Indeed, students may best know Kennedy as a silver-tongued voice of the campus left. Remarkably well-spoken and instantaneously witty, Kennedy may be the toughest debate opponent at Harvard--whether in sanctioned competition or over chickwiches in the dining hall.

David S. Friedman '93, who won the World Championship with Kennedy, says his partner is "very aggressive."

"He always knows what he's talking about," Friedman says. "And he's not afraid to intimidate people. The way he speaks, the way he addresses people comes across as... powerful."

Kennedy has perfected a barroom-brawl style of debating that leaves opponents flummoxed and the crowd laughing. "I got away with murder because I could be funny," Kennedy says.

THE LAMPOON REJECTED DAVID twice before finally electing him during his sophomore year, after his third comp. At Perspective, "we don't really have a comp," he says.

That's not the only difference. In style, the two magazines are totally incongruous: The Lampoon publishes out of a building called "the Castle," hosts black-tie lobster and caviar fetes and toasts the top comedians in the country.

The Perspective is run by a rag-tag group of liberal intellectuals who meet in a dingy basement office at Memorial Hall described by President Jesse M. Furman '94 as "pathetic." The closest thing to banquets are pizza parties.

Kennedy loves both publications. As co-managing editor of Perspective last year, he helped coordinate writing and editing and wrote several articles himself.

But, significantly, Kennedy calls his writing for the Lampoon his "legacy" at Harvard. Many credit his workaholism for increasing Lampoon production, especially over the last year. The organization has struggled in recent years to set aside partying long enough to publish its four or five annual issues. With Kennedy around, the work got done on time.

This year, the Lampoon published nine times--five issues and four parodies--up from six the previous year. Kennedy was the driving force behind the Inside Edge parody, and fully six articles in the most recent issue (which he designed and copy edited) end with his "DJK."

"Dave is someone who doesn't do things by halves," Lane says.

Besides the difference in style, Lampoon and Perspective have opposing reputations on campus. The Lampoon has come under fire in the past from minority groups and women worried that what the Lampoon calls humor teeters on the edge of racism and sexism.

In a spring issue, for example, the Lampoon spoofed "near-death experiences" with an article recounting the stories of fictional people who avoided being killed. One was "Achmed Mohammed, Age 25." The character had eluded death because he was unable "to drive a truck full of explosives into a barracks full of imperialist United States forces." But, the joke went, "[m]y brother Harouk took the mission."

Haneen M. Rabie '95, president of the Society of Arab Students, didn't find the joke funny, and blasted the Lampoon in a letter to The Crimson. She said the piece reinforced stereotypes of Arabs as terrorists. "You can't help but feel discriminated against," Rabie told The Crimson, which was also criticized for a cartoon it ran.

Kennedy, who wrote the article, isn't usually on the receiving end of such charges. Besides the Lampoon, his liberal credentials seem air-tight.