Crimson: There's another meeting of the Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibility scheduled for later this year to discuss Harvard's investments in some companies that to some degree are linked with the production of nuclear weapons. It's an awfully complex issues...do you have any feelings about that issues?

Bok: My sense is that until I understand exactly what issue is being raised and what the arguments are, it would not be very appropriate to comment...I'd like to hear what comes out of the debate.

Admissions

Crimson: Last year there was a fairly sharp drop in the number of Blacks who opted to come here. The feeling at least among some of the admissions officers was that worries about the availability of financial aid--even though inaccurate--may have deterred some from coming here. What steps is or should Harvard be taking?

Bok:I spoke to Fred [Jewett, dean of admissions and financial aid] about it. We began by conducting a survey of what seemed to be the reason why people didn't come here when they were admitted. Financial reasons do loom more important, and I understood from Fred that he and his staff were going to develop a program, as they always do when a problem emerges in admissions to deal with it I'm sure that it will mean intensified recruiting efforts.

I'm sure one thing they're worried about is communication, especially in an era of Proposition 13 and Proposition 21/2; the money available around the country for school districts is declining and that does mean the chance of misinformation, of the kind you mention, is magnified. So we've got to find a way of making sure that our communications get through to students.

I'm sure if the trend of last year repeats itself then we will have even more serious conversations with Henry and me and the admissions staff and try to devise even more significant steps. In the past, however,... I would say just about all the unfavorable fluctuations have been responded to... and the problem hasn't recurred. We'll have to wait another year to see. But we're not waiting another year to do something