Radical Journal Intends to Shock

Although copies of The Little Friend have been making the rounds of the Adams House dining hall for some time now, it is unlikely that the newest campus publication will end up on a coffee table in the Harvard-Radcliffe admissions office.

One of the pieces in the first issue of the periodical, subtitled "The Journal of Radical Thought," asserts that "Incest is Better Than Cigarettes." Another urges people with suicidal tendencies to "Go for it." Not exactly material for The Harvard Gazette.

Although some of its controversial stances have provoked a lively debate within Adams House, the editors of The Little Friend say that is exactly what they had hoped for. Elijah Aron, the publication's founder and contributing editor, said yesterday that it is intended precisely to stretch the boundaries of campus dialogue.

"We felt that most of the publications on campus were being read by people who basically agreed with what they were reading," Aron said. "[Harvard students] really need to come up with some new ideas."

Indeed, the periodical has to date served as a forum for a number of ideas not usually espoused by the mainstream Harvard press. The front page of the second issue features articles entitled "Your Pro-War Friends Are Genocidal Bigots, Change Them or Dump Them," and "Kill All Straights."

Aron said that he and several of his Adams House friends founded the periodical because they felt that other campus publications, such as the liberal monthly Perspective, were not receptive enough to radical ideas.

In addition, Aron said, they wanted to challenge the popular assumption that the appearance of campus right-wing publications like Harvard's Peninsula indicates that conservativism is back in style.

Aron added that they wanted to disprove characterizations of college liberalism as trendy and superficial, and particularly to escape the concept of "P.C." liberalism. "We wanted to get to ideas that are beyond 'politically correct,'" he said.

Although some of the publication's critics have labelled its viewpoints as extreme, Aron shies away from using that word to describe his new journal. "'Extremist' implies that you accept the current spectrum of political thought," Aron said. "'Radical' [implies] that you are challenging the fundamental base of a lot of assumptions."

Although it has yet to be distributed to the College at large, the publication's editors say that it has so far met with generally positive responses. Still, many members of the Harvard community say they are disturbed by the extreme tone and content of some of the pieces and question whether the diatribes against groups such as heterosexuals and bulemics amount to "hate speech."

"I assume that the editors believe that they are being satirical," said Adams House Senior Tutor Janet A. Viggiani. "However, in general I find it to be insensitive and tasteless, and I could certainly understand if some were to make the argument that certain portions of it constituted hate speech."

But according to David R. Gammons '92, a Little Friend staffer, outraged responses are exactly the point.

"It's fine to offend," Gammons said. "It's a good thing, a fine thing to take something to an extreme and incite a reaction. We have too many apathetic people in this world, too many things that are just banal."

Indeed, there are few things banal about The Little Friend. One of its articles urges the wearers of cowboy boots--"Boots of Blood"--to consider what such footwear may represent to others: conquest, imperialism and patriarchal oppression. Another suggests that Harvard men try going a whole year without speaking.

"I'm not sure whether it's an alternative voice for political discussion on campus. It's more like an alternative humor magazine with a political twist," said Jesse M. Furman '94.

Not everyone, however, agrees with Furman's lighthearted assessment of the publication.

Robert Gordon '93 criticized a piece entitled "Help the USA Lose the War," which appeared on the back page of the second issue. "I thought that was pretty gross, really sort of protest at its worst," he said.

"I think [the publication] is in poor taste," said Sean P. McLaughlin '92, a Peninsula editor. "Even from the point of satire, it's just ridiculous.

"What can you say about it?" McLaughlin added. "It's not even hate speech--it's just a heap of slag."

Those who would like a Little Friend of their own will soon be able to pick one up, said Aron, who plans to distribute copies to other House dining halls