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STATE OF VERMONT SUPERIOR COURT CIVIL DIVISION RUTLAND UNIT DOCKET NO. 651-9-12 Rdcv KAYLE WILLIAMS f/k/a ) KAYLE BOWKER ) Plaintiff, ) ) VS. ) ) STATE OF VERMONT d/b/a ) CASTLETON STATE COLLEGE, ) DAVID WOLK, ROBERT ) GODLEWSKI, and NICHOLAS ) COOMBS ) Defendants. ) D E P O S I T I O N

10 -of11 DENNIS PROULX 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 0002 1 2 3 4 5 DEPONENT: DENNIS PROULX 6 EXAMINATION BY ATTORNEY CHALIDZE 7 EXAMINATION BY ATTORNEY NOLAN 8 EXAMINATION BY ATTORNEY CHALIDZE 9 63 61 4 JEFFREY J. NOLAN, ESQUIRE SOPHIE E. ZDATNY, ESQUIRE Dinse, Knapp & McAndrew, P.C. 209 Battery Street, P.O. Box 988 Burlington, VT 05402-0988 On behalf of Defendants. Also Present: William Reedy BARRY COHEN, RPR - DEPOSITION REPORTER O'BRIEN REPORTING SERVICES, INC. 223 Killington Avenue Rutland, VT 05701 I N D E X Page held on Thursday, October 24, 2013, at the law offices of Dinse, Knapp & McAndrew, 209 Battery Street, Burlington, Vermont, commencing at 11:53 a.m. APPEARANCES: LISA CHALIDZE, ESQUIRE Chalidze Law Office 548 Herrick Road Benson, Vermont 05743 On behalf of Plaintiff;

EXAMINATION BY ATTORNEY NOLAN 10 EXAMINATION BY ATTORNEY CHALIDZE 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 4 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 0003 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 0004 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 document with handwriting 3

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E X H I B I T S Exhibit No. Exhibit Description campus safety and security report Page 21 28

(Note: Originally marked exhibits attached to original transcript; attorneys retain copies of same.) R E Q U E S T S F O R D O C U M E N T S (None.) S T I P U L A T I O N S It is hereby stipulated and agreed by and between the attorneys of record for the respective parties hereto, as follows: 1. THAT the testimony of DENNIS PROULX may be taken and treated as if taken pursuant to notice and order to take deposition and that all formalities of notice and order are waived by the parties and the signatures to this stipulation are in like manner waived. 2. THAT all objections, except as to matters of form and motions to strike, are reserved until the deposition or any part thereof is offered in evidence. 3. THAT the deposition may be signed by the said DENNIS PROULX before any Notary Public. 4. THAT all exhibits offered for identification are reserved by counsel until the time of trial. DENNIS PROULX, having been duly sworn by the Notary to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, deposes and says as follows: EXAMINATION BY ATTORNEY CHALIDZE Q. A. Hello. Hello.

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Thank you for being here. Would you state your full name, please? Dennis Paul Proulx. What is your current employment? I'm the dean of students at Castleton State College. And how long have you been the dean of students there? Four years. I started in July of '09 as the dean of students. July of '09. What are your duties? I oversee the Student Life team; that includes public safety, dining services, career services, student activities, the wellness center; and I have overseen conference events, that reports to somebody else at this point. I think that's everybody. So part of your duties are to supervise the wellness center? Yes. Can you tell me the areas of expertise of Ron Dow in regard to psychotherapy? I know he's a licensed social worker. I know he provided his license to us, and he applied to -- he got his Vermont license, I believe he applied to it; I think he got it. It was a reciprocal license from where he was coming from. Do you know anything about his experience in regard to provision of psychotherapy services to victims of criminal conduct involving sexual activity? I don't know, like, verbatim what that would be. I remember in my supervision in the hiring process that was an area that he reported to have expertise or experience in. Where did he work before coming to the college? Iowa state or -- I mean I don't know. I mean I could find out. I don't remember. I know it was either Iowa or Illinois; and I'm getting those two I's confused. But he was at a college prior. Why did he leave, if you know? Why did he leave us? Yes. He left at the end of his probationary period. Why is that? We chose not to hire him back at the end of the probationary period. And he found a better job, I believe it's at Ithaca college. Why did you chose not to hire him back? There was a lot going on within the Wellness Center. He wasn't happy in Vermont. He was commuting from Middlebury, which was a forty-five-minute commute. He has mobility impairments and needed that -- the support of the right housing unit in Middlebury; why he

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was commuting from there. And he just didn't like living in Vermont; and didn't like the fit that Castleton had. I can understand what his reasons might be; and I probably asked it badly. But what were the college's reasons for not keeping him on? I would agree that he was not liking us and needed to move on. So you were not dissatisfied with his performance in any way? I was not dissatisfied with his performance. When did his probationary period end? I believe it was June, June something. His contract -- he was on a ten-month contract. So it would have been at the end of that contract. So he was at the college at Castleton State College only for roughly ten months? Yes. Was his psychotherapy performance evaluated by anyone with expertize in psychotherapy? Prior to? No, while he was at Castleton State College. Not to my knowledge. You said there was a lot going on with the Wellness Center. What did you mean by that? Um, we were in transition with Deb and Ron, Ron being new, me being a new dean of students overseeing that area. And this particular -ah, Kayle's incident certainly was part of a lot of the work that the Wellness Center had to do, but there was a lot going on. Having Ron come in in October versus in August also was a transition issue for us in the Wellness Center. Who was his predecessor there? His predecessor would have been Kim Ezzo. Is that a male or a female? Kim is a female. Why did Kim Ezzo leave? She resigned from the college at the end of her contract over the summer prior. Do you know why? I don't know why. I believe she found another job. Do you know why? She was unhappy with -- again, with us in the work that she was doing. In what way? Her and Deb did not get along. Could you give me a fairly brief history of your own professional and work history? So I've been dean of students for approximately four years; prior to that I was director of residence life and associate dean of students at Castleton from '04; prior to that I was -- I came there from New England College where I was director of campus life;

