Starr believes that all laws, no matter how minor, should be enforced, he says. "I'm not a neoconservative jerk," he adds, conceding that some laws may be unjust.

But it's a matter of magnitude, he says. "There have been certain cases in history where people have found it necessary to break certain laws for certain reasons--for example, Rosa Parks--and I just don't think Bart Simpson t-shirts or driving 65 miles an hour--unless there's a real emergency--is in the same category of importance."

Starr says he considers copyright infringement to be plagiarism. And so reporting the apparent Dunster and Dining Services violations seemed like the obvious thing to do.

"To him, it wasn't a big deal at the time," says Olkin. "If something in his view wasn't following the natural order of things, it was his job to straighten it out. It was just the way he acted. Everyone stands up for what he thinks is right."

Ultimately, Starr says, he intended his actions as a form of public service, however minor. He concedes readily that copyright infringement is not the dominant issue of the day. "I do have a sense of reality, here," he says.

But Starr says he was never able to get involved in the issues that he considers to be more pressing. "I just don't feel that I can make much of a difference at this time on the more important issues of drugs and crime," he says. "I felt I could have an effect in the issue of civil law."

The flip-side of Starr's advocacy of companies' rights under copyright laws is his campaign against false advertising and for consumer rights.

Mark E. Glickman, a teaching fellow in statistics who taught Starr in a number of courses, says that when M&M Mars reintroduced red M&M's, which had been previously linked to cancer, Starr was concerned.

"When M&M's finally decided that they were going to make red M&Ms, he sent a letter in to them saying 'the dye used in making red M&M's is harmful, you should reconsider,'" Glickman recalls. M&M Mars sent back a polite letter thanking Starr for his comments--and a coupon for a package of the new M&M's, complete with the red ones.

Olkin recalls another occassion, when Starr targeted Baskin Robbins, which had a stated policy of unlimited free samples.

"Andrew was in there trying to get his free samples, and they restricted him to two or three--he got irritated, and he wrote a letter to Baskin-Robbins complaining that he wasn't treated properly," says Olkin. The company sent back a certificate for a free cone.   (C)  (C)  (C)

Although Starr has scored some successes in the consumer realm, he continued to have difficulties in the academic and social ones.

He had a niche in the Statistics Department, says his academic adviser, Assistant Professor of Statistics Hal Stern, but still "wasn't certain that he belonged."

Next term, Starr may transfer to the University of Utah, where he can take a variable course load, he says. "It's nice and quiet out there, peaceful.

Stern thinks that Starr's reports of copyright infringements may relate to "his internal struggle to figure out what was going on."

And Starr says that he hopes to reorient himself to academics--but to leave some room for dabbling.

"When I go back to school, I'm going to try just to be involved in my studies," Starr says, "but if I see something and I have time, I probably will follow it up."