Keep Ronald in Oak Brook

Your story in today's issue ("Does Harvard Deserve a Break Today?" Sept. 17) was not a journalistic piece but an engraved invitation addressed to Grimace and the Fry Guys. Never would McDonald's, Inc. have been able to purchase the kind of publicity that you provided for them. In any case, there are several good reasons for keeping McDonald's out of Harvard Square. You may try to dismiss these arguments as the expressions of an elitist sentiment, but many of them draw from Jeffersonian democratic ideals, as well as a number of traditions that are more compelling than your consumerist apologies.

In response to your deplorable corporate propaganda, which masquerades as an article about students' efforts to bring fast food to Harvard Square, I suggest that it would be far better for Harvard and the community with which it interacts if Ronald and his pals stayed in Oak Brook. --Joel B. Pollak '99