This Seat Reserved

This week's meeting of the Harvard-Radcliffe Constitutional Convention may have ended on a friendly note, but other developments made it clear last week that racial tensions are alive and doing all too well at Harvard.

In the midst of a debate over a clause in the convention's proposed constitution that would provide for special representation for minority groups, one delegate rose to argue that the clause would violate the principle of one man, one vote equality.

Cries arose from most of the 50 minority students who had attended the meeting to argue for the clause, and to threaten the convention with a boycott of the upcoming ratification if it did not.

"Three hundred and fifty years of oppression and you talk to us about equality," a member of the Mexican-American Association at Harvard shouted.

The South House delegation presented the results of a poll of 69 students--a random sample, the delegates said, because no specific group intentionally applies to South House--that showed that over 70 per cent opposed the special minority clause, and would consequently not vote to ratify the convention's constitution.

But the intensive lobbying efforts of several minority leaders--many of whom spent the entire weekend making phone calls to convention delegates--combined with the impressive turnout of a far-from-reticent group of minority students, held sway.

The clause remained in the constitution, which will go to the student body for ratification after spring vacation.