TEACHING AND RESEARCH

To the Editors of the Crimson:

In Victoria Steinberg's generally conscientious effort to report my overly long and complicated discussion of the Ladd-Lipset survey of teaching and research by faculty members in American colleges and universities (Oct. 18), one qualification I made was omitted. I am quoted correctly as saying that"...a true scholar does not necessarily have to publish anything," but I also declared that a faculty member needed an audience of peers as well as an audience of students in order to stay alive intellectually, giving such illustrations as artistic production, consulting, and other extra-mural activities. Nor did I criticize the Ladd-Lipset survey, but rather said that I would like to see another survey which took account of extra-mural activities which could be assessed by one's colleagues, but which might not be designated by the term "research," a term which itself shifts meaning as one leaves the more eminent institutions for those where "research" may mean a book review in the local paper or a talk to a civic group.

Victoria Steinberg quite correctly captured my main observation, namely, that research is arduous and its results visible, hence risky, whereas in the privacy of the classroom, teaching is generally subject to less careful scrutiny. Hence research requires a climate of support from one's departmental colleagues and not only from administrators who may be seeking to lift the level of their institutions. David Riesman