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Landmark College, associate dean of programs; prior to that, Rochester Institute of Technology, where I was an area coordinator; and prior to that grad school at Colorado state. And what was your graduate degree in? Master's in student affairs and higher education. And your bachelor's? Communications. Where was that? Castleton State. Were you born and raised in Vermont? I was not. You were here earlier today for the deposition of Ms. Choma; is that right? Correct. I don't know if you had an opportunity to review the exhibits we used with her, but I'll show you what was marked as Exhibit 1 in the Choma deposition. And I will direct your attention to page 147, Bates 147 of that. You're welcome to take whatever time you would like. (Witness perusing document.) Okay. All right. And my specific question is do you see your name in the upper right there? Yes. So by virtue of this form Kayle Bowker is authorizing release of confidential psychotherapy information to you; is that correct? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. Could you repeat the... Yes. As I understand this form -- and please correct me if I'm wrong -- Kayle Bowker is authorizing release of confidential psychotherapy information to you. ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. I have never seen this form. Okay. I understand forms, as dean of students, would allow me to talk with Ron, and Ron to be more freely talking with me about, in general, the needs of his client. I don't take this to mean that I would have access to psychotherapy notes. I don't know if that's what you're asking. Okay; fair enough. Well, let me ask this: Did you in fact talk to Mr. Dow about Kayle at any point? Yes. Would you tell me, as best you recall, what those conversations were? I remember them making sure that through him that she understood college policy, resources,

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what our process with the judicial would be, and that he was -- as she would need information or clarity, ah, he might ask me those -- for that clarity, which I would instruct him and then he would help her understand. Do you recall the first conversation that you had with Mr. Dow about Kayle? No. Who initiated the communication about Kayle? Was that you or Mr. Dow? I don't know. Did you in fact talk to Mr. Dow about Kayle's progress as opposed to the hearing procedure and so forth? No. So is it fair to say that you received no information from Mr. Dow about the psychotherapy being provided? Correct. What was the supervisory hierarchy in place for medical providers at the Wellness Center? Who supervised their professional functioning? The -- we would -- like with Kim, we had agreement with outside supervisor. And supervision as a counselor, as I understand it, would be someone that would be able to hold the confidence of the treatment plan and any other kind of relationship they would have with their client and to help also the counselor discover what possible treatment they might provide or counseling they might provide; and then also for their own mental health, how they might understand what they're listening to. But I'm not a counselor so I don't know. Okay. And just -- I think this is obvious -but to be clear, you don't have any licensure or expertise in the provision of psychotherapy? That's correct, I do not. All right. So who was this person with the qualifications that you just described who supervised Mr. Dow's professional provision? When you -- the word "supervision," when it comes to counseling, as I understand that word to be, is different than a professional supervision as I would have over the operations of the Wellness Center. I understand. So when I use the word "supervision," my understanding of that is a clinical term, I think, as someone with licensure to which they can go and sort through the issues they need to sort through. And who was that person? I don't remember. It may have been Bill Cunningham directly. I don't remember. It's

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not -- it wasn't a requirement, to my knowledge, that a supervisor or supervision be provided. I know that we had a relationship with Bill Cunningham, with Kim Ezzo. Prior to that I don't know if we engaged Bill or Ron -I don't know. And who is Bill Cunningham? He's a local counselor; I don't know what his license is. But he's a licensed professional therapist of some sort -Yes. -- in Rutland County? Yes. I just want to be sure I understand; and please tell me if I go astray. As you sit here today, you don't know whether there was a supervisor in place in regard to Mr. Dow as far as the provision of psychotherapy services goes? Yeah, that's not a requirement as far as I know, nor were we required to provide that for them. But certainly best practice is to allow a counselor to have that conduit, and, if so, then we would pay that bill for supervision for them. Regardless of whether it's a requirement, what I'm trying to understand is was it factually in place? Was there such a person over Mr. Dow? Not to my knowledge, I guess. Thank you. He would have had access to someone like Bill Cunningham if he knew that that was what he needed. I don't remember if that was in place. What is the policy of Castleton State College on reporting to the police criminal conduct on campus? Policy on reporting criminal activity. Our practice -- you're not asking for practice, you're asking for policy? Well, I would like to hear about both in whatever way is most convenient. The policy I would point to is in the handbook, ah, around a victim's ability to seek -- ah, the ability to seek a judicial situation through us, through the police, or just to go on record and not take any action. That was our policy at the time, through our handbook, during Kayle's events. To take no action? Well, I think -- if I had the policy in front of me -- I believe the third option is to report -- like, put down reports but not ask for us to follow a judicial process. Okay. And what was the college's practice? We would follow the, as best we could, the

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victim's requests, assuming there was no -- on that last piece assuming there was no threat to our community. Our obligation is to investigate any report we get of a sexual assault or a sexual misconduct as best we can, and if -- and assess the threat on campus, balancing the needs and the rights of the victim in that moment. If there is an allegation of criminal conduct that is not reported to the police, and it's a true allegation, is that not a threat to the safety of the community? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. That was a terrible questions; let me try again. All right. If there is a student perpetrator on campus of violence against another student, is not the failure to report to the police a threat to the safety of the community? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. If we felt there was a threat to the community, we would be involved in the police immediately, with any report that we got of any kind of criminal activity. Well, isn't it always a threat to the safety of the community to have a violent perpetrator on campus? A. ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. I think a violent perpetrator, as I understand your question, would be someone that we would connect with the police immediately because we don't have the expertise, nor do we have arrest powers to people to prevent them to be on campus. So I think you answered my question, but I'm a little dense today, so let me try it again. Would you agree with me that the presence on campus of a person who engages in sexual violence against another student is, in and of itself, a threat to the safety of the community? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. I think it depends on the definition of "sexual violence" and "threat" in that that as a team, with others, would have to assess that in order to then take precautions for the campus. Can you envision any set of circumstance in which the presence of a student on campus who engaged in sexual violence against other students would not be a threat to the safety of the community? I think that, again, sexual violence -- as you put it, we follow what the victim's need are. Oftentimes we're not privy to the event until well after the fact. But based on what we

