An author of the controversial Report on the Structure of Harvard College wrote in a letter to The Crimson this week that the report does not recommend reductions to the College's public service staff.

In a letter which runs on today's editorial page, Nancy L. Maull, administrative dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and co-chair of the committee on college structure, said the number of staff public services programs "will likely remain the same."

"Although the Report recommends that a single person have clear responsibility for all public service programs in the College, it does not recommend staff reductions," Maull wrote.

But Gail L. Epstein, the director of the College's public service programs, said she is suspicious of that claim. Epstein has written a memo to Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57 protesting the report's recommendations, and she said yesterday that Maull's letter to The Crimson contradicts the administrator's earlier statements.

"My memo was written after reading the report and after meeting with Nancy Maull, when I asked [whether staff reductions were recommended]," Epstein said. "It sounds like the situation is slightly different now, which is positive."

The Crimson obtained Epstein's memo this month from a staff member of Phillips Brooks House (PBH)--the century-old student-run, staff-supported public service organization which involves 1500 Harvard undergraduates.

The staff member said he released Epstein's memo and a memo written by and PBH Executive Director Greg A. Johnson '72 because he was worried about a lack of regard for public service at the College.

"I think that a lot of people feel that this is something that would really undermine public service at Harvard," said the staff member, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The staffer said he and other members of the organization, which has 9.5 "full-time-equivalent" employees, would be overworked if the faculty of arts and sciences accepts the report's recommendations.

"I think the issue is that public service has been growing at quite a rate, and I think that there is a real need for real support for that public service," he said. "There has been some expansion in staff at PBH in the last year or so and that has just allowed us to catch up with the need in terms of providing the kinds of services we provide."

Despite the assurances in Maull's letter, a source who worked on the report said yesterday that if the document is approved, Epstein's and Johnson's positions will be eliminated.

"It's true that their positions will disappear," the source said. "But that doesn't mean that the number of positions in total at PBH will disappear."

Both Epstein and Johnson, however, said the report is too vague in the recommendations it makes regarding staff support.

The report clearly recommends combining the positions of directors of the College's two public service organizations, the Office of Public Service Programs and PBH, into a single "Assistant Dean of Harvard College for Public Service and Director of the Phillips Brooks House."

In addition, the report suggests that PBH's "staff support and expertise will be available to all public service programs sponsored by the FAS."

Memos