'I AM THE PRESIDENT'

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

I was amazed by the content of a story headlined "Undergraduate Group Tries Hand at Conducting Presidency Search" which appeared in the December 8th issue of the CRIMSON. This article totally misrepresented the manner in which the student search committee headed by Natalie Shiras was funded.

I was quoted indirectly as saying the Independent had served as a "tax-deductible front" for a $300 contribution made by Richard G. Rockefeller to Miss Shiras's group. I never made such a statement. Indeed, the Independent has never served as a conduit for the funneling of funds to this or any other student group.

I am the President of The Harvard independent. Richard Rockefeller is my roommate. Beyond this, there is no connection between Mr. Rockefeller's contribution and the Independent.

[Shiras told her committee members her search had been funded by the "Independent," and instructed them not to talk about the project to other media. Checking this report with Jennings, a CRIMSON reporter was assured the "Independent" was not buying stories from news sources but merely acting as a conduit for expression of Rockefeller's eleemosynary impulses. As to the advantages of such an arrangement over an outright gift, we cannot, and did not, do more than merely suggest one possibility. Jennings said to the CRIMSON reporter, "You guys do this sort of thing too, don't you?" We do not.-M. E. K.]