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hear and what we get for reports, we'd have to assess whether or not the community is at risk, and that we would post community notices or community alerts based on that threat. Have you ever received a report of sexual violence on campus that you believed to be true that you did not report to the police? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. Can you define "sexual violence" for me, because maybe there's where we having -Sure. How about criminal conduct involving sexual activity? Criminal conduct involving sexual activity. ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. And you're asking is there a place in time when we would not report that to the police? Yes. If it's appropriate to -- I know it's not quite the question you're asking -- if it's appropriate to connect to the police, then we do that. If there's a threat to our community, we need to connect with the police. I'm sorry; go ahead. I'm sorry; I didn't mean to cut you -That's okay. During your tenure at Castleton State College, in any of your posts there, are you aware of a report of unwanted physical contact of a sexual nature by one student against another student that the college did not report to the police? In my time as dean of students or my time as Castleton? Your time at Castleton. We don't -- there's not an official mechanism, like, to write it down and present it to the police. But a phone call would be made with Bruce Sherwin or state police and with that. I don't know of any -- that we wouldn't have at least alerted them to something that we're investigating on campus -All right. -- of a -- I forget how you described it -but nonconsensual. But we would certainly follow the victim's direction on that. Okay. Again, it's probably my own density. Let me try and ask a simple question for once. Do you recall ever receiving a report of unwanted sexual contact on campus, that you believed, that you did not report to the police? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. I -- ah, I don't know that, that answer, because I don't remember every event that has occurred, nor do I remember whether or not we discussed it, each and every one of them with the police. Do you recall ever receiving a report of

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unwanted sexual contact on campus that you believed to be a true report that you did not report to the police? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. Do you recall such an incident? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. You know, my recollections of the case with Kayle, as I have reread, is that we did not, as far as what I can see on report, go directly to the police on that, following her directive. Has that occurred any other time? I don't know. Is that the only time you recall; that is, the incident involving Kayle, is that the only time you recall receiving a report you believed of unwanted sexual contact that you did not report to the police? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. I don't know. I mean so I guess the answer would be yes. I mean I don't remember any other case. All right. Thank you. (Discussion off the record.) (Exhibit No. 3 was marked for identification.) Mr. Proulx, you're looking at what's been marked as Exhibit 3. Would you kindly take whatever time you need and tell us what that is. (Witness perusing document.) It is our required report under the Cleary Act that we have to provide each year on or before October 1st. And I believe this is for the year 2011/2012 is when the report comes out. Thank you. What is the Cleary Act? Cleary Act, I'm not -- I mean Cleary -- I forget -- Cleary is the name of a family whose daughter was killed in a sexual assault, I believe at Lehigh; and the Federal Government has adopted that name as a label for an act that requires colleges to report certain criminal behavior reports on college campuses across the country. Does Castleton State College receive any federal funding? Yes. What's your understanding as to whether Castleton State College is required to comply with Title IX? Can you reask the question. Do you know what Title IX is? Title IX is an anti-discrimination requirement that colleges don't discriminate based on a number of different areas. What's your understanding as to whether Castleton State College is required to comply with Title IX?

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We were required to comply with Title IX. With reference to Exhibit 3, do you see some yellow highlighting on the first page? Yes. Would you kindly read the yellow highlighted portion into the record? "The Department of Public Safety works together with law enforcement agencies without a written memorandum of understanding. All incident or crime reports are filed with the appropriate agency and followed up with joint investigations." Is that true? Is it true that it's written or is that true that we follow that? The second sentence that you read, is that a true statement? Ah, no. I would say that all of our incident reports are not filed "with appropriate agencies" -- well, I'd like to -Sure. Take your time. With appropriate agency. I don't know -- I say that as my -- as far as I know the required incident or crime report that we're supposed to file with appropriate agencies are filed. I don't know of us needing to file all of our incident reports with police, and certainly we do follow joint investigations. If there's a reporting to the police; right? If the victim reports to the police or we find the need to report to the police because of a perceived threat on our campus, that would invoke a joint investigation. Is it your understanding that the only time the college is required to report to the police is if there is a perceived threat to the community's safety? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. Yeah. Can you ask the question again. Sure. Is it your understanding that the only time Castleton State College is required to report on campus criminal conduct to the police is when there is a threat to community safety? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. No. Would you tell me, please, what your understanding is of when Castleton State College is required to report on campus criminal conduct to the police? Certainly when there's a threat or certainly when we think there is a -- for instance, a -ah, drug trafficking or something that's way beyond our expertise or understanding, and is criminal, we would want the police involved and brought in to investigate. Aside from what you would want, my question is

