On the Foundation

To the Editors of The Crimson:

Difficult questions are being asked about the effectiveness of Dr. S. Allen Counter in the performance of his part-time job as Director of the fledgling Harvard Foundation. I would like to point out that Professor Counter is a neurobiologist not a petty bureaucrat. He is also an excellent teacher of science, as few students who attended his lecture last month in Biology 7 a would dispute. It is my belief that Professor Counter's time would be better spent in the classroom and the laboratory, which is where a young scholar belongs.

As for the issue of Dr. Counter's possible act of religious discrimination. I urge caution on both sides. The Black and Jewish communities in the real world are already at odds over such issues as the application of affirmative action policies and Israel's military and economic ties to South Africa. It would be tragically ironic if tensions between Blacks and Jews at Harvard became exacerbated over a relatively trivial problem, while the larger issues remain unaddressed. Gan L. Jackson '84