On April 10, MIT Provost John M. Deutch sent a personal letter to Defense Secretary Richard Cheney, in which Deutch said many schools might end their ROTC programs if the discriminatory policy did not change. Last Wednesday, Harvard's Faculty Council voted to cut all ties with ROTC unless the military changed its policy in two years.

And yesterday, 47 percent of MIT students participating in a referendum said the school should cut ties with ROTC if its policies did not change within fouryears.

While Carney attributed the Navy's decision tothe recent activism, he said he was alarmed by the"irresponsible" efforts of some groups to haveuniversity ties to ROTC severed.

Last week, Carney sent Harvard President DerekC. Bok a letter urging him to use "persuasion"instead of threats when dealing with ROTC. Carneywrote that ROTC should only be kicked off campusas a "last resort."

"It's in Harvard's interest to give ROTC achance. For all of its faults--and there aremany--it serves an important function and allowsmany students to go to Harvard who wouldn'totherwise and adds to diversity," Carney wrote.

Carney said he hoped Bok would use hisinfluence to lobby personally in Washingtonagainst ROTC's antigay policies, either bytelephone or letter.

In an interview yesterday, Bok said he wasgathering information to apply "intellectualpressure" with a letter to the government. Headded that he has tentative plans to cosign aletter to the Pentagon written by Dean of theFaculty A. Michael Spence.

And like Carney, Bok said that while he hopedthe military would respond with a formal policychange, he was concerned that threats tocompletely cut ties with the program might becounterproductive.

"There is a serious questionabout how best to proceed, how best to weigh theinterests of people who want to takeROTC...against this policy," Bok said. "Let's hopewe can get some resolution at that stage withouthaving to confront the ultimate question ofwhether we stay in or not.