Brandeis recently decided to pull its advertising from WBUR-FM, the Boston National Public Radio (NPR) station, amid concern from University alumni and donors that NPR's reports on the Middle East conflict are biased in favor of the Palestinians. These advertisements, for the Heller School, Graduate School for International Economics and Finance, and Continuing Education programs have been halted only temporarily, pending an internal Public Affairs departmental audit following the August departure of Vice President for Public Affairs Michal Regunberg, Director of Media Relations Dennis Nealon said.An Aug. 9 article in the Boston Globe reported the University's decision to discontinue NPR advertising. Emily Achtenberg '65 said in a phone interview with the Justice that she read the Globe article and passed it along to fellow alumni, who were upset by this new Brandeis policy. Many alumni sent individual e-mails and letters to President Jehuda Reinharz, in protest. Reinharz was out of town yesterday, and unavailable for comment.

In addition, a group of 45 alumni who are "friends ... or friends of friends," decided to write to Reinharz as a group, Susan Jones '63 said. This e-mail, whose signers included college professors and Judith Shapiro '63, president of Barnard College, was sent to Reinharz on Sept. 18. The alumni said, "sometimes listening to a program that airs dissenting voices is difficult to hear. But, it is important that we listen and that we support the right of all those voices to be heard," in the letter signed by all 45.

The group letter was sent in response to individual letters Reinharz had sent to concerned alumni. Achtenberg forwarded to the Justice an e-mail she had received from Reinharz, which stated, "your lifetime giving to your alma mater totals $0!" and, "I would have hoped that Brandeis ... merited more than your disparaging criticism with its tone of moral superiority." Disappointment with Stephen Wangh's '64 "disparaging criticism" was highlighted in a second Reinharz response.

Jones said she sees Brandeis's discontinuation of its NPR advertisements as an attempt by pro-Israeli hawks friendly with the administration to "crush dissent." Reinharz, however, wrote in his Sept. 25 e-mail, responding to the group letter, "I am certainly not attempting to stifle criticism of Mr. (Ariel) Sharon or his government."

Reinharz is in the process of scheduling a meeting with Kevin Klose, President of NPR, to discuss his concerns with their coverage, according to Dr. John Hose, executive assistant to the President and interim vice president for Public Affairs.

Despite the concerns of Achtenberg, Ewen, Wangh and other alumni, some say they support Reinharz's stance. Steve Gans '82 said in a phone interview, "the Jewish community traditionally has loved NPR, but there is some real concern about their coverage." He said his company had been an NPR underwriter, but 11 months ago decided to discontinue its financial support, because "by continuing to underwrite, we would be complicit with their unbalanced reporting." He said he did not, however, encourage Reinharz to do the same, although he does support the University's current position

Trustee Steve Reiner '61 said Brandeis pulling its NPR advertisements is simply about economics, and is not to be confused with a freedom of speech issue.

Nealon told the Justice, "We don't know if NPR advertising is a good use of the University's money." While the University advertising budget totals about $1 million per year, Nealon said the portion allotted to WBUR-FM advertisements is "a small percentage of this larger figure," and is in the five-figure range.

"Reinharz is a firm believer that Israel is not beyond criticism," Nealon said, speaking in Reinharz's absence. "He does not believe that any media coverage should be slanted toward either side (in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict). He is looking for fairness and balance, and has stated this many times," Nealon said.

Hose emphasized that Brandeis's discontinuation of WBUR-FM advertisements is only temporary. He said he is hopeful Reinharz and Klose, who himself has expressed concerns about some NPR reporters failing to cover all sides of the Middle East conflict, will resolve their differences at their upcoming meeting.

Meanwhile, the group of concerned alumni is still hopeful that Reinharz will reverse his current policy, and reinstate the NPR ads, taking their views into consideration. "The president is claiming to speak on behalf of the university community. What we want to say is he doesn't speak on behalf of the University. He is not speaking in our name," Achtenberg said.