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what is your understanding of what type of oncampus criminal conduct the college is required to report to the police? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. I don't know everything that's required to report to the police, other than as a citizen and knowledge of criminal activity. Is the college a mandatory reporter of any type of criminal conduct on campus? The college or individuals? The college? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. You use the word "mandatory reporter," which makes me think of CSA with regard to sexual activity. I don't know if that's -- can you ask the question again. I'll be more direct. Sure. Is there any type of on-campus criminal conduct that the college is required to report to the police? My answer would be no, I do not know of any required specific that we would be required to report. Thank you. Why did the college not report the incident with Kayle to the police? Well, we didn't help her report it to the police. You didn't report it, either; did you? I don't -- I don't believe we did. Why not? If -- our protocol is to follow the victim's desires, requests. And in this case she was asking us to not -- that she didn't want to report to the police. Thus, even if we were to report it to the police, I don't know what they would have done within that investigation. They eventually were reported to by Kayle, and we helped get her statements for that report. Well, didn't you refuse to provide the statement to the police? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. No. It's your testimony that you did not refuse to provide the statement to the police? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. Two things. When Kayle asked for her reports of her statements to us, we provided those. My understanding is she used that as her -part of her report to the Castleton police. When the police asked us for the judicial record of all of that, what I told Bruce Sherwin was that if -- when given a subpoena, I'd be happy to return anything that I have on file. And so I was not in the position of saying I will not provide it; I was in the position to say I will not provide it without a subpoena, as I understood FERPA, and my obligations to the federal laws.

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Prior to Kayle's case had you ever refused to provide information to Bruce Sherwin that he had asked for? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. Me, personally? Yes, you personally. ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. No. Had the college? Not to my knowledge. When -- not to my knowledge. Did Chief Sherwin have to threaten you with an obstruction of justice charge in order to get you to cooperate in the investigation of the complaint that Kayle made? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. No. (Exhibit No. 4 was marked for identification.) Showing you what's been marked as Exhibit 4, could you kindly read into the record the Bates number on the lower right-hand corner of that page. I'm assuming you mean CSC-00192? Thank you. Take whatever time you need to look over that single page and tell me what it is, if you're able to. I have no idea what this is. Do you recognize any of the handwriting? I assume -- I see Greg's name. Who is Greg? Greg Stone my -- the previous dean of students. This could be my writing; I don't know. It could be me. Certainly this is not me down here (indicating). You don't recognize whether that's your writing in the portion that starts "Greg"? It very well could be. It looks close to -close enough, as I'm looking at it. It appears to be, does it not? It could be. Does it appear to be? I don't understand the question. I don't know that that's absolutely me. I'm happy to assume it is. It certainly looks close to my handwriting. Okay. I'm not asking you whether it's absolutely you, I'm asking you whether that appears to be your handwriting? Yes. Thank you. Would you kindly, slowly, read that entire document into the record. "Greg -- your thoughts on this?" Line. "With this conversation I would not have expected official documentation" -- I think is the word. Line. "Better response: Hey"; and then something's been blacked out. "Hope there is no drinking going on up there." Unquote. "I

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would be by later to see what you guys are doing," quote. "He was not drunk, nor out of control" in parentheses. "Unless he has been spoken to before, I certainly would not terminate his contract. Has he completed his sanctions?" Line. "His problem was non-responsive, and he seemed to do better with that" -- I guess it is. Signed "Greg." Do you have any understanding of what that exchange is about? No idea. What is the policy of Castleton State College to underage drinking on campus? Our policy states that underage drinking is against both state and federal law. And does Castleton State College report underage drinking to the police, since it is contrary to state and federal law? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. No. Why not? We -- in our agreement or our discussions with the police, underage drinking is dealt with on our campus. Certainly they have every right to come onto our campus; and, when they have, they have issued citations for those who are underage drinking. But my understanding is the police have no desire to be interacting in an educational facility with students who are underage drinking. So it is your testimony that the Castleton police does not want the college to report underage drinking to the police? They have not asked us to report in any way, except through, perhaps, Cleary report, um, individual instances where underage drinking has occurred. Maybe I misunderstood your prior answer; I apologize. I thought you said that the police did not want the college to report underage drinking. They certainly haven't told me that they want us to in any official way. Have they told you that they don't want you to? In our discussions I think our understanding, without an MOU, as it was stated in the Cleary report, is that they understand how we would respond to underage drinking, and that we will confront underage drinking, and intervene and stop the behavior when we found it to be happening. And that we follow it up with educational sanctions as appropriate to change long-term behavior. Which member or members of the Castleton police force have you had these conversations with?

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We typically have what I would call "police summit" with liquor commissioner, Bruce Sherwin, or someone from Castleton police, state police, oftentimes Fair Haven police and we exchange ideas on our policies, our practices, what they have done or would be doing in our community, and we establish a relationship so that when a crisis were to occur, we have an understanding of each other. And it's your testimony that the understanding that has emerged from these summits is that the Castleton police does not want the college reporting on campus underage drinking to the police? There is -- they have not asked us to report that in any official capacity. I appreciate that they have not asked you to. My question is, is it from these summit meetings you described that you took away the understanding that the Castleton police do not want the college to report on campus underage drinking? I think they want us to use our discretion as to what events -- ah, when they would be needed. Well, underage drinking is always illegal; right? Correct. Has anyone at the Castleton police indicated that they do not want the college reporting underage drinking on campus to the police? Bruce Sherwin and others have said that they are not interested to be the responder to underage drinking on our campus because they are confident in how we respond to underage drinking. Thank you. In regard to Nicholas Coombs, you recall that name? Yes. Did the college take any steps when it learned that he had been convicted of criminal conduct in District Court regarding Kayle Bowker? I'm -- no, that would be -- no, I learned about that -- I don't know if "convicted" is the right word, that I remember him being convicted. I know in the reports he talked to our public safety investigator that he had dealt with similar situations before or a similar situation before. Okay. And when did this discussion take place? I don't know the dates. It's in the documents on Bob's report as to when it would be dated. Fair enough. But this was in relation to Kayle's reporting of the incident in that time frame, in other words? It was in the time frame of Kayle's incident. And so in that time frame you learned from

