"Alas, the infamous "Shops By Harvard Yard" sign, which, in its brief life stirred almost as much controversy a tricky Dick himself. To hear sheepish Harvard Real Estate (HER) functionaries tell it, the sign, like Nixton, will be back in a newer, more acceptable incarnation. Trust us, they say, it's all part of the plan.

While HRE is in such a vehement spring-cleaning mode, we at dartboard would like to offer a few more suggestions of the types of items which HRE Ministry of Justice can make "disappear." Start with a ridicules "shops" themselves, and then the gray, pseudo-Bauhaus, bureaucrat-infested, architectural travesty known as "Holyoke Center." Then move across the yard and snatch up cell blocks A-D of the Canaday Penal Colony. Finally, squash Le Corbusier's odious bug of a building, the ineptly named "carpenter center."

All of these aesthetic offenses on the landscape are far more dramatic than the poor Sign that had to take the fall. But to quote our favorite sacrificial lamb: "You won't have the Shops by Harvard yard' sign to kick around anymore."

ELYNN'S DIVINE INSPIRATION

With our final goodbye of the week, we at dartboard would like to present an apology. We are sorry for all the items we impugned Ray Flynn's decision-making abilities. Sure, he may vacillate more than Mario Cuomo; yes, he flip-flops more than Bill Clinton; and of course, he has a harder time deciding between job offers than the most anal Ec jock in recruiting season.

The process of deciding may have been tortuous, but we just can't disagree with the end result: Flynn will not run for governor of Massachusetts. As far as we're concerned Flynn couldn't have chosen better--we look forward to consigning him to the blissful oblivion that the Ambassador to the Vatican surely deserves.

We are left with the question of how Flynn the wembler cam to learn the art to making sagacious choices. Maybe hanging around the Holy see without much to do has allowed a little of that infallibility ex cathedra to rub off on our old friend Ray.