Despite the fiscal support, Rosenberg said the magazine is not a University mouthpiece.

It is published by Harvard Magazine, Inc., a nonprofit corporation with three sources of revenue: about 50 percent from advertisements, 30 percent from the University and 20 percent from alumni contributions.

Rosenberg said the magazine is editorially independent because it is not the property of the University, but rather "the property of and a service to the alumni."

Defending the magazine's independent status, he also pointed to the absence of a president's page, a column found in most other alumni magazines.

Stories on financial aid, the Medical School power plant and a recent cover article on the experiences of gay students demonstrate the magazine's editorial independence, Rosenberg said.

In the case of financial aid, the magazine reported that despite the University's much touted claim that tuition increases were declining, the changes still represented an increase when compared with the growth of family income.

"Gay Like Me," by Andrew P. Tobias '68, which generated controversy among alums was another example of the magazine's development and autonomy, Rosenberg said.

"University publicity isn't likely to produce a story on the experience of being gay at Harvard," he said.