Susan Schwartz gained her knowledge of conditions in Raleigh as a member of CORE and the Civil Rights Coordinating Committee. Articles by civil rights activists in other publications have quite frequently been marked by a highly emotional, and hortatory presentation. Miss Schwartz's careful avoidance of this traditional approach lends her observations dignity and force.
As in the last issue, the back of the Review contains the "Harvard Reports" section: a series of page-long surveys of work being done in such research centers as Biological Studies, East Asian Studies, Science and Government, and Cognitive Studies. These are distinctly valuable. Except for occasional Madison-Avenue splashes in the Alumni Bulletin, non-specialists have almost no way of learning what is transpiring in these centers.
The last page contains the magazine's embryonic book review section: an urbane dissection by Robert Hirst '63 of a recent Dolphin anthology on the South. One hopes the Review will find space to expand this section in the near future.
While the second issue of the magazine closely follows the editorial pattern set forth in the first, one fairly important mechanical change has been made. The Review has substituted letterpress printing for the rather fuzzy photo-offset process it used last time. Margins are wider and typography is clearer; the redesigned cover is superb. One gets a general impression of expertise: here are people who know what they are about.
The content does not belie the appearance. The Harvard Review seems to have unraveled many of the problems which have hamstrung so many publications for so long. It has avoided the ubiquitous pitfalls of puerility, hyper-academicism, and tendentiousness. Editing and selection of material was done entirely by undergraduates, yet the magazine sustains a level of style and cogency which many adult-run "little" magazines might take for an example.
Sometimes, indeed, one wonders whether it is fair to most other student magazines to judge them alongside the Harvard Review. The Review, in essence, seeks the role of a Harvard community Daedalus. In so doing, it implicitly attempts to rise above the generality of student magazines into the league occupied by such national publications as Commentary and the Partisan Review. One may well doubt that it will ever seriously rival these magazines. But, if its first two issues represent a trend, it has certainly earned the right to be considered in their terms.