Phi Beta Kappa Men Named

In a meeting last Tuesday, Harvard's Alpha Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa elected 24 seniors to the honorary society.

Lowell and Dunster House both topped the list with four members each, while three members each were selected from Currier, Quincy and Winthrop.

Seniors were nominated on the basis of their grade point averages. Twