Members of Liberal Caucus Will Fight For Floor Vote On Withdrawal Resolution

Nearly 60 members of the Faculty's liberal caucus voted yesterday to bring a resolution calling for withdrawal from Vietnam to the floor of the Faculty meeting Tuesday.

Mark Ptashne, lecturer in Biochemistry and sponsor of the resolution, said, "The liberal caucus overwhelmingly feels it is our right to take the strongest stand on the war possible."

George Wald. Higgins Professor of Biology and member of the liberal caucus, said, "Many members of the Faculty who are against the war don't like to see the Faculty voting as a Faculty on political issues. However, this is a rare and special political issue which affects the conduct of the University."

Wald added that the most important issue now is whether the resolution would be voted on at the meeting or at an unofficial convocation. "I would like the Faculty to face this issue squarely," he said. "I want the Faculty to say as a Faculty that we can't operate as a University with this war-it does violence to all we stand for."

Wald said he was withdrawing his motion asking the Faculty to petition for repeal of the draft: "The motions on the war are of overriding importance; the draft issue will come up later."

New Faculty Committee

Other Faculty members will push to keep the resolution from coming to a vote at the meeting. Robert Dorfman, professor of Economics, has formed a Committee for the Expression of Faculty Opinion, which will call a convocation after the meeting to discuss the resolution unofficially.

(The committee's statement is reprinted to the right in today's CBIMSOM.)

This new committee will serve as "a vehicle for the formulation and expression of opinions by members of the Faculty." acording to the statement released yesterday. The statement said. "Expression of positions on matters of public interest is not an appropriate function for the Faculty meetings."

Blocking the Vote

Dorfman said. "I think the issue will not come to a vote at the meeting, but if it does we're acting on the presumption that it will not pass. " He said that the vote can be blocked either by a motion to table the resolution or by adjournment of the meeting.

If the resolution comes to a vote Dorfman will probably oppose it. "I can conceive of rewordings I could agree to." he said. "but I can't support it as it stands."