JUDGE: POT PENALTY TOO HARSH

A student who was caught with drugs in his dorm room last year won
his appeal against NYU last week after claiming the university's
punishment was too harsh.

But now NYU is appealing the ruling.

Michael Quercia, a math major from North Babylon, New York, was
sentenced to 500 hours of community service and kicked out of school
until 2007 or later by the University Judicial Board after Public
Safety officials found what was suspected to be marijuana in his
Lafayette Street residence hall suite.

Quercia's lawyer, Bernard Kleinman, filed an appeal in the Manhattan
Supreme Court last June. Last week Justice Walter Tolub ruled that
the sentence imposed by NYU was "too draconian," overturning the
Judicial Board ruling and bumping it down to 100 hours of community
service. The judgment also stated that Quercia shall be "permitted
to be reinstated as a student at NYU" and to enroll in classes after
completing the 100 hours.

"The university is particularly heavy-handed here," Kleinman said.
"They can't just arbitrarily and capriciously decide that they're
going to kick you out of school."

University spokesman John Beckman defended the Judicial Board's
ruling and process in an e-mail.

"The potential disciplinary sanctions for drug use, possession or
sale at NYU are clear, and they range up to and include expulsion,"
he said. "We have a disciplinary process that is fair, appropriate
for our institution and has been in place for many years; the
sanction this student received resulted from that process."

Quercia was arrested and charged with narcotics possession in May
2005 after a Public Safety officer found "a green leafy substance"
and various drug paraphernalia in his room, according to court
documents. The officer alerted the New York Police Department, which
then identified the substance as marijuana.

According to the ruling, the university sent Quercia a letter within
a day of the arrest informing him of his immediate suspension and
instructing him to initiate a hearing with the Judicial Board. But
Kleinman, Quercia's attorney, said he did not want his client to
face the university hearing before facing the charges in court,
because doing so would force him to waive his Fifth Amendment right
not to testify against himself.

Quercia appeared before a New York Criminal Court judge in January
and pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct -- a violation, but not a
criminal offense, Kleinman said. He was charged a $95 fine and
sentenced to 10 days of community service.

Quercia finally appeared before the Judicial Board in May for
violation of the university substance abuse guidelines, Kleinman
said. The university panel concluded the substance was marijuana and
ultimately handed down its decision for the 500 hours of
service and immediate suspension from the university.

Kleinman emphasized that his client never actually admitted to
having possession of the drug, calling NYU's conclusion "an
assumption that it was marijuana. There was never any forensic
evidence or testing done on it."

Beckman pointed out that there are limits to judicial review on
universities' academic and disciplinary decisions.

"While there are instances in which a judge can modify a
university's disciplinary decision, NYU does not think this case is
one of those instances," Beckman said. "We are definitely appealing
this decision."