Wasted Paper

To the Editors of The Crimson:

As the deadline for submission to Tabula Rasa passed this week, we were left wondering whether the magazine truly serves any purpose on this campus. Who will submit to Tabula Rasa and what will they discuss that cannot be discussed in an already existing publication?

The magazine is being advertised as a forum in which one may throw off one's chains and frolic unfettered through the minefield of Harvard's partisan publications to reach literary nirvana. Are there really chains on submissions to Harvard publications? It's not as if Lighthouse refuses to publish articles opposed to feminism or Diaspora publishes only articles written by African-Americans. Most publications at Harvard do have a theme, but then most pieces of writing have a theme. If the writing is just for the sake of writing, then submit to The Advocate.

Who will be interested in reading Tabula Rasa's articles "of any length, on any subject"? It is difficult to see the excitement generated by another random magazine written by random people on random subjects. Tabula Rasa is just another piece of flotsam on the engorged stream of Harvard literary effluvia. One can imagine a future in which every student publishes his own magazine and calls himself editor-in-chief. This builds up the student resume, but also builds up the piles of wastepaper in our nation's already overcrowded landfills. Robert Meybank '94   John Kim '94