EPO

To the Editors of The Crimson:

Eating Problems Outreach (EPO) appreciates The Crimson's coverage of the intercollegiate conference on peer counseling, which took place on Saturday in Boylston Hall. However, we noted several glaring inaccuracies and would like to set the record straight.

First, the story suggested that we place troubled students in organizatonal and administrative positions withing the group. This is not the case. EPO and the other peer counseling groups are made up of concerned and capable students, never students "not sufficiently in control to help others" as was quoted in The Crimson article. Our counselors are open-minded and sensitive to issues related to eating and body image. Moreover, members of both the outreach and counseling comittees do not represent an atypical population. Recent studies show that a large percentage of men and women on college campuses share these concerns.

Finally, we would like to thank the other Harvard peer counseling groups (Peer Contraceptive Counseling, Response, Contact, and Room 13) for participating in the conference, a fact opverlooked by the article. The peer counseling groups are considering a future conference which would deal with peer counseling generally, not just with sexual issues, as was indicated in The Crimson. Louisa A. Smith '88   Co-Director, EPO