Students for Accountability and Reform (STAR) released a 25-page report last Tuesday that addressed problems and proposed solutions within the Office of Judicial Affairs, the disciplinary branch of Penn State University.

The report raised key questions regarding students' attorney rights, fifth amendment rights, the legal background of members of the Office of Judicial Affairs and the manner in which university hearings are conducted.

Martin Austermuhle (senior-international politics), a writer of the report and co-founder of STAR, said the aim of the investigation was to open up the lines of communication between concerned students and the university.

"I want to sit down with the administrators who deal with the Code of Conduct, discuss the issues, address the problems and find solutions," he said.

Vice President of Student Affairs Bill Asbury said he was willing to do just that.

"I plan to look at what the issues are and identify ways to improve them," he said, adding that the current system has held up against past challenges as a due process of law.

Plans to compile the report began shortly after the Undergraduate Student Government announced the cancellation of a similar project last November. A new commission has been set up by USG to review Judicial Affairs, but Austermuhle said STAR members decided to take matters into their own hands.

"They claim they're still working on it, but I've seen no progress," he said of the USG report, adding that he hopes to have the new STAR report endorsed by USG.

Asbury said he did not have a chance to review the entire report, but from what he read, it appeared to be a report of observations and opinions.

"It seems to focus on a small number of students," he said.

Austermuhle, an author of the report, was charged by the Office of Judicial Affairs last year for his involvement in the riot that broke out last July in Beaver Canyon.

Justin Leto (senior-computer engineering), another author of the report, participated in hanging a banner displaying a political message from the Osmond Building in July during a protest of the National Governor's Association annual meeting.

Investigation for the report included the testimonies of students involved in the riot, the Osmond 5 and death penalty protesters, Austermuhle said.

"It would have been a completely different report if we hadn't gone through the process ourselves," Leto said.

The third author of the report, Katelyn Belyus (sophomore-liberal arts), said the proceedings of the Office of Judicial Affairs should concern all students, even those who, like herself, had not been through the process because they are all liable under the Code of Conduct.

"We want to have a dialogue between students and STAR, and STAR and the administration," she said.

That dialogue might not produce the desired outcome, though. "We have what is nationally recognized as one of the best judicial affairs programs in the country," Penn State spokesman Steve MacCarthy said.

The full STAR investigation of the Office of Judicial Affairs can be viewed on the World Wide Web at www.personal.psu.edu/users/m/a/maa163/ja.html.