Ayn Rand Condemns Altruism; Crowd Gives Standing Ovation

Novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand received a standing ovation from an audience of 1300 yesterday at Northeastern University after telling them, "Make yourself heard. Speak out against altruism on any scale. Honor the hard, harsh, glorious reality of individual freedom."

Entitled "The Moral Factor," Rand's speech described the national presidential campaign as "the tragedy of an intellectually leaderless people."

Rand said national politicians are guilty of "intellectual treason"--failure to perceive the American public's yearning for renewed sanctity of the work ethic and for an end to "the Welfare State, that dream of the philosophically illiterate."

Commenting on a survey published recently in The New York Times that listed inflation, unemployment, and moral deterioration as the three leading public concerns, Rand said these are "manifestations of the same evils--altruism and collectivism."

Rand, who left her Russian birthplace while in her teens, said she believes the American people are in the midst of a, "blind, groping, ideologically helpless rebellion" against collectivism and its perpetrator, the "lousy modern intellectual."

Student activists in the 1960s were "spoiled brats out after publicity, made by the media and contributing nothing but disorder and chaos. You only contribute by persuasion and propaganda--not by lying down in the streets and looking sloppy and dirty," Rand said in answer to caught everyone's attention at the Business School."

Before class, Sand slipped into rooms and sprawled his campaign message onto all the blackboards immediately beneath the top boards. When professors elevated the top board, Sand's campaign slogan emerged before students' eyes.

Bradbury said yesterday that some students think the Coop position may help them gain admission to graduate school. "If you're going to business school, it's evidence of interest or managerial experience."

Bradbury, who said yesterday that the pricing in the drugs-cosmetics and clothes departments at the Coop are significantly high, added "You have to assume that the Coop isn't ripping you off on purpose, but I'd like to know the reasons for the high prices."

Wu said yesterday he doubted the Coop's statements that its book and record prices are the "lowest possible."

As a student," Wu said yesterday, "I'm just as eager as everyone to see if they're charging us fairly."

The Coop Board of Directors, which is composed of 11 students and 11 alumni and faculty members of Harvard and MIT and a president, is a group which governs the Coop and determines the amount of rebate to be distributed to Coop members