Listening From Afar

The University's "case-by case" approach to judging ethical responsibility in its stock portfolio depends on getting information about each case. This week members of the Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibility (ACSR) said they weren't entirely happy with data they were receiving on the South African activities of corporations Harvard holds stock in.

Reports from the Investor Responsibility Research Center (IRRC) that the ACSR now uses are inadequate because "they are not as precisely done as needed," Lawrence F. Stevens '65, secretary of ACSR, said this week. The IRRC's "domestic effort for domestic consumption" might be biased, he added.

Terry Myers, director of IRRC, said this week that Harvard has met regularly with other schools to discuss forming a review group in South Africa to monitor corporate activities.

Difficulties in funding and coordinating such a post, and possible government opposition to it, might prevent its formation, Myers added.

Ken Propp, a first-year law student and an ACSR member, disagreed with Stevens, saying, "The IRRC reports are plenty good for the needs of the inquiry."

The ACSR faces a season of proxy votes in the coming weeks.