STUDENT TO DROP CASE OVER UVM ROOM SEARCH

A University of Vermont sophomore who filed a lawsuit last week
alleging UVM subjected him to disciplinary proceedings based on an
illegal room search has agreed to drop the case pending the signing
of an out-of-court agreement.

Ian Collins, 19, of Mount Washington, Mass., was suspended and
ordered off campus and was subject to university disciplinary
proceedings after an Aug. 26 incident in which campus dormitory
staff, accompanied by UVM police acting on a statement from Collins'
roommate, searched Collins' dorm room and found marijuana and
paraphernalia used to smoke marijuana.

Collins last week won a court order preventing UVM from taking
disciplinary action against him until a judge could hear the lawsuit
against the university. Tuesday's scheduled hearing on the case
before Superior Court Judge Geoffrey Crawford was canceled because of
the pending agreement.

David Sleigh, Collins' attorney, declined Tuesday to elaborate on the
agreement until it can be completed by the end of the month.

"Until all the T's are crossed and I's dotted, it would be premature
to say anything," Sleigh said, "but we've worked out an arrangement
where our concerns have been satisfied, and we'll be dismissing the
case."

Sleigh said Collins has returned to UVM and is living off campus. A
phone message left Tuesday for Collins was not immediately returned.

University spokesman Enrique Corredera also declined to discuss
details of the agreement, including whether Collins was still subject
to campus disciplinary action, but said it involves no monetary
settlement on either part and does not impede UVM from enforcing its
policies "to ensure the health and safety of its students."

According to a UVM police report filed by officer Brandon King,
Collins' roommate reported that he was feeling sick after smoking
marijuana with Collins in his dorm room in Jeanne Mance Hall. He also
said Collins supplied the marijuana. The roommate was taken to
Fletcher Allen Health Care for evaluation, the report stated. King
then questioned Collins, who admitted to smoking marijuana, but not
inside the dorm.

After being told by Collins that he didn't want his room searched,
King described the situation to the dormitory's residential adviser,
who invoked a new policy under which residential-life staff are
authorized to enter bedrooms in the event of a perceived threat to
health and safety. The incident marked the first time the policy was
invoked since its establishment last year, UVM officials said.

In his report, King said he and UVM staff entered Collins' room and
discovered 27 grams of marijuana stems, two bongs and other drug
paraphernalia.

In court papers he filed against UVM, Collins claimed he shouldn't be
subjected to a disciplinary hearing based on evidence he argued was
illegally obtained through the search of his room by police who did
not obtain a warrant before they entered the room. Because Collins
has dropped his lawsuit, however, the unresolved case still leaves
open the legality of campus room searches in which police are involved.

UVM Police Chief Gary Margolis said the Aug. 26 incident was an
administrative matter based on the guidelines of the new policy, not
a police matter. Margolis said King had the discretion to determine
whether the incident called for a criminal search of the room, but
King instead deemed it a health and safety issue.

"We could have gotten a warrant, but the officer was making his
decision based on the fact that a person was having a bad reaction,
and I support him on that," Margolis said. University officials
Tuesday backed the "search for cause" policy, but said it will be
reviewed.

"This case raised legitimate questions about student rights, and
although we continue to believe we acted appropriately, we will
review our protocols and proceed to make sure the rights of students
are protected while at the same time they give us the ability to
enforce our policies," Corredera said.