SOCIAL RELATIONS

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

I wish to protest the unscrupulous methods used by the CRIMSON in gathering material for its outrageous article about supposed unethical practices among Social Relations tutors in connection with honors theses.

Your reporter phoned me Friday evening and explained that the CRIMSON was planning a news story on this subject and wanted any information I could give. Feeling that a well-documented article of this type would be of value, I said that I would be willing to give him some leads and that he could write what he wished on the basis of the material he uncovered in this way. I went on to mention what I knew and what I had heard. I said that Professor Allport's tutee had an office at his disposal, that another honors candidate had been given expense money for a trip to New York, and that I had heard from a student working under Mr. Riecken that mechanical work would suffice for an A in tutorial. I made it quite clear that these remarks were merely tips to aid the reporter in locating material, that he himself must contact the tutees and professors in question to verify this information, especially in the case of Mr. Riecken, where I was not absolutely sure of the facts.

Your reporter replied that he had no time to verify these tips because his deadline was too close, and that if he waited another day, the story would be dead. Over the course of nearly an hour's discussion, he tried to browbeat me into allowing him to publish my suggestions as direct accusations of the professors in question. I protested that the CRIMSON had no right to do such a thing, that my remarks were made in confidence, and that if he lacked the time to verify what I had said, then he could not publish the story.

He finally promised that there would be no talk of accusations in the proposed article. He would write it, he said, solely on the basis of what he could learn by his own investigations.

The story as it appeared broke this pledge by using the transparent and irresponsible device of attributing unverified charges to an "anonymous student." Only two facts were true: that Allport's tutee had been given an office, that a second tutee was given a free trip to New York by the Russian Research Center. The unchecked statement about Mr. Riecken proved to be untrue. The rest of the article was fabricated by the reporter in the interests of making a better story.

I demand that the CRIMSON apologize to 1) Professor Allport and Mr. Riecken for the false statements it made about them; 2) to the Social Relations Department for making the absurd suggestion that there might be "retaliation" against students furnishing unfavorable information about the Department; 3) to me for its unscrupulous tactics in using the leads I gave in good faith for sensationalist purposes in violation of the promise that it made to me. The CRIMSON has a fine tradition behind it; I do not wish to see it degenerate into a yellow sheet to which no one can make confidential statements with safety. Edward Sachar '52

The CRIMSON wishes to apologize to the above mentioned for the story that appeared Saturday. The facts given by Mr. Sachar are completely correct. The CRIMSON cannot justify the actions of one of its reporters in getting the story.