Reaction Mixed Over Leverett Voting Mix-Up

Residents of Leverett Towers contacted last night displayed mixed reactions to yesterday's court ruling permitting them to vote in the Toomey-Graham election for state representative.

Mike C. Olmsted '78 said, "It's so close to the election that I have to wonder why it wasn't done much earlier."

"It sounds like gerrymandering to me," Ken K.W. Lee '77 said.

"It's all very confusing," Susan L. Sullivan '79 said. "It is strange that the redistricting business should occur so soon before the election," she added.

Wayne N. Eastman '77 suspected that the close election is directly tied to the districting problem. "There's a lot of politics going on here," he said.

Watergate Cuts Faith

"So much has gone wrong in government in the last few years and the people's faith is so low that people in public life should bend over backward to avoid doing anything that looks like dirty politics," Robert B. Greenberg '76-4 said. "And this does not look good."

While those students worried about the appearance of impropriety, others were concerned about the immediate impact on Cambridge politics.

Distraction

"It's a distraction," said Geraldine Jackson '79. "The worst part of the districting controversy is that it detracts from the real issues of the campaign," she said.

Nevertheless, some students saw little cause for concern.

"I reside here in the Towers, not in McKinlock (old Leverett)," James K. Brerard '79 said. "If the district line follows the street that separates us, then here's where I should vote," he concluded.

One Towers resident who refused to be identified said, "It doesn't matter to me where I vote. I doubt there are enough student voters in New Leverett to swing an election anyway."

Jay M. Shanahan '78 said he disagreed. "It seems like all the students I know are voting this year," he said. "Leverett House