Graduate Students Plan Follow-Up On Issues of Research Stoppage

Graduate students in Harvard's Division of Engineering and Applied Physics are planning to follow up on the discussions of science and society which were a part of yesterday's research stoppage at M.I.T.

Don't Detract

"We do not wish to detract from anything that happens at M.I.T.," said Larry Beeferman, a fourth-year graduate student in the division. "We are concerned with organizing activities within the university and outside it to put some meat on the skeleton proposed by SACC [Science Action Coordinating Committee]."

The graduate students will consider several proposals on the relation of science and society, including the establishment of an accredited course on the subject, at a meeting to be held Thursday night.

Physicists Speak

At the meeting, two physics professors from M.I.T.--Phillip Morrison and Brian Schwartz--will speak on public science policy and the relationship of older scientists to younger ones.

During yesterday's research stoppage protesting current government research policy, Harvard professors participated in symposia at M.I.T. and Rindge Tech.

In his discussion on chemical and biological warfare, Matthew S. Meselson, professor of Biology, said that "the overriding purpose of U.S. chemical and biological weapons policy should be to prevent their legitimation and use in war ...The 1925 Geneva Protocol should be resubmitted to the U.S. Senate...and we should re-examine our $300 million-a-year investment in CBW research."

Military Appalled

Earlier, Thomas C. Schelling, professor of Economics, commented on the same topic. Despite what he saw as a breakdown in the military's public relations, "there is probably no one in this country who is more appalled by the use of toxic chemicals than the military," Schelling said.

Students and faculty at over 30 universities across the country participated in similar symposia and research stoppages. At the University of Pennsylvania, 18,000 students were affected when all undergraduate classes were cancelled for the discussions.