In the '60s, when students evicted deans from University Hall and picketed on Mass. Ave. in protest of authority, campus political views rang loud and clear.

Students consistently followed George McGovern, not George Wallace.

Now, is it Ted Kennedy or Jesse Helms? Or are students generally too preoccupied with the practicalities of forging careers and collecting salaries to worry about the ideologies of either?

This year students' signals have crossed, impeding the transmission of a coherent message about campus political opinion.

In the fall as Chinese President Jiang Zemin's black limousine weaved its way through the throngs of people, record numbers of students lined the streets to protest China's poor human rights record.

But this relatively isolated outpouring of political action may be an anomaly. Students seem generally disinterested in activism and inclined to act more reserved.

Beth A. Stewart '99 rode to power as president of the Undergraduate Council on a platform of little council involvement in political issues and more attention to student living concerns.

While it monopolized campus attention for several weeks, the debate over whether to extend the Harvard Dining Services (HDS) ban on grapes quickly bored many students. The ultimate reinstitution of grapes in the dining halls seemed to indicate a large conservative presence on campus.

Students activist leaders have also had very limited success sparking campus interest in issues such as sweatshop labor and poor working conditions.

A campus observer since the '60s, Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III said activism as an all-consuming campus attitude is in decline. "There's more pragmatism and less risk-taking," he said.

A greater number of students are "coming to Harvard to enjoy higher education to its fullest extent" which appears to lessen their willingness to espouse forceful ideologies and engage in controversial activities, Epps said.

The People's Republic of Cambridge

For a short period of time in October and November, Harvard became the focal point of the national debate surrounding Jiang's visit to America--the visit of the leader of a government with a history of torturing and imprisoning its people. And students showed the nation how they felt--with passion (please see related story, page C-1).

In driving rain, crowds of about 5,000--with a large contingent of protesters--waved flags and banners from the streets from Swedenborg Chapel to the Science Center.

"The amount of people that were there at Harvard--between supporters and protesters--was probably the largest gathering we've seen since the '60s," said Cambridge police spokesperson Frank T. Pasquarello.