MODEL UNITED NATIONS

To the Editors of The Crimson:

Perhaps since I come from Albany New York. I am not stick and worldy wise enough to understand the fine distinctions Mr. Lemann drew in his column. "Blurred Distinctions" However, drawing my unsophisticated courage together. I beg to question the views of the president of The Crimson.

To the best of my knowledge as a member of the IRC International Relations Council Board of Directors, it is the IRC and not any four individuals, not any suite, which runsout two model U.N.s each year. To imply that new students run these conferences, naming four, and, then say it is a big job for them" is an incredibly patronizing understatement. Putting on our high school conference alone took an estimated six thousand man-hours of work by our eighty-odd member volunteer staff. Both conferences are tremendous undertakings.

Mr. Lemann's statements that some of our people "did some things they shouldn't have done," and that "the people who ran it seem to have gotten something more out of it" as well as his conclusion that these people "are in trouble" are merely his unsupported opinions. Neither the IRC Board of Directors nor the University has said anything of the sort, and I do not expect them to.

On what does Mr. Lemann base these charges? Perhaps on his two quotes out of context from an internal report that the IRC Board of Directors has not yet approved? And where does the figure of $5000 "for their Harvard undergraduate staff" come from? The figures The Crimson has so far published do not add up to that sum, nor do the Harvard Model United Nations books support such a statement unless one in unscrupulous enough to include in this figure such items as speakers" travel expenses, the costs of the faculty receptions, cash refunds to high schools who overpaid their fees, overcharges on hotel bills, etc.

It is perhaps symptomatic that the purportedly factual portion of Mr. Lemann's phillipic that he began it with a factual error, i.e., he gave the wrong date for the dinner at Joseph's.

I will ignore Mr. Lemann's other "factual" statements since he is not basically concerned about facts. However, I am amazed at the slant of his column. Why does he make it seem that Mather 311 is the center of the IRC's "power structure"? Why is it objectionable that our "leaders" are "above all, smooth and in control"? Why are they blamed for dressing well, or for the names of the Sheraton-Boston's conference rooms? Why are they blamed for their home towns? Why does Mr. Lemann extol slickness and worldy wisdom? Why is not cutting corners on quality wrong? Why does Mr. Lemann assume "the bewildering assortment of bureaucratic titles" of our staff is any less meaningful than The Crimson's bewildering assortment of editors?

In short, reading the column by The Crimson's president have given me an insight into The Crimson's reputation for journalism. Daniel Tinkelman   Harvard Model U.N. Bookkeeper   Member, IRC Board of Directors