SEVEN COME ELEVEN

On its own eager shoulders the Student Union has placed the burden of determining Harvard's sentiments on war or peace. Its "University Peace Poll" will reveal on Friday the pro and con results of questions challenging every American mind. In the enthusiasm of following the lead of other collegiate polls, in the desire to represent its own opinions as those of the majority, the Student Union has forgotten its immense responsibility. The results of the poll will be hailed as "the voice of Harvard." But what value is the "voice" when the prompter has insinuated directions in every line?

Of the seven questions on the poll, only the first two give opportunity for an unprejudiced answer. All the rest are so worded that the voter has little or no choice. Number Three bluntly states that if we refuse to reply "Yes" on curbing war profits, we will automatically be "drawn into war by the pressure of munitions makers and war profiteers." The same glib technique is used in Number Five. With the assurance of a seer, the H.S.U. charges that unless we nod our heads to legislation for protection of "civil liberties, labor and social security standards," the War Crisis will be used to undermine American democracy. Again in Number Six, the "democratic extension of the Good Neighbor Policy" is illegitimately linked to the quick settlement of the oil dispute with Mexico--one of the favorite planks in the American Student Union's platform. On almost every point the Student Union has failed to keep the objective fairness that a poll demands. Except for the first two questions and parts of the fourth--which are clear enough to allow straight "yes" or "no"--the University may rightfully consider that the rest of the dice have been loaded.