"There's never an empty trap around here."

-- A dining hall worker, describing the rat situation in Lowell House.

"They are so bold now that they come out during the day. If there were nothing around for them to eat then they wouldn't come out, but people aren't going to stay around and work and clean and not get paid."

--James H. Neil, a shop steward for Local 26 in Winthrop House, the dining hall workers' union.

All in the Know: In an interview earlier this week, Dean of the Graduate School of Design Gerald M. McCue discussed the lack of minority representation in the school's student and faculty body. McCue says that he is not planning to make any senior appointments to the 17-member tenured faculty. But, he says, "At all levels there is consciousness of the University's Affirmative Action program." He adds that a committee formed this year to examine what can be done to improve the situation is finding "more positive results."

"I just stayed in my little cage reading a book."

--Associate Director of the Danforth Center Sue A. Lonoff, describing what she did while stuck in a Widener Library elevator. Lonoff eventually escaped from the elevator with the help of a firefighter "who very gallantly lent me his hand."

Charles J. Ogletree, who last week accepted a tenure-track position on the Law School's faculty, is a defense lawyer for Lonnie L. Gilchrist. The former Merrill Lynch stockbroker was convicted of killing his boss a year ago.

"It is unusual for a professor to take a trial because trials are inherently of an unpredictable length. But sometimes a professor holds that a matter is so important that he needs to pitch in."

-- Law School Dean James Vorenberg '49 on Ogletree before Gilchrist's verdict came in.

From The Crimson mailbag: Looking for a caterer for an office party? Try the Harvard Dining Services Catering Department. A glossy fold-out flyer advertising the service says it can provide "all occasion cakes," "hors d'oeuvres--hot and cold," "cocktail set ups," and "party platters--sweet and savory." No mention of venerable vegetables.

"I think it is important for a university to remember it is a university. We should encourage this kind of cross-fertilization."

--Professor of Law Alan M. Dershowitz, about a graduate seminar he will co-teach next year with Professor of Geology Steven J. Gould and Porter Professor of Philosophy Robert Nozick.

"Harvard can't say that they are a non-profit organization that fundraises with a tin cup, given the size of their endowment. We have to look at them as we would any corporation."

--Domenic M. Bozzotto, president of the dining hall workers' Local 26 union, about collective bargaining with the University.