Sin of Omission

To the Editors of The Crimson:

As a member of the Asian-American community at Harvard, I feel it was very inconsistent and highly irresponsible of Matthew C. Joseph in his March 7, 1986, article entitled, "More Minorities Applying to Ivies," not to mention the status of the Asian-American applicant pool for the class of 1990. Are Asians no longer considered a minority? This might be the case at the other Ivies mentioned in the article, but it is definitely not the situation at Harvard. At Byerly Hall, Asians are considered a minority group. This is demonstrated by the fact that there are two Asian-American Student Recruitment Coordinators participating in the University Minority Recruitment Program. Yet, there is no mention that they were among the more than 40 minority recruiters sent across the country. In the past, articles in The Crimson (most recently December 19, 1985) which gave early and regular action figures have included Asians among the statistics.

I am sure that Mr. Joseph did not purposefully mean to omit Asian-Americans in his survey of the minority applicant pool, but this is an oversight that is often too easily made by others as well. It should have been made clear that, for one reason or another, the article concerned itself with non-Asian minorities only. But, then the question is, why would this distinction be made? Amy M. Huibonhoa '88   Vice-President Asian-American Association