But Horner's psychological data seem much more strongly to confirm the hypothesis not that women are afraid to succeed, but that they are afraid to fail. And this alternative theory is borne out by the melange of statistics published in recent years by the OGCP and the Office of Women's Education--an office established by Horner and under her ultimate jurisdiction--concerning the career goals of women undergraduates. These figures suggest women are no less anxious about "making it" in their chosen fields than are their male counterparts.

Furthermore, any attempt to substantiate the Horner hypothesis with allusions to the marriage-children syndrome leads not to corroboration of the theory that women fear success, but rather to validation of women's fear of failure in anything they undertake to do--becoming housewives included.

The troublesome outgrowth of the publicity given the Horner theory (including a cover story in The New York Times Magazine last year) is that it must inevitably have an adverse effect on opinion regarding the importance of educating women and on the manner in which the education of women is perceived.

It is unreasonable to believe the advocacy of such a theory by the president of Radcliffe College--a 95-year-old bastion of women's higher education--would not be exploited by long-standing foes of equal admissions, particularly a policy mandating a one-to-one ratio.

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Last fall Presidents Bok and Horner appointed a committee--of administrators, faculty, alumni and students--to be chaired by Karl Strauch, professor of Physics, to study the relationship between Harvard and Radcliffe and to make specific recommendations regarding admissions policy.

The formation of a committee charged with considering admissions suggests that this issue will be of paramount importance when the larger question of merger is reviewed by the Harvard Corporation and the Radcliffe Trustees at the conclusion of the coming academic year.

It is ironic that merger has become so controversial an issue. When Radcliffe was founded almost a century ago, its primary raison d'etre was to provide for women the education Harvard College made available only to men.

Women associated with Radcliffe remain as split on the issue as do their Harvard counterparts; in fact, their disagreement may have even more far-reaching implications. Though it may seem absurd that solidarity among women on this campus can only be achieved by ignoring the issue of merger, that certainly appears to be the case