The topic didn't seem like anything to laugh about, but at last night's panel discussion on gay rights and civil rights, the jokes just kept on coming.

Rev. Peter J. Gomes, Plummer professor of Christian morals and minister of the Memorial Church, Patricia Ireland, president of the National Organization for Women (NOW), and state representative Jarrett T. Barrios '99 (D-Cambridge) kept over 100 people entertained as they shared personal stories and political experiences about their common struggle for rights.

Barrios, the first openly gay legislator to be elected to the Massachusetts state house, began by telling the audience that he became involved in politics because he was dismayed by the popularity of polyester suits among an older generation of politicians.

He wanted to make a difference both it terms of politics and fashion, said Barrios, who is one of three Latino state legislators in the state house and the founder of the Massachusetts Latino Caucus.

Gomes and Ireland matched Barrios in humor, but the discussion, which was co-sponsored by the Kennedy School of Government's Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Student Caucus and Women and Public Policy Program, also addressed several serious issues including gay marriage, the relationship between gay right and civil rights, and women's rights.

"For me gay rights are civil and civil rights are gay rights," Barrios said.

Gomes, who is gay, said people have been reluctant to equate gay rights with civil rights and that results in conflict.

"For many people civil rights means fighting for black rights from the era of the Civil War and on," Gomes said.

Ireland's presence on the panel also led to much discussion about the women's rights movement and its relationship to the campaign for gay rights. Ireland said the women's movement needed to cross lines beyond gender and become more involved in the gay rights movements.

"As long as the label of lesbian carries real risks, there are going to be a lot of women who will not speak up for [women's] rights," she said. 1FAY HOUSE

"I expect that during the coming year or two,the dean of the Institute will, with help fromfaculty members and others, shape an academic planfor the new Institute, "Dean of the Faculty JeremyR Knowles said last week.

And in response to reporters questions at lastweek's press conference, Rudenstine painted theInstitute in only broad strokes calling it "rare"and "very, very unusual."

"It means you are pushing the edges, "hesaid. "All institutes of advanced study share thesingle goal of furthering knowledge where onlythere was ignorance before."

At that time, Rudenstine sketched a vision ofthe new Institute as a knowledge-seeking groupsimilar to the Princeton Institute for AdvancedStudy or the Center for Advanced Study in theBehavioral Sciences in Palo Alto, Calif.

Representatives of those institutes said theywelcome the new Radcliffe Institute to theirfamily of advanced study, though they voicedconfusion about how Radcliffe will define itselfacademically.

A Model Institute