Officials at the Office of the Registrar recently discovered they have misplaced at least 15 study cards, but were too late to prevent senior tutors from sending out delinquency notices to those students whose cards had been lost, Marion C. Belliveau, registrar of the Faculty, said yesterday.

"We don't know what happened," Belliveau said, adding, "15-20 study cards were lost in transit from Memorial Hall to here [the registrar's office] and we're just not able to locate them."

The Administrative Board voted on Tuesday not to take disciplinary action against those students wrongly accused of not filing their cards, Harry Orf, senior tutor of Mather House, said yesterday. The students will have to file new cards but the Administrative Board will not make them obtain professors' signatures as the General Academic Rules require, Belliveau said.

"If a card can't be found, it's the responsibility of the administration-not the student. We'll do the leg work," Martial R. Pihl'55, senior tutor of Quincy House, said yesterday.

The delinquency notice, which threatened disciplinary action including dismissal, upset several students who were mistakenly accused of not turning in their cards.

"I was totally outraged because of course I filed my study card," Diane H. Cohen '78 said yesterday.

Edward R. Redlich '80 echoed Cohen's feelings. "I was extremely annoyed by the registrar's carelessness and by the intimidating language of the letter," Redlich said yesterday.

The Administrative Board determines the format of the notice which is sent out to all delinquent students.

Mem Hall Mystery

The registrar's office is still searching for the missing cards. "There are loads of places to look. We've scoured Mem Hall," Belliveau said.

This is the first time in at least 25 years that the registrar's office has mislaid such a large group of study cards, she added.

Although the disappearing study cards have inconvenienced both students and administrators, everyone involved seems to be responding good-naturedly. As David Zax '79, one of the students whose study cards were lost, said yesterday, "it's Harvard, what can one do?"