"While we wanted to be accurate and good reporters, we had an agenda," says Daly of the early '70s Crimson.

But by the end of the decade, "students were becoming less involved," remembers Assistant Managing Editor James G. Hershberg '82, who is now an assistant history professor at George Washington University and the former director of the Cold War International History Project. Politically slanted news reporting abated in the face of declining activist fervor.

Steven M. Luxenberg '74, an associate managing editor of The Crimson, says "behavior became much more professionalized" during his tenure.

While many were "still forming their opinions" on the advocacy role of journalism, "there was definitely a camp that was less comfortable with being overtly political," Luxenberg, who is now the editor of The Washington Post Outlook section, says.

Back from Vietnam

With the demise of protest politics following America's withdrawal from Vietnam, Crimson reporting returned to subjects directly related to the campus-with a few notable exceptions.

The Crimson's "Politics Page," which no longer exists, continued to feature articles on foreign policy developments and the domestic affairs of other nations.

The death of Chilean leader Salvador Allende, the rise of the Sandanistas in Nicaragua, the future of Spain after Franco and the urgency of divestment from South Africa were recurring subjects of coverage.

Alter remembers that Gay W. Seidman '77, The Crimson's first female president, wore pins bearing messages of solidarity with Marxists in Angola.

"While Gay's successors were more...moderate liberals," says Crimson Editor Timothy R. Noah '80, "the paper retained its leftist flavor." Noah is now deputy business editor and senior writer at U.S. News & World Report.

Issues of workers' rights and unionization at Harvard presented opportunities for political reporting on campus.

The refusal of California-based wine-maker E. & J. Gallo Co. to sign a contract with the United Farm Workers became a local story when the Harvard Provision Co., a liquor store on Mt. Auburn St., sought to advertise its Gallo stock in The Crimson.

Daly says editors faced a crisis in deciding whether to "take [Harvard Provision's] dirty money or engage in censorship [by] stifling the advertisement."

According to Alter, labor organizers received a lot of positive press from The Crimson. Buttons with the message "You Can't Eat Prestige" abounded in the news-room during union negotiations at Harvard, revealing the editors' sympathy for low-wage workers.

The Reagan Years