Review Elects New Executive Board

Amid some debate over its purpose and goals, the International Review (IR), which has seen a third of its editorial executive staff resign in the last year, elected a new executive board last night.

Geordie S. Dukas '97 and Matthew C. Stephenson '97 were elected editor-in-chief and managing editor, respectively. Jamie C. Knox '97 was elected executive editor and Andrew S. Jacobs '97 was elected production editor. Each ran unopposed.

The executives will assume their new posts next month.

Speaking at the election last night, Dukas said the IR has had "several metamorphoses" in his time at Harvard but that he believes the magazine has now settled upon an appropriate level of editorial quality.

Four out of sixteen executive members, including Special Features Editor Anne Walker '96 and Military and Science Editor Cameron E. Half '97, resigned their positions last April.

Yesterday several staffers and one of the executive board members who resigned said the duties of their positions were overwhelming.

"They just give you way too much stuff to do," said the executive board member, who did not wish to be identified. "You're totally swamped and it's an impossible task."

Following the four resignations last spring, IR members said internal conflict on the executive board made the magazine an unfriendly place at which to work.

Last night, one staffer said the demands of producing a perfect quarterly magazine are simply too great for undergraduates to assume.

Others, including Half, disputed the claim that the IR works its staff too hard, saying the IR will succeed under the new board.

The current editor-in-chief, Ramin Toloui '96, said the staff resignations were unusual and did not reflect upon the organization as a whole.

"Two people had problems working with the managing editor," Toloui said yesterday. "Another two had other time commitments."

In August, Managing Editor Jarett Blanc '97 resigned his position as well. Staffers said yesterday half of the resignations were the result of personal and editorial differences with Blanc.

"What happened this summer and last spring isn't how the magazine is supposed to work," Toloui said. "There were some serious problems with the hierarchy: it did not work as it was supposed to, because of tension from a couple of editors that existed from the previous spring."

Toloui said he spent a great deal of time working on the summer issue because he "didn't want to sacrifice quality and wanted to put to rest any lingering problems which could affect the comp or the editors this fall."

Last week the IR published the summer 1995 issue on international law.

Toloui said the IR may demand less of its staffers' time in the future.

"We've had some very frank discussions about the trade off between time and quality," Toloui said. "I wouldn't be surprised if there were some decisions made this year to give a little on the quality aspect."

Approximately 40 students showed up for the elections, but a dozen--mostly International Relations Council board members whose presence is required for the first election--left within half an hour.

Debate over the level of quality the IR should demand of its staffers has dominated recent executive board discussions, members said.

Financial issues also figured prominently in candidates' speeches last night.

And a $16,000 revenue source for the magazine ended last year, Knox said. But because the IR is part of the International Relations Council, which runs the profitable model United Nations conferences, the magazine can afford not to be profitable.

"But we cannot be decadent," Knox said. "We must make sure our printing expenses are justified by our editorial content."

Knox said he is currently seeking donations to the IR from charitable causes

Debate over the level of quality the IR should demand of its staffers has dominated recent executive board discussions, members said.

Financial issues also figured prominently in candidates' speeches last night.

And a $16,000 revenue source for the magazine ended last year, Knox said. But because the IR is part of the International Relations Council, which runs the profitable model United Nations conferences, the magazine can afford not to be profitable.

"But we cannot be decadent," Knox said. "We must make sure our printing expenses are justified by our editorial content."

Knox said he is currently seeking donations to the IR from charitable causes