The University has suspended one student for at least one year and is pursuing disciplinary charges against three others as a result of last November's protest of CIA on-campus recruitment.

Undergraduate Student Government Executive Assistant Travis Parchman, Tim Fasnacht (junior-labor studies), Paul Sample (senior-business) and Jessica Stern (freshman-liberal arts) received letters at the end of the Fall Semester notifying them of conduct code violations, said Donald T. Suit, director of conduct standards.

The letters also stated that the University Hearing Board would conduct a hearing sometime in the future. If the students did not respond within 10 days, they would have received automatic disciplinary dismissal, Suit said.

Suit said he could not discuss the specific charges at this time because of confidentiality.

"Any information other than the charges that have been sent must come from the individuals involved," he said.

Sample said he failed to respond to the notice within the proper amount of time resulting in his dismissal. The other three students responded before the 10-day deadline.

"I forgot about responding. It slipped my mind," he said, adding that he was not planning to return to the University this semester.

About 22 students protested CIA recruitment in McAllister Building last November, confronting students scheduled to interview with the agency. University Police Services officers were stationed at the building and videotaped parts of the protest.

David Stormer, director of University Safety, said his office made referrals to the Office of Conduct Standards regarding the activities of the students. The referrals were based on observations by University officers at the protest, he said.

Stern said that Parchman and herself received University Hearing Board notices yesterday morning. The hearing is scheduled for Jan. 31 at 1:30 p.m. in 135 Boucke Building. Parchman said he and Stern will hold a news conference at noon tomorrow in the lobby of Old Main. He refused to comment on the matter until the news conference.

"It wouldn't be legally prudent and I don't want to compromise the position of the other defendants," he said.

While she said she realizes some of conduct at the protest was unorthodox, Stern described her actions as non-violent and civilly disobedient.

"They're really grasping for straws. A lot of the charges I can prove didn't happen," she said.

Details in the report claim Stern was "obstructing the stairwell of (McAllister) building," and that she "rushed at Officer Hazel, breaking thru the police line, and pushed Officer Hazel backwards several feet towards the stairwell."

"Officer Hazel is a big cop, I didn't even touch him. And there was no way I was obstructing the passageway; it would have been quite easy to step over me," Stern said.

Stern said the reasons she participated in the protest are more important than any actions the University might enforce in the near future. Even though she believes the University might suspend her, she described her mood about the situation as positive.

"It was my desire to educate students about the CIA. They weren't being told the whole story," she said, "I know I did the right thing. I have nothing to be scared of because the University can't take anything away that I really care about."

According to the University's Policies and Rules for Students handbook, "disciplinary dismissal is the withdrawal of a student's privilege of registration, class attendance, residence on the campus and the use of University facilities with no promise that the student may return at any future time.

"A student on disciplinary dismissal may be readmitted by the action of the vice president for student services or by the chief administrative officer at other campus locations. A student who has been dismissed is not eligible for readmission less than one year from the date of dismissal," the policy states.

Phil Leslie, a public information spokesman, said there is no official comment from the administration regarding the action.

"If the Office of Conduct Standards has sent out letters, then that's what they've chose to do," he added.