Syracuse University art student has been accused of taking a skull from a mausoleum and boiling it in his dormitory to prepare it for a sculpting class. The skull possibly was that of a man who served as the Mayor of Syracuse more than 100 years ago.

The student, Kevin D. McQuain, 18 years old, of Manhattan, pleaded not guilty this morning to a felony charge of body stealing. He was released on $500 bail after the police arrested him in his dorm room Tuesday.

The police were notified after Mr. McQuain's roommate smelled a foul odor and looked in a pot of boiling water on top of a hot plate in their room. After seeing the skull, he alerted a dorm supervisor.

The body-stealing charge, a rarely filed offense, is considered a Class E felony, the lowest-level felony, and carries a maximum sentence of four years upon conviction. Mr. McQuain told the police that he removed the skull from the John J. Crouse mausoleum Monday night and planned to use it as a model for an art class. Mr. Crouse, who died in 1886, was Syracuse's Mayor from 1876 to 1880.