First Black Elected to Head Harvard's Law Review By FOX BUTTERFIELD fercut ie The New Yet Tines BOSTON, Feb. 5— The Harvard Law Review, generally considered the most prestigious In the country, elected the first black president in its 104-year his- tory today. The Job is considered the highest student position at Harvard Law School. The new president of the Review is Barack Obama, a 28-year-old graduate of Columbia University who spent four years heading a community develop- ment program for poor blacks on Chi- cago's South Side before enrolling in law school. His late father, Barack Obama, was a finance minister in Kenya and his mother, Ann Dunham, is an American anthropologist now doing fieldwork in Indonesia. Mr. Obama was born In Hawaii. "The fact that I've been elected shows a lot of progress," Mr. Obama said today in an Interview. "It's en- couraging. "But it's important that stories like mine aren't used to say that everything is O.K. for blacks. You have to remem- ber that for every one of me. there arc hundreds or thousands of black stu- dents with at least equal talent who don't get a chance." he said, alluding to poverty or growing up in a drug envi- ronment. What a Law Review Does Law reviews, which are edited by students, play a double role at law schools, providing a chance for stu- dents to improve their legal research and writing, and at the same time of- fering Judges and scholars a forum for new legal arguments. The Harvard Law Review is generally considered the most widely cited of the student law reviews. • On his goals in his new post. Mr. Obama said: "I personally am inter- ested in pushing a strong minority per- spective. I'm fairly opinionated about this. But as president of the law review. I have a limited role as only first among equals." Therefore, Mr. Obama said, he would concentrate on making the review a •'forum for debate," bringing in new writers and pushing for livelier. more accessible