Marius disputes all allegations of verbalabuse. He says while he's made some mistakes, hehas always treated his employees fairly anddecently. Criticism comes from disgruntled formeremployees who are still upset about having toleave, he says.

"I've never raised my voice to anyone in thisprogram," Marius says.

Asked about Marius' treatment of employees,Sommers says teachers are better authorities onthe matter than she.

"How teachers react to Richard's personality isan issue," Sommers says. "How teachers react to meis also an issue."

Those closest to Marius say thestrongest single motivation for his decision toclamp down on Expos was the case of MichelleSouda.

After seven years at Expos, Souda was fired inthe fall of 1990 when she returned from Italy lateand missed her first week of classes. She hasretained attorneys in an effort to win asettlement from Harvard on the basis that hertermination was discriminatory.

Teachers say that Marius' behavior toward Soudawas at times verbally abusive. Marius declined tocomment on Souda during an interview earlier thismonth.

The director has long told teachers in Exposthat Souda was fired because she was not a goodteacher.

That assertion, teachers say, contradictsMarius' own actions. Sources say the director gaveSouda rave reviews during visits to her class. Andsome new teachers at the time were given hersyllabus and advised to visit her classroom inorder to improve their own preparation.

Teachers say the Souda case has made Mariuswary of praising instructors too much.

"One of the outcomes was Richard is distrustfulof putting anything positive in writing because hethought it could be used against him," a formerteacher says.

Marius believes the four-year rule andother policy changes he has made recently haveimproved morale. He says he "doesn't believe" theassertions of current and former teachers aboutthe state of affairs at Expos.

"If what you're saying is true," Marius saidincredulously in a recent interview, "I don't knowanything."

But current teachers insist morale remains low."I love teaching Expos," says one teacher. "I hatebeing a member of the Expos faculty."

In some ways, Marius seems to grow less andless receptive to criticism. When an article lastApril in the Perspective, Harvard's liberalmontly, attacked several program practices, helashed out at its author and the piece in a letterto the editor as "malicious, dishonest and lazy."In interviews, current teachers say they wereembarassed by Marius' response, and one Exposadministrator called it "appalling."