue cuts across political lines."

Ptashne is optimistic about the success of the resolution. "It wouldn't be on the agenda if we hadn't gotten more support than I had planned on," he said. He hopes other departments will an-nounce their support before Tuesday.

"Although we don't necessarily think that the Faculty should take a stand on all political issues, we feel this one is of special importance," Ptashne said. "The situation with the war is so serious that to say nothing is to take a stand."

Ptashne hopes that the resolution will pass as it is worded in the letter. "It took the Columbia Faculty Senate six or seven hours of debate to write the statement, and I feel that it is one which people with slightly differing views can agree on," he said.

The resolution reads:

Resolved, this Faculty expresses its opposition to the war in Vietnam. While as individuals we differ in detail, this body agrees that the most reasonable plan for peace is the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops. We join in a united and continuous national effort to bring our troops home.

Other signers include Howard C. Berg, assistant professor of Biology: John T. Edsall 23, professor of Biological Chemistry: Walter Gilbert 53, professor of Biophysics: Guido Guidotti, associate professor of Biology: Gustav Leinhard: Matthew S. Meselson, professor of Biology: Jack L. Strominger 44, professor of Biochemistry: Klans K. Weber, assistant professor of Biology.