"I thought it was a hoax," said Tina Rosenberg, a Washington-based free-lance writer. At 27, Rosenberg is the youngest of the 32 new MacArthur Fellows officially announced today. All of them will receive stipends-with no strings attached-ranging from $190,000 to $375,000 over the next five years.

If [MacArthur] Fellowships have gone unsquandered, they have also gone untaxed. But beginning this year, as a direct result of the tax reform, the MacArthur Fellows will pay taxes on the income from their five-year awards.

The program's 100 anonymous nominators are paid honorariums of $1,000 each and appointed for one-year terms to identify candidates for review by a 15-member selection committee. The smaller committee meets eight or nine times a year to recommend possible MacArthur Fellows-for final approval-to the foundation's board of directors. There is no fixed schedule for selection of winners.