Radio Free Europe Sends Harvard Over Airwaves

The message of "veritas" has reached behind the Iron Curtain this fall through Radio Free Europe broadcasts into Romania by a Thayer Hall resident.

Johannes G. Schuster '88, a resident of Cologne, West Germany, who lived in Romania for the first 13 years of his life, appears on a radio show called "Tinerama," a program aimed at young Romanians.

Schuster reports on Harvard-oriented stories and tapes broadcasts in Romanian in his room. He then sends his dispatches to Radio Free Europe's studios in Cologne--where his step-father works as a commentator--to have the tapes edited and broadcast.

Schuster filed his first story on is the Freshman Outdoor Program, which, he said, helped "build down his fear." This idea of helping students, Schuster said, would be interesting to Romanian youth because it is so novel.

"College life in Romania is very different. The idea of free communication and open exchange of ideas is non-existent there," explained Schuster. He said that schools rarely teach humanities because philosophies often conflict with state policy.

He says he will attempt to report on the ideal aspects about Harvard because "It is important for young people to know how an ideal American university works."

Future stories may include Harvard's financial aid process, the admissions process, the advanced technology at the school, the quality of the professors, the diversity of the student population, and why people would major in Slavic Studies.

Radio Free Europe is an independent company financed by the U.S. Congress, explained William H. Kratch, director of the New York bureau. He said the purpose is "to hopefully make available what we consider a basic human right, information."

"It is a surrogate radio station for Eastern European countries," presenting alternative programming to state-controlled stations, Kratch added.

The station broadcasts underground information, which Kratch said is called "zamizdat." It could be work by an intellectual that is denied publication, or a differing view point on a new law passed in those nations.

The Soviet government may try to jam Radio Free Europe's short-wave frequencies, said Schuster, but the country still manufactures short-wave radios. "People listen softly but they don't hide under pillows," he added, recalling that following the Romanian earthquake of 1977, he walked in the streets of Bucharest and saw that "everybody had Radio Free Europe tuned in, even the police."

Radio Free Europe differs from Voice of America, explained Kratch, because the Voice of America's main task is to explain U.S. policy, while Radio Free Europe gathers news from throughout the world, including the Eastern bloc countries.

Radio Free Europe's stories are written by emigrees from the nation into which they are broadcast, said Schuster, so they will take an angle that interest their co nationalists.

Tinerama, the program he appears on, also broadcasts the Top 40 western pop songs. Schuster said. "Our dise-jockeys are able to dicuss the lyrics and what it means to the average western youth" explained Kratch.