Rumor has it that rain has never interrupted a Harvard Commencement.But in 1970, the forces of political activism did.

Saundra Graham, a local activist, stormed the podium, disrupting a speech, and spoke for two hours. She led a group of students, neighbors and anti-war activists, demanding that Harvard stop buying and developing land along the Charles River.

But that was 28 years ago.

"Where is political activism now?" Graham asks. "I don't see any."

"I think the community is turned off from politics, and I think there is a lot of apathy," she says."It's just evolved to the point that people don't feel that they can influence the government,"

Joan Prum moved to Cambridge only recently, but she has already attempted to influence policy through grassroots action.The retired mother of two Harvard graduates helped in the effort to save a house on Linnaean Street from developers.

Prum, along with others, attended city council meetings, circulated petitions and made phone calls.

But nothing worked.

Developers added several new units to the home and chopped down a tree in the backyard, significantly altering the street's character.

Prum terms the newly remodeled house "a monstrosity" and says she feels just as strongly about Cambridge politics.

"Cambridge is a little town that has gotten entrenched in its political system, "she says. "We were given just enough encouragement to continue [our efforts]."

Prum, who has fought successful battles in other communities, says grassroots activism simply does not work in presentday Cambridge.

"I would not try it again, because Cambridge is not to be moved," she says.

Imperfect Politics

Cambridge Mayor Francis H. Duehay '55 says Prum's criticisms are unfounded.