Greek Minister Escapes Protest

In a series of James Bond-style maneuvers, the Greek military regime's Minister of Education and Religion, Nikitas Sioris and his Harvard hosts successfully avoided a confrontation with protesters yesterday.

Sioris had originally planned to lunch at 1 p.m. at the Faculty Club, but William G. Anderson, University Marshal and official host for all foreign dignitaries, switched the luncheon at the last moment to the Business School and moved the time up 45 minutes, because of a fear of violence.

Sioris is visiting the United States at the invitation of the State Department. Harvard hosted him under an arrangement with the Federal government by which it regularly accepts foreign visitors as part of a "cultural exchange" program.

A crowd of about 60 students and Faculty members-some representing informal groups such as "Classicists Against a Fascist Greece"-assembled outside the Club at 12:15 p.m. in anticipation of Sioris's arrival. Spokesmen for the protestors said the demonstration would be nonviolent and non-obstructive.

However, after about an hour of milling around, the protesters moved to Widener Library where Sioris was sched-uled to be shown Harvard's extensive modern and classical Greek collection. Once again, Sioris did not show up, because, as a spokesman for the Marshal's office put it, "We just wanted to avoid the pickets,"

Throughout the day a shroud of secrecy covered Sioris's whereabouts as reporters from the CRIMSON were repeatedly told by spokesmen at the Marshal's office that "We just aren't able to tell you where Mr. Sioris will be eating lunch." However, after stumbling upon a meeting between Sioris and several Business School professors, a reporter was invited by Anderson to sit in for the last 15 minutes of the meeting.

According to Anderson the secrecy was warranted by a threat of violence and the feeling that a visitor to the University shouldn't have to be faced with pickets. "Why should he see a picket line when he wants to see professors," he said.

Asked why Sioris was welcomed by the University in the face of mounting criticism from all parts of the Harvard community, Anderson maintained that "It is the duty of a university to keep open the lines of communication.... if we started to pick and choose, rejecting the visitors we didn't like or agree with, we'd have a terrible mess on our hands."

But Cynthia Angelides, an employee in Hilles Library and an anti-junta activist yesterday said, "The real reason for this tour is not for the so-called cultural' exchange-it is a determined attempt by both the military regime and the United States, which is of course friendly to the government, to improve the regime's image. Harvard should have realized it was being used."