Erudite Eliot

The Harvard Class of 1954 is well-known for its politicians, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) for example, and its writers, such as John Updike, but it is probably most prominent in academic circles for the accomplishments of the four men who lived in Eliot I-51 for three years.

Vice President and General Counsel Daniel Steiner, one of the four, joked about his roommates during a speech at Eliot House to commemorate Harvard's 350th anniversary. All of the roomies except Steiner are professors, two of whom, Professor of English Walter J. Kaiser and Professor East Asian Languages and Civilization Phillip Kuhn, are tenured at Harvard. The other roommate Paul Sheets is a professor of English at the University of California at Los Angeles.

"Daniel was an extremely active member of Eliot House," Kaiser said of the administrator who has been called President Derek C. Bok's right-hand man. Steiner's biggest accomplishment was bringing washing machines into the house.

Steiner, who spoke of his days as House committee chairman, alluded to that great triumph in his Eliot House speech earlier this month, joking that he made sure, of course, that Maytag had no ties to South Africa.

Snappy Dresser, Snappy Law Prof

If sartorial splendor counts for anything in Supreme Court decisions, Law Professor Alan Dershowitz's next case before the High Court is a sure winner. Much to the disbelief of The Dersh, Boston Magazine placed the flamboyant barrister on its best dressed list. "The Harvard law prof's wardrobe is beginning to show the influence of the Newport crowd he hung around with while proving that Claus [Von Bulow] wasn't a louse," wrote the editors of the monthly mag.

"Isn't that hysterical?" Dershowitz says when asked about the honor. "I've always prided myself on being a shlump. It's ruining my reputation." Dershowitz, who has won his share of lawsuits, says he's considering suing the magazine for libel.

Dershowitz added that he turned down offers by von Bulow to dress him during the jet-setter's well-publicized trial. "He did send me some ties, but they're still in the box.

Answering Their Prayers

When Quad house students sing, "Gotta get me to the church on time," Harvard is ready to help them down the aisle. Last year close to 80 students signed a petition, arranged by Thomas Malone '87 of Currier and Rick Chavez '87 of Mather, asking Harvard to provide shuttle service to 5 p.m. mass at St. Paul's Church. Harvard answered their prayers, and this year's shuttle schedule has a 4:40 run from Currier to serve the needs of Catholic students at the Quad.

The listing in the schedule has two asterisks next to it indicating a footnote which explains the holy mission of the voyage from Quad to Yard, it reads; "Church run--Sundays Only."

Of Bach and Sox

While music may soothe the savage beast, baseball excites the cultured brain. The sport that has enamored such intellectuals as George F. Will and Roger Angell produced yelps and huzzahs from the audience attending Saturday night's Bach Society Ochestra concert.

At the end of the intermission, after the Society had already performed a piece by Felix Mendelssohn and Claude Debussy, one the group's social chairmen Gregory Dohi stepped forward to announce that the Red Sox were beating the Mets. But before Dohi could say what the score was in the sixth game of the championship series, the crowd in Sanders Theater broke into a mixture of cheers and hisses. When they eventually calmed down the orchestra appropriately performed a work by American composer Aaron Copland.

The Shuttle College

Harvard Yard might be the only place in the Boston area where New Yorkers could safely celebrate the Mets 10th inning, do-or-die victory over the Red Sox in the sixth game of the World Series. Safely ensconsed inside the University gates, a crowd of Yardlings sang in triumph after a Bill Buckner error allowed the Mets a come-from-behind victory.

Singing Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" and the Mets theme song, "Meet the Mets," the group competed with a bevy of Sox fans who chanted "Oil Can, Oil Can," is the nickname of Dennis Boyd--the scheduled Sox starter in the seventh and deciding World Series game.

The Mets fans cleverly retorted "Oil Can't, Oil Can't," only to be outdone by the revelation that the scheduled Mets starter, Ron Darling, went to Yale.