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The Year in Review

The following are excerpts from staff editorials that have appeared in The Crimson this year.

Two years ago, the Faculty with ROTC if the organization did not end its ban on gays, lesbians and bisexuals. ROTC hasn't ended that ban, and the council has not fulfilled its promise.

Instead, Harvard has delayed and wasted, making a colossal mess of what was a forthright decision. The bottom line is that ROTC money is unabashedly intended for non-gays only. Harvard would never consider accepting ROTC funds if they discriminated against women or any minority group. That it does so where gays, lesbians and bisexuals are concerned provides a horrifying commentary on the University's priorities. October 9, 1992

We believe Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton is right on the issues. But Clinton offers more than just the right positions. In a nation that has changed, The Crimson has changed and college students across America have changed. In Bill Clinton, we are offered an explicit recognition of this change. More broadly, in Clinton we are offered a promise, a vision and yes, a hope for the future.

Perhaps five or six year ago--and certainly 20 years ago--The Crimson would not have endorsed Bill Clinton cling his approval of the death penalty and refusal to endorse widespread redistribution, among other things, as the sources of his inadequacy. But if economic growth and the expansion of cultural freedom made our predecessors more idealistic, economic stagnation and the divisive politics of Reaganism have made the current generation of college-age stdends less so.

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We still worry about job loss, educational decay, the poor, crumbling public schools. We still worry about racial division, urban blight and anti-gay attitudes. And now we worry about paying the bills, too. We worry about the long-term economics ability of the nation and its ability to finance the programs we want. We worry about crime and drugs. In the end, it is Bill Clinton who seems to understand these worries best. At base, we know we share Clinton's principles.

A President Clinton won't bring utopia. Four years from now every day won't be sunny, every street won't be free of crime, every home won't be prosperous. But our lives will be better. And electing William Jefferson Clinton is the way to ensure that.   November 2, 1992

It is time for Harvard to make another progressive step in housing equality. The Committee on House Life should fully randomize the first-year housing lottery. In the era of non-ordered choice, there has not been a significant decrease in the influence of perceptions about house character on housing decisions. House character--especially when it means that a group feels uncomfortable living in a certain house--should not be a factor at all. Under randomization it would not.

A random housing making Harvard's a more diverse, welcoming place for students of all background.   December 8, 1992

Harvard lost one of its seemingly entrenched institutions last week. With no fanfare and little explanation. Tommy's Lunch closed its doors Tommy's was one of the premiers late night establishments in Harvard Square. It was older than the Kennedy School of Government. It was older than most of us.

Tommy's was a place where the whole university, and people form Cambridge, could bridge social stratification for a fondly game of pinball or Streetfighter. Tommy's is supposed to turn into a pizza restaurant in January, but the details are sketchy, It's loyal customers are going to want it to come back, Just the way it said may be a find better.   December 1, 1992

We waited wistfully and nervously for Tommy's reincarnation. We suffered through long walks to Au Bon pain for out late-night coffee runs. We lamented the loss of our lime rickeys. Finally, we got the word that Tommy's House of Pizza had opened its doors.

We tried to like it--really, we did. But we've come to a sad conclusion. When it metamorphized into a pizzearla, Tommy's lost all of its atmosphere. Mirrors on the wall? Swiveling stools? fake wood tile Cleanliness Tommy's is supposed to be grimy, not cheesy.

We figured we'd miss the real Tommy's and we were right. Tommy, come back. It's not too late to right this tragic wrong.   February 9, 1993

The rash of on-the-job Harassment complaints among Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) security guards has been nothing short of appalling. But recent evidence that Chief Paul Johnson may be sanctioning reprisals against department whistle-blowers is for more omnious, If many security guards' accusations are true, Johnson has been doing every thing he can to undermine the new harassment investigation by the general counsel's office.

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