But the choice of Professor of Law Robert C. Clark as dean of the Law School was as disturbing as the Putnam appointment was commendable. Not only does Clark have little practical experience in fundraising, an essential skill as the school embarks on a massive capital drive in the coming years, but he also has been a vocal opponent of the radical faction of the Law faculty.

The school has suffered a series of extremely divisive tenure battles over the past few years, and members of the Law School community had hoped for a dean who could heal those wounds. As a result, the surprising appointment of Clark was opposed by a substantial percentage of the faculty. Although Clark has shown signs that he will be more tolerant as dean than he was as a faculty member, the appointment reflected an attempt to steamroll over the concerns of the school.

THE year also saw two important challenges to the administration from members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) as well, revolving around the central administration's refusal to take the Faculty's views into account.

In November, Coolidge Professor of History David S. Landes shocked the administration by opposing its plan to build a new hotel on the Mass. Ave. Gulf Station site. Landes pointed out that in light of the shortage of FAS library and office space, the site should be used for academic purposes.

The ensuing controversy highlighted the struggle between the academic pursuits of this University and its constant search for economic gain. Bok later agreed to consult FAS on future real estate plans, and it was decided last month--after Cambridge citizens complained that the University demolished the station before it could be declared a landmark--that FAS would control the former Gulf Station site.

In addition to the Gulf Station debate, the administration and FAS have been accused of watering down a proposal to improve hiring of minority and women faculty members.

The report, presented by a Faculty committee headed by Pforzheimer University Professor Sidney Verba in March, called on the departments to designate affirmative action representatives, who would be responsible for identifying qualified candidates and drawing up reports on the departments' progress each year.

But the response to the report has been less than faithful to its primary goal of creating adversarial voices to spur each department to action. Instead, the Executive Committee of the FAS has proposed that the department chairs be responsible for the affirmative action duties on top of their already heavy administrative loads. Under this version, there would be little guarantee that departments with bad hiring records would improve their practices.

The weakened version of the affirmative action report is not only an attempt to lessen the non-administrative faculty voice, but also a direct slap in the face to a substantial group of students who have been committed to forcing FAS and the University to increase its minority hiring.

BUT the slap was only one of many this year, as Harvard continually turned a deaf ear to students' concerns. This tendency to ignore student concerns was exemplified in the University's refusal to substantially improve campus security.

In December, a staff member was raped in the middle of the afternoon in the Science Center. Harvard police reported that the assailant gained access to an upper floor of the building and held his victim hostage without being caught.

This frightening episode, and two reported incidents of sexual molestation of freshman women, led to increased demands from students and staff members for better security measures around the University. Yet the adminstration only replaced the student guards at the Science Center with armed, professional ones. Harvard refused to lock three of the building's four doors after business hours or limit access to the upper floors before 5 p.m. because such measures would be inconvenient for some faculty members. The administration also refused to increase the number of street lights in the Yard, even after six assaults of students near in the Square in a four-week period, because it would harm the historic value of the area.

Meanwhile, Harvard has yet to procure another car for the escort service. Although some students created a walking escort service in February, the University's response to the problem has been inadequate. Students should not be forced to supplement ineffective or insufficient official services that the University should instead be committed to improving.

THE year, then, has seen a continuation and increase in the administration's refusal to recognize competing voices and claims. But more important, it has seen an number of different groups--dissenting overseers, angry professors, protesting students--calling the University on its insensitivity and intolerance of new views. We welcome these new challenges as possible means of forcing the administration to listen and respond.

The only way for the University to improve its services to the community and to retain its status as one of the country's premier institutions of higher learning is for it to open itself to other voices. It is only in listening to and integrating these voices in the decision-making process that Harvard may continue to grow with its community.