The list of questions could be extended, but to do so would miss one of the major reasons why M.I.T. doesn't want the Belt Route either intruding upon or adjacent to its campus: the Institute opposes the highway both as a physical barrier to related developments (like Technology Square, and the new NASA research center) and an impediment to M.I.T.'s expansion westward. It was for this reason that M.I.T. did not differentiate between the "rail-road" route and the Portland-Albany St. route, which lies to the West and would not take a significant number of the Institute's laboratories.

In fact, what M.I.T.'s presentation did--and did very well-was to obscure the basic issues by raising fears that are either unfounded, exaggerated, or at least poorly explained. The tone of their defense often bordered upon the demagogic, especially in a presentation at a public hearing last Sunday evening:

"[M.I.T] is a scientific arsenal of democracy. From its halls and laboratories come the knowledge and technique, the brain power and the resources which contribute to our national survival in an era where the laboratories and technicians of our enemies work sleeplessly to out-distance us in the race to harness the latent secrets of nature as tools of their supremacy.

"Hence, we respectfully request that the home community of this great national resources pause and consider carefully whether an Inner Belt route should be recommended on a basic premise which excludes from consideration the 'present and projected needs of M.I.T.'"

Who could oppose that? Being against M.I.T. was like being against Ft. Knox.

M.I.T. offered concessions, but they were hardly staggering. When the Institute volunteered, for example, to supply financial and technical aid for new housing to aid those displaced by the Inner Belt, it made a relatively small gesture. The long-term costs of this course would be far less than accepting a route anywhere near the campus.

Yet, for all the surfeit of publicity, M.I.T.'s staunch stand may prove superflous. The Brookline-Elm St. location has long been favored by the State Department of Public Works. Moreover, Cambridge seems unable to agree on any single altern. That was more than evident from public hearing last Sunday. Speaker after speaker rose, but almost no one could agree. Some refused to come themselves, declaring they opposed "any and all Belt routes through