Soviet Scientists

To the Editors of The Crimson:

I am angered to discover through an article in The Crimson of Monday, December 15, that a "successful and hospitable" meeting on radiation chemistry research occurred recently between two Soviet scientists representing the Soviet Academy of Sciences and Harvard and MIT faculty members. Indeed, Professor Dudley Herschbach of Harvard's Chemistry Department seemed proud to report to The Crimson that "there was very little reference made to politics." Is the memory of the scientific community so short that Dr. Andrei Sakharov has been forgotten already? Dr. Sakharov has been and continues to be censured and persecuted by the very Academy these two scientists represent, and further, these scientists directly contributed to Dr. Sakharov's present plight through their involvement in the Academy's voting process which condemned Dr. Sakharov.

Mindful of the gross injustice perpetrated against dissident scientists in the Soviet Union, many individuals and academic departments at Harvard have voluntarily suspended scientific exchange with Soviet scientists. I would hope that in the future, when faced with a similar situation, faculty members will take time to think more carefully about the moral implications of their acts. Gerald Denis '83