"The language in the [Circuit Court] judge's opinion is altogether hostile to Harvard's current practices on affirmative action," Mansfield said. "It was in some sense validated by the Supreme Court when they refused to review it."

Tribe, however, emphasized that the Supreme Court's move was an abstention, not a vote one way or the other.

"The Supreme Court's refusal to hear the case is not a decision supporting the lower court's decision," said Tribe.

Tribe also said that the court may just have decided, particularly because of the unusual two-track system, that the case was not the best one to resolve such a controversial issue.

Mansfield, however, said Harvard's admissions policy is not that different from Texas'.

"In fact we've been using race not just as a balance tipper but as a decisive factor," said Mansfield. "We need to rethink our whole affirmative action policy."

Mansfield also said he believes that the case signals the beginning of the end for affirmative action.

"I think at least in the courts the days of affirmative action are numbered," Mansfield said.

In particular, he said he thought Harvard's practices would not stand.

"I think Harvard is quite likely to change its policy," Mansfield said. "The Harvard administration is not made up of fools."

Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons '67 refused to comment on the case, as did a Harvard spokesperson reached yesterday