To complicate matters, the UW Law School dean, Dr. Roland Hjorth, was quoted in a Village Voice column by Nat Hentoff as saying that Smith would have gained admission if she were Black. That statement was allegedly made after a law school guest posed a question at a luncheon attended by Hjorth and law school faculty.

The column states: "... would she have been accepted if the admissions committee had believed her to be Black? There was no hesitation, no equivocation. `Yes,' the dean -- an honest man -- said. And several of the law professors nodded in agreement."

Hjorth denied he or anyone else there gave any such indication, and produced affidavits from the other faculty present supporting his version. For any lawyer, let alone a law school dean, to make a public statement in a case where they are a defendant strains credulity, he said.

I-200 proponents plan to use the alleged remarks in arguments they will present in voter-information pamphlets. Hjorth has asked the I-200 supporters to strike his alleged remarks from the pamphlet, which goes to all voters.

The dean speculated that Hentoff may have been confused about a question to which he did answer yes -- which was, would Smith's application have been processed if she had not marked the race box.

But Hentoff was insistent that his report was accurate.

"I really feel sorry for the dean. He must be under enormous pressure," the columnist said.

As for the affidavits, Hentoff ascribed them to "institutional loyalty."

I-200 forces were not backing down either.

"My view is that the dean was so relaxed and uninhibited that he accidentally told the simple truth," Carlson said.

The state Attorney General is preparing to seek a court ruling on the I-200 issue.