Wanted: More Exposes

To the Editors of the Crimson:

The Opinion page article by Neva Seidman in the Crimson (September 27) was interesting and informative. Now that we have learned why Harvard should not invest in companies investing in South Africa, I am looking forward to reading articles on the shocking states of affairs in all the other countries where corporations partly owned by Harvard are doing business. You have material here for a lengthy series of exposes: in many of the black dictatorships of Africa, the citizens have even lower per capita income and fewer political rights.

But let's not be parochial in our outlook, for African nations do not have a monopoly on human rights violations. There is a tremendous amount of evidence to be found on the unsavory practices of the ruling regime in the U.S.S.R, a country which, after all, signed the Helsinki accords, and which cannot excuse itself by pointing to an underdeveloped economy. Ms. Seidman quotes figures on loans to South Africa in the $100 million dollar range; but Western credits to the Soviet Union to cover a chronic trade deficit and to finance capital improvements are running upwards of $30 billion.

Once again, I compliment Ms. Seidman on her article, and I hope to see similar accounts in the Crimson to give us the full story. Charles A. Nichols III '79