Presume Elster Innocent

To the editors:

I understand that the arrest and arraignment (and oh-so-scandalous police-blotter-cover-up) are matters of public record, and that so long as you liberally sprinkle around the word "allegedly," you're not breaking any laws.

But as journalists (or "alleged journalists") and as members of a small community, your use of public facts should be tempered by a sense of responsibility and by the recognition that what you print has consequences. When you refer to Elster (in centimeter-high letters, no less) as "the alleged rapist," and when you fill your front page with innuendo-laced drivel, you contribute to--nay, create--a presumption of guilt within the Harvard community which I believe will be impossible for Elster to counteract, should be actually turn out to be what the law currently presumes him to be: innocent. SCOTT A. CHESIN '98   Feb. 4, 1998