Presidents Address Publishers

The diverse backgrounds and interests of Harvard students make some campus tensions unavoidable, President Neil L. Rudenstine told a gathering of newspaper publishers during an address at Sanders Theatre yesterday.

Rudenstine and Radcliffe President Linda S. Wilson spoke to about 800 members of the Newspaper Association of America who spent a day at the University as part of the group's four-day national convention in Boston.

The Harvard president said that student bodies have become much more diverse in the last 30 to 40 years, since the time he was an undergraduate at Princeton. That diversity has caused inevitable problems, but also contributed substantially to the process of education, he said.

"When you walk across the campus, it's a bit of a microcosm of the world...It doesn't always go smoothly," Rudenstine said. "It would be crazy if it did always go smoothly. There are conflicts, there are strains, tensions, problems."

"It's not the 1950s, when I grew up and we were all white males," he added. "There was one African American in my class of 700 at Princeton...and the only Latino was the son of Batista, the Cuban dictator."

Even with the increase in diversity, however, Rudenstine said Harvard students share many common concerns, evidenced by the fact that more than 50 percent of undergraduates participate in some form of volunteer community service. And a majority of students spend their undergraduate years studying the social sciences, he said.

"They are smart, at least the ones who come here," Rudenstine said of Harvard students. "By and large, people come here to find a good grounding and a broad education...My main message is that there's a tremendous interest in the world out there."

Rudenstine also spoke of the problems facing higher education, including public perception--which he called "not great"--and rising costs.

"We're not only labor intensive, but also capital-intensive. You need teachers to teach," he said.

Rapid advances in technology, often thought to ease the burden on teaching faculty, actually increase costs by expanding the capacities for research and study, Rudenstine said.

Wilson spoke about similarities between academic and journalism

Even with the increase in diversity, however, Rudenstine said Harvard students share many common concerns, evidenced by the fact that more than 50 percent of undergraduates participate in some form of volunteer community service. And a majority of students spend their undergraduate years studying the social sciences, he said.

"They are smart, at least the ones who come here," Rudenstine said of Harvard students. "By and large, people come here to find a good grounding and a broad education...My main message is that there's a tremendous interest in the world out there."

Rudenstine also spoke of the problems facing higher education, including public perception--which he called "not great"--and rising costs.

"We're not only labor intensive, but also capital-intensive. You need teachers to teach," he said.

Rapid advances in technology, often thought to ease the burden on teaching faculty, actually increase costs by expanding the capacities for research and study, Rudenstine said.

Wilson spoke about similarities between academic and journalism