But Cohen defends his hankering for repetition ad infinitum--his roommates would say ad nauseum. "I think a piece of music can still be interesting if you discover something new in it when you hear it again," he says. " Besides, my CD budget is not too large, so it's efficient."

It's just this sort of efficiency that enabled Cohen to save Perspective from its dire financial straits. During the interview, he tosses about budget figures for the liberal monthly and other publications the way social climbers drop names.

On the whole, Cohen will be remembered as the person who brought Perspective from the brink of a financial abyss to fiscal solidity without compromising the magazine's liberal ideals. But he has also made his presence felt in the paper's editorial content. As a prominent member of Stop Withholding Access Today (SWAT), a group formed to protest discrimination at the nine all-male final Clubs, he contributed to Perspective's shift toward an activist slant.

Cohen's colleagues also point to his willingness to work long hours and manage nearly every aspect of the magazine's operation. But it is his unyielding confidence in progress and his capacity to place details in their larger perspective that have allowed him to reconcile the roles of advertising whiz and activist.

Cohen has supported the liberal aims of the monthly even when these aims do not make good financial sense. "I try to keep a very, very light hand on the editorial side of the paper," he says. "Certainly I have never tried to say, 'Don't do this or don't write that because it will offend this advertiser.' I wouldn't think of it. I'd be history."

Cambridge's traditionally liberal politics has helped Perspective attract ad sales, Cohen says. And, he adds, "most of our advertisers don't care about the larger political issues. They're more concerned with whether the ad sells pizzas."

But there are exceptions. After a story exposing inefficiencies at the Harvard Cooperative Society--a minor, nearly inactive advertising account, according to Cohen--the department store's president vowed never to have anything to do with the magazine. And according to one staffer, pro-Palestinian pieces have not been popular with certain people at the Jewish student organization Harvard Hillel, a large advertiser.

But Cohen dismisses these incidents, saying that Perspective can print what it wants. He also admits to having been lucky that more substantial conflicts have not threatened Perspective's solvency.

And Cohen points to a bevy of other concerns that still need to be worked out. "How severely should we apply the things we say in the paper in house?" he asks in reference to a proposal to print on costly recycled paper. He shakes his head, "Another unresolved conflict."

Perhaps the person who best describes what Cohen is and what he achieved as Perpective president is Cohen himself. In one of the few articles he wrote while president, the Lowell resident described how "business liberals" can use the power of money to effect progressive social and economic change.

According to the article, Democrats and other left-wing politicians have been becoming increasingly aware of this "formation of a new and potentially commanding force in 1990's American politics."

In fact, the term "business liberal" is the perfect label for Cohen, who this summer will attend the Radcliffe publishing course in preparation for a career in book or magazine publishing. "The apple's not falling too far from this particular tree," he says.

Despite the bitter, often personal, disputes that have occasionally plagued Perspective, Cohen has managed to remain popular among the staff of the monthly. Perspective editors praise Cohen's ability to Keep disagreements on a professional level and talk about his approachability. "Adam has always been keen on not becoming isolated," says Chrystia A. Freeland '90-'91, a senior editor on the journal.

And Cohen abandons this diplomacy only in the pages of Perspective In person, he is more non-committal. He has written articles blasting University policies placing added burdens on fledgling student groups, but he hesitates before placing blame on the shoulders of Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III, saying Epps helped Perspective several time in the past. He also says he pities Epps for the rude treatment he received in a recent parody of The Crimson by the Harvard Lampoon.

But he finally vents his frustration with the College administration When he broaches the subject of Harvard College News, a newsletter recently created and published by the College's administration. The journal solicits advertising from local businesses, directly competing with dozens of student publications for the limited ad dollars from Harvard Square companies. "It's rather curious that the organization that's intended to help student organizations is competing with them," he says.