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Nicholas Coombs that he had been involved in a similar situation in the past? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. Nick told Bob in -- as Bob wrote, that he had something similar in his past. Did that come out at the hearing that took place on campus? It would have been in the documentation that the hearing board would have seen. Was a file generated as a result of the hearing reflecting the proceedings at the hearing? There was a file of all the documentation that was used at the hearing with all the supporting letters, yes. Was any recording made of the hearing? No. Is that standard procedure? We don't record procedure -- proceedings. Was there a written decision that resulted from the hearing? A letter from me reflecting the decision of the board was sent. Did the hearing panel members take any notes during the hearing? I don't know. I would assume perhaps they did. I don't know. And would those notes typically go into the file? No. What would typically go into the file? Any of the reports that the board used in their decision-making, any letter to witnesses, to the alleged perpetrator, um, any incident report associated with the event. Did the college provide that file to the Castleton police? My understanding is that's what we were asked for under the subpoena and that's what we provided. What was the outcome of the hearing? For Nick's outcome, ah, was found -- if I remember correctly, it was not found responsible for violating our sexual assault policy, but was responsible for a second offense, if I remember correctly, of underage drinking. And you know, as you sit here today, that in fact he was indeed convicted of criminal conduct in District Court in regard to the incident with Kayle; correct? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. I certainly read that in the paper, that he was found responsible for something, yes, I believe it was prohibited acts. Would you agree with me that that is inconsistent with the hearing result? I would agree with you -- ask again.

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Would you agree with me that Mr. Coombs's conviction in District Court is inconsistent with the college administrative hearing result? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. Yes. Thank you. Why is it that Mr. Coombs was permitted to read Kayle's statements but Kayle was not permitted to read Mr. Coombs's statement? At the time our policy was that a person who's being charged, as is best practices in legal, has a right to all of their materials that they can understand and be able to defend themselves with the board. Kayle was not charged with anything. And so as the alleged victim she did not have the right to see the evidence offered to the hearing panel by the alleged perpetrator? Our process would not have included that. After the hearing was Mr. Coombs utilized by the college as a mentor to younger students? That's my understanding, he was an ACES mentor. What is an ACES mentor? ACES is a program for students coming into -ah, not accepted at the college, but comes for an academic experience over three weeks to hone their skills in order to then reapply to a college. Is that partly a recruiting tool for Castleton State? A recruiting tool. We certainly -- those who are eligible to be in ACES would be hopeful that we're on the cusp of being eligible to be at Castleton. Is that a yes? Recruitment tool, yes. And did Mr. Coombs continue on as a mentor at the college after his criminal conviction? I don't know. He continued on as a mentor until he graduated; did he not? I don't believe so. He did in fact graduate from Castleton State? That's my understanding. With two criminal convictions -- strike that -- with two known incidences of criminal conduct involving unwanted sexual contact? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. He graduated from Castleton. And at the time he graduated from Castleton, Castleton College had actual knowledge of at least two incidents in which Mr. Coombs had inflicted unwanted sexual contact on a female; is that not correct? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. We were aware of two events, yeah, one of

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which went through our judicial process. And either of which resulted in sanctions or punishment against Mr. Coombs; is that correct? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. At Castleton State College? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Objection to the form. That would be correct. Kayle Bowker did not stay on to graduate at Castleton State? Correct. She went back to New Jersey and tried to kill herself. That's what I've been told through this process. And in fact there have been incidents in which female students were assaulted on campus at Castleton State College and they later did commit suicide; isn't that correct? Not to my knowledge. I see. Have there been rapes on Castleton State College, to your knowledge, that were not reported to the police? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. You asked me that before. Rapes on -- and you use the word "rape." I don't know the legal definition of what you're going for with that. The police would be involved any time that there would be a threat to our community. I'm not exactly sure -- you're asking for a definitive every single one, and I'm not sure I understand your definition all the time. I apologize. I'm probably asking the question badly. I'll try again. Do you know what rape is? The Vermont statute on rape? I mean someone forcing sex onto another without consent. Yes. Okay. Has that have ever occurred on campus at Castleton State College, to your knowledge, and it was not reported to the police? Yes. About how many times? I have no idea. Mr. Coombs was an athlete at the college; was he not? If you're asking if he was a varsity athlete, he was not a varsity athlete, to my knowledge. Was he an athlete? I believe he played club ice hockey. I don't know if that definition of "athlete" meets your definition. Does the hockey team have a reputation for assaulting female students on campus?

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ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. To your knowledge? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. That I think has been reported in "Spartan" and elsewhere, that the hockey team at times, as any sports team, might be labeled as something along those lines. And at Castleton it has been; yes? Yes. Is there a hockey house? There are -- various times -- we do not have a house that we run as a hockey house. There is a, you know, a label that students put on different houses around campus, depending on who's living there in that particular year, whether it's a soccer house, lacrosse house, football house. So typically there is a hockey house? I wouldn't say typically there's a hockey house. The hockey team, like other teams, tend to live together. Does Castleton State College recruit hockey players who have played professional hockey in Canada? That's not my expertise to understand what professional hockey is in Canada; but I know they come from what's called "juniors"; Whether or not they got paid a stipend for that. I believe that to be true, our hockey players in Canada come from a system in junior hockey. What is junior hockey, to your understanding? It's a program that's trying to -- it's post high school, not college affiliated, but it's a program that, to my knowledge, is run either by the professional organizations or someone to cultivate talent for future play on the professional teams. And the play in the juniors is not in an academic setting; correct? Not to my knowledge. I don't know that much about it. So Castleton recruits post-high school non-student hockey players who are being cultivated for professional teams in Canada; is that right? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. That's one of the groups that we attract for students. And the reason for that recruitment is because they play hockey well? For the team. Someone who plays hockey, we look for that talent to play on the team. I mean that wouldn't be an obvious potential market for you to recruit for say academic excellence; right? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. I'm not sure I understand the question.

