Department of Biology, Room 56-423             Tel. 617/253-4707

October 24, 1972

To the Editor
The New York Times
229 Nest 43rd Street
New York, New York 10036

Dear Sir:

Your editorial (October 22) on The'Presidential Issue states that "the
President and his men have injected into national lffe a new and
unwelcome element -- fear of government repression, a few reminiscent
of that bred by the McCarthyism of twenty years ago." The truth of
your statement has been brought horn to me in a distressing way in the
Iad few weeks, tihlle collecting signatures for an advertisement against
the Nixon administration.  Several distinguished members of the scientific
community expressed the fear that by signing they mjght jeopardize the
approval of pending applications for research grants from the govern-
menti At least one well-known scientist, after having signed, asked
that his signature be removed for that reason.

If we have reached such a state of intimidation, people should realize
what this means, not only in terms of government corruption, but also
and more importantly in terms of corruption of the public by this
administration.  There is every reason to fear that four more years of
it may pl,unge our nation, from a degrading fear of government repression
to a state of utter corruption and demoralization.

S. E. Lurfa

(For purposes of identification only, the writer is an Institute
Professor and Sedgwick Professor of Biology at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology).