Learning From Performers

Twenty-five newly elected congressmen cruised into Cambridge last Sunday wanting to find out how the American government gets things done, but they never made it to a single lecture in Gov 30.

While hordes of Harvard freshmen were in Paine Hall copying down Government Professor James Q. Wilson's every word, the new freshmen legislators got a taste of the real thing at a week-long series of briefing sessions sponsored by the Institute of Politics.

The crash course in "How to be a Congressman" featured some of Harvard's biggest names as instructors. Government and Politics Professors Stanley H. Hoffman and Graham T. Allison led discussions of foreign policy earlier this week, and Otto Eckstein will repeat his Ec 10 routine this morning in a brief seminar on economic forecasting.

Though Rep.-elect Peter H. Kostmayer (D-Pa.) said last Monday he sensed a "slightly condescending" attitude among the organizers of the instruction program, the legislators haven't spent all their time in classrooms being talked at like the average undergraduate.

Many of the seminars focused on the nuts-and-bolts" aspect of congressional activity, and the congressmen-elect had plenty of time to discuss practical political matters with veteran congressmen, former legislative aides, congressional committee counsels and other Washington types.

And the politicians found time to mix with the voters. The Institute obligingly sponsored a series of receptions Wednesday night where the freshmen legislators came to meet students from their home districts, talk home-town politics, and press the flesh of all those young voters who could be a big help in the next election.

While the stars of the reception proved to be such big names as Sen.-elect S.I. Hayakawa, the feisty Republican professor from California, and Harrison J. Schmitt, the Republican astronaut-turned-Senator from New Mexico, all of the legislators found students eager to speak with them.

Rep.-elect Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), who said he was lured to the receptions by the prospect of free pretzels, said he instead faced questions from students that he described as "incisive, perceptive and illuminating."

In fact, most of the congressmen said they got more out of the Institute's training program than simply a tour of Harvard and a bundle of free meals at the Faculty Club. Rep.-elect Thomas Corcoran (R-III.) yesterday praised the weeklong session as a valuable opportunity for new congressmen to "get a head start on their new jobs." And Hayakawa, speaking at another Institute of Politics reception yesterday, said the program was helpful for him in the hectic task of getting used to his "new trade."

"I've been so busy learning how to be a Senator that I haven't even paid any attention to Jimmy Carter," Hayakawa added.