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Well, if you're selecting your potential recruitment market from the juniors in Canada, you're not going up there to look because you're thinking you're going to find the best students there; correct? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. No. That our hockey players tend to be some of our better students academically? Is that what you're asking? Not exactly. You go up to recruit them because they play hockey well; right? The coach recruits based on hockey skill for the hockey team. Thank you. But hockey players need to be otherwise academically qualified to enter Castleton. In the case of Kayle, the convicted perpetrator ended up staying on campus and graduating and the victim ended up dropping out and leaving. Do you know of that pattern in any other reported incident Castleton State College? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. I don't know of any other of that pattern. My understanding for folks who bring forth a sexual assault report, is that both perpetrator and alleged victim tend not to stay at the college where the event occurred. That's my understanding of the background on victims and perpetrators of sexual assault on college campuses. Are you speaking generally? Generally. What about at Castleton? I don't know of any documentation that we have or data that we've accumulated that would tell me one way or the other. Is there a policy against documenting such things? No. Can you think of any other instances in which a female student has alleged unwanted sexual contact by a male student and the male has stayed and the female has left at Castleton State? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to form. I'm sure there has been. I don't know; I wouldn't be able to name names. I don't want you to name names. I would guess that, like I said, if that's typical nationally, that would happen on our campus as well. Does that happen on your campus? I'm saying I believe it probably does. Thank you. Where is Greg Stone now, if you know? Last I knew he was in Maine, retired.

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What part of Maine? Somewhere around Acadia National Park. At any time did the college offer an apology to Kayle regarding a hearing outcome that was inconsistent with the District Court outcome? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. Not to my knowledge. Did Kayle appear to be distraught the night of the incident? I didn't meet with Kayle the night of the incident. But certainly it's documented as such. Did there come a time when Kayle's mother contacted the college and requested a meeting with you and President Wolk? Yes. Did that meeting occur? Yes. Would you tell me, as best you recall, what happened at that meeting? Um, discussion with Mr. and Mrs. -- both -Bowker, myself, and President Wolk. With the Bowkers telling us that they were disappointed or -- disappointed I guess is probably understating it -- with what we had done. Are you disappointed in what the college did, in retrospect? I'm confident in the processes that we followed. I think we followed what we were required to do and did it well and with the best of our ability. You did not perceive a threat to the safety of the community retaining a student you knew to have been involved in at least two instances of unwanted sexual contact with females? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. Our students are adults and come with lots of history. Any one of our students could be a threat to our community at any time based on a lot of different things that they've done. ATTORNEY CHALIDZE: Barry, would you repeat my question, please. (Record read.) ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. I didn't perceive a threat that needed to be taken, any action than what we did. What kind of threat did you perceive? Well, like I said, any of our students could be a threat to our college campus. I didn't perceive -- I did not perceive Nick to be a threat to our campus, to which we would need to take further action than what we did. Despite the fact that he had admitted to you that he had been involved in at least two incidents of unwanted sexual contact with females, you perceived no threat to the community?

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ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. Is that your testimony? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. No threat to the community is pretty direct in black and white. He may have -- like I said, any of our students may perceive to be threat. He did not -- what we learned from the investigation did not allow me or make me to conclude that doing anything other than we did was right for the community. But when he was convicted, you read about it in the paper; right? Correct. So at that point in time you knew that your hearing outcome was wrong? No, I did not. Well, the hearing outcome exonerated him from Kayle's allegations; did it not? Correct. And the outcome of that hearing was the outcome of that hearing. And it was not a correct outcome in terms of -I wouldn't agree with that. Two different processes were used with two different sets of criteria, with different pieces of information in a different system. And so to equate, as I think your question is asking me to conclude, that one was wrong because the other one concluded differently, I can't conclude that. I appreciate that it is a function of my poor questioning. When you read in the newspaper that Mr. Coombs has been convicted in criminal court in relation to the incident with Kayle, you already knew, because he had told you himself, that he had been involved in a similar incident with another woman elsewhere; correct? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. Correct. So at that point in time, at that snapshot in time when you read in the paper about his conviction, did you perceive him to be a threat to the safety of the community? I learned nothing more than what I already knew when I learned about his conviction in the courts. So there was no new information, other than he was convicted of prohibited acts that would allow me to take action on -- to provide new information, other than that conviction back to our campus. So, no, I did not perceive him to be a threat anymore, um, at the end of our process than at the end of the process in Rutland. Is it your testimony then that at no point in time did you perceive Nicholas Coombs to be a threat to the safety of the community? I -- in the initial investigation he was moved

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from Ellis Hall somewhere else because he may have been a threat to her or her emotions at the time, and it was appropriate to move him from that location. But you didn't keep him out of that location; did you? Correct. The hearing board did not decide to keep him out of that location. He was permitted to move back into the same dormitory where Kayle lived; correct? Correct. So let me see if I understand your answer then. Is it fair to say that there was a window of time prior to the hearing decision, and after Kayle's report, that you considered Nicholas Coombs to be a threat such that he should be removed from Ellis? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. He needed to be removed from Ellis because, ah, a threat to Kayle and what was going on for her. Okay. And did there come a time when you felt that he was no longer a threat to Kayle and what was going on with her? He was allowed to move back into Ellis. Did there come a time when you believed he was no longer a threat to Kayle and what was going on with her? I assume, by your question, that the answer would be -- is yes because we allowed him to move back into Ellis. And your later acquisition of knowledge that he had been convicted in criminal court for the Kayle incident did not alter your perception that he was no longer a threat; is that correct? Correct. In addition to the meeting at President Wolk's office did you have a phone conversation with Kayle's mother? I believe I did prior to that -- that meeting. She called you up pretty angry when she finally found out about the incident; is that fair to say? I don't remember the time. But, yeah, I think that was the gist of some of the conversation we had. Tell me what you remember about that phone conversation with Kayle's mother? I don't -- until you mentioned it I haven't really thought about that particular phone call. Is that the phone call that led to the meeting? That's how I remember it, yeah. Do you remember anything at all that she said to you?

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I remember the tone was angry and concise, asking for response from the college. And what was your response to Kayle's mother? Posture of listening, understanding her concerns. Did you tell her "boys will be boys"? No. Did you tell her that at the meeting? No. You never told her that? No. Do you think that's a good approach for a college to adopt? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. No. Why was Kayle not rehired as an AC? CA. CA; I'm sorry. She -- not rehired the following fall or there's a question of whether or not she was not going to be rehired in between semesters; is that when you're talking? Either one. In between semesters, my understanding from her supervisor, Dan, was that she -- her grade point average didn't meet the requirement of us; and so she was put on probation and may not have been eligible -- as opposed to not rehired -- may not have been eligible to work for us because of the GPA; which I believe changed over the break, and then she became eligible and remained on staff. Any other reason that she was told she might not be rehired as a CA? My understanding is her programming had not been completed and that, you know, if a CA's not going to fulfill the duties of a job that might -- might -- lead to termination, depending on the circumstances. What does that mean her programming wasn't -There's a requirement of number of programs that a CA would hold for their hall or for their floor. And I don't remember exactly the programming model we used that year, but a number of programs in a variety of different venues, either using the wellness scale or some other -- I forget exactly what other our program model was that year. Are you aware that prior to the incident of which Kayle complained to the security office, she, in her role at CA, had cited Mr. Coombs for drinking in the dorm? No. Did you investigate his drinking history? He was cited, if I remember correctly; and we followed our process with a letter; he wrote a paper, sanctioned it in response. I don't

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remember -- I don't believe Kayle was the person who reported that. I did see that on the information that's been shared with me since, that that's her claim. Was he also smoking marijuana in the dorm? In the dorm? Not to my knowledge. He has never been cited for that. I think that's talked about in the incident reports by Kayle and by him. So he was using an illegal substance as well? It certainly says that. I believe that she reports that. I forget exactly how it's report -- but I know it's in the report. I remember mentioning the word "weed" in there. Is there any difference in the way the college treats alleged perpetrators who are athletes versus alleged perpetrators who are not athletes? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. No. Should there be? No. When you say "the college," athletics responds to athletes for whatever they do that violate the code of conduct for the team. But that's not -- that's different than the college's response, especially in a perpetrator of alleged sexual assault. Have you told me everything you recall about the phone conversation with Kayle's mother? Yes. Is that the only time you've spoken to either of Kayle's parents about any of this? Well, I certainly talked to them with President Wolk; I mean throughout that event. I don't remember another time. I mean there was a lot of phone calls going back and forth. But none that you remember as you sit here today? No. Do you remember ever talking to Kayle about it? ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. About? The Coombs incident. I talked to her a number of times about the Coombs incident. Would you please tell me everything you remember about those conversations? I believe I'm the one who talked to her about the policies of the college or, you know, how to interact with our handbook, going into a judicial. I would have been the one to talk to her about how the process would be followed, and what her role would be, and answering any of her questions for the judicial hearing. I know that she talked to me about getting her statement. But we never -- I was

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never a confidant for her as to specifics; that would have been up to the investigator to get from her. And I would have not -- in -have gone in any great detail with her about the specifics of the event. Anything else you recall? About this -- talking to her about this event? Nothing else I recall. Do you recall anything she said to you about the incident? No specifically. Generally? I know that she was upset about what had occurred, that she wanted to follow our judicial -- that she wanted to understand and move this into a judicial arena; although her right would have been to request not to. Does the college have a preference for student victims opting to proceed a college judicial hearing process rather than reporting to the police? No. Should it? No. Are you familiar with the beating of Nicholas Brach on campus? Yes. Who reported that to the police? Reported that to the police. Well, I would think that, if I remember the incident, he did, um, before he reported it to us. He went home and contacted state police at home, who then contacted us. That was quite a severe beating; was it not? Yes. Do you have any idea, as you sit here today, how many crimes of violence have occurred on the Castleton State campus during your tenure as dean of students that were not reported to the police? No. We are nearly done. ATTORNEY CHALIDZE: If I could take a break for five to ten minutes, it would probably be more expeditious. ATTORNEY NOLAN: Sure. (Recess.) Almost done. Has the college provided you with any training or education on compliance with Title IX? Yes. Would you tell me about that, please? I've been to different trainings. I've certainly done webinars with our Title IX team. I am not the Title IX coordinator. Who is? Currently it's Janet Hazelton, our -- her title is -- she's head of human resources.

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And before that it was Lynn Sawyer, also head of human resources. Okay. I think I interrupted you on your training. There were webinars and -We've had webinars. We've certainly had discussions around that. I am trying to point to a specific -- I've been on different, webinars, conferences on it. I mean, unfortunately, not always specifically Title IX, but general related -I see. -- issues. Okay. Do you have any information regarding the use of roofies at the hockey house? No. No? Roofies at what is the hockey house? Yes. ATTORNEY NOLAN: Object to the form. No. What about on campus? We had an event where roofies was suspected -by "roofies" you mean the date rape drug? Yes. At a local bar, that we did a community notice on; I don't remember the timing of that. I don't remember if I was dean of students or not at the time. Other than that roofies -ah, date rape drugs are always an issue that we should be educating on on campus. Is that part of the orientation now for

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incoming freshman orientation on that? Orientation is education, so it's always been part of education. On roofies specifically? Q. Yes. A. Safe practices, keeping yourself safe. I don't know if -- if -- we don't have an event just about roofies, per se. Q. Okay. ATTORNEY CHALIDZE: I believe that's all I have. Thank you sir. EXAMINATION BY ATTORNEY NOLAN: Q. I just have a couple. Mr. Proulx, I'm asking you to look at Deposition Exhibit 3. And this is the annual security report for 2011 and 2012; is that right? A. That's correct. Q. And do you recall previously Ms. Chalidze had you read into the report some highlighted language describing generally the public safety department, it's relationship with local police and so on? A. Yes. Q. And it refers to incident reports, crime reports, filed with agencies, et cetera; is

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that right? Correct. Is there also reference in that document, to your knowledge, to procedures that the college follows in the specific instance where someone let the college know that they feel they've been subjected to a sexual assault? (Perusing.) Under the sexual misconduct policy, which I believe is required under Cleary to be part of this report, we have that in here, sexual misconduct policy official reporting, and then procedures of our disciplinary process, the right of the accused and accusers. And you're looking at the moment at the last page of the document; is that right? Correct. And at the top does it talk about the different options that folks who think they've been subjected to sexual assault have with respect to reporting to the police or not; is that right? Yes. And did you follow those at the time

Ms. Bowker was a student at Castleton? Yes. But this would -- this is '11/ '12, this is slightly different than what the policy was in '09/'10. Q. What was it back then? A. There was a third option here to file a report but not -- and not to take any action. ATTORNEY NOLAN: That's all I have. EXAMINATION BY ATTORNEY CHALIDZE: Q. Why was the third option dropped? A. Best practice within policies. Hold on; I'd like to actually see the document. Actually, I could be misquoting what that third option is. Now that I'm thinking, there was an option under 311, I believe is what was dropped. EXAMINATION BY ATTORNEY NOLAN: Q. And that's the sexual harassment policy? A. Correct. And that was dropped because it was no longer an option to go under 311, but rather the options for us would be for sexual misconduct, sexual assault. Because there's a mediation involved with 311, it was thought that this was better practice for our judicial process. EXAMINATION BY ATTORNEY CHALIDZE: Q. Is the college certified by any national certifying authority in regard to its campus security? A. No. Q. Are you aware that such organizations exist?

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I know ICLEA. I don't know that they certify a college. I would assume they have certifications for individuals through their professional development. Has Castleton College ever invited in any body or organization or authority to assess whether their campus security program and procedures are in accordance with standards? Not during my time as dean of students, nor my time at Castleton, do I remember an agency that was brought in to assess the public safety process. Are you aware that such a thing is possible? Sure. Why is it that Castleton College has chosen not to do that? We have chosen not to do that for many different groups. I don't know it's a requirement for us to bring in consultants evaluate every department on campus. I'm not asking about every department, I'm asking about campus security. I don't know why we don't have it. Thank you. ATTORNEY CHALIDZE: Nothing further. ATTORNEY NOLAN: Nothing further.

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(Whereupon, the deposition was concluded at 1:31 p.m.) * * * * * SIGNATURE PAGE I, DENNIS PROULX, do hereby certify that I have read the foregoing deposition transcript of my testimony, taken on October 24, 2013, and further certify it is a true and accurate record of my testimony. (Any corrections should be made on the separate errata sheet, which will then be attached to this signed transcript.): Signed under the pains and penalties of perjury this ______ day of _________________ 2013. __________________________ DENNIS PROULX STATE OF______________ ____________________SS. At____________________________, in said county, this______________day of______________________2013, personally appeared before me the above-named DENNIS PROULX, and made oath that the foregoing answers subscribed by DENNIS PROULX are true. ___________________________________

24 Notary Public 25 My Commission expires:___________________________ 0067 1 C E R T I F I C A T E 2 STATE OF VERMONT 3 DEPOSITION OF: DENNIS PROULX 4 RE: Bowker v. State of Vermont, et al. 5 DOCKET NO. 651-9-12 6 I, BARRY COHEN, a Registered Professional Reporter and Notary Public in and for the State of 7 Vermont, do hereby certify as follows: 1. That DENNIS PROULX, the witness whose 8 testimony is hereinbefore set forth, was duly recorded by me on October 24, 2013; 9 2. That such testimony was transcribed by me and is a true and accurate record of the testimony 10 given by the said witness, to the best of my knowledge, skill and ability; 11 3. I further certify that I am neither attorney for, nor related to or employed by any of 12 the parties, nor financially interested in this matter; and 13 4. That a dash as used through this transcript is meant to represent an interruption in 14 thought or between a question and answer. IN WITNESS THEREOF, I hereunto set my hand and 15 Notarial seal this 25th day of October, 2013. 16 17 __________________________________ 18 Barry Cohen, RPR and Notary Public 19 New Hampshire License No. 136 My Commission Expires: 20 February 10, 2015 21 22 0068 1 WITNESS'S ERRATA SHEET 2 WITNESS: DENNIS PROULX RE : Bowker v. State of Vermont, et al. 3 DATE : October 24, 2013 4 INSTRUCTIONS: Enclosed herewith is the original transcription of your deposition to read and sign. 5 Please use this errata sheet to clearly identify any corrections or changes you wish to make, referring 6 to the corresponding page and line number along with your change, and sign the next-to-last page of this 7 transcript before a Notary Public. DO NOT WRITE DIRECTLY ON THIS ORIGINAL TRANSCRIPT! Then return 8 the errata sheet(s) and signed original transcript to either your attorney or the attorney who 9 conducted this deposition. 10 PAGE ______ CORRECTION _______________________ 11 LINE ______ REASON____________________________ 12 ____________________________ 13 PAGE ______ CORRECTION _______________________ 14 LINE ______ REASON____________________________ 15 ____________________________ 16 PAGE ______ CORRECTION _______________________

17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

LINE ______ PAGE ______ LINE ______

REASON____________________________ ____________________________ CORRECTION _______________________ REASON____________________________ ____________________________ _________________________ DENNIS PROULX

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