Conservative Fund Drive Underway

Buoyed by a "somewhat encouraging" response from alumni, the Harvard-Radcliffe Conservative Club will push ahead with its plans to publish a weekly newspaper beginning this fall, graduate advisor Terry Quist said yesterday.

Leaflets passed out at Commencement exercises appealing for funds brought in less than $1000. Quist said, but he added that there were many small donations. "That indicates to me that there are a lot of people interested, but who may want to see some results before they give big contributions." Quist said.

The fundraising effort "was good, though it wasn't up to our highest fantasies." Quist said. "It was somewhere between a success and a flop," he added.

Wealthy conservative alumni will be "personally solicited" in the next few weeks to raise the $5000 Quist said is necessary to "start the paper with some confidence that it will survive." Pointing to the Dartmouth Review, a weekly conservative paper circulated on the Hanover. N..... campus. Quist said "their seed money, from what I understand, came from conservative alumni."

"I know there are some wealthy conservative people interested in seeing conservative people interested in seeing conservative views brought to this campus," he added.

No Crime

About 1000 fundraising appeals were distributed during Commencement week: they described the growth of the club during the past year, and attacked The Crimson and other campus media as too liberal.

Club membership rose from a handful to 30 or 40 students following Ronald Reagan's conservative landslide. Habib Malik, another graduate advisor to the club, said earlier this sumer. Malik attributed the jump to "disappointment and disgruntlement with the liberal orthodoxy on campus."

"We are viewed by some as a curiousity." Quist said yesterday, adding "The mainstream political efforts on this campus are clearly left of center."

The weekly newspaper--yet to be named--will not change Harvard's political climate immediately. Quist said, but he added club members hope it might lead to an "incremental shift" in student opinion.

"We want to have a well-reasoned, well-written exposition of our viewpoint." Quist said. "It will be something more than seeing William Buckley once every three months on the t.v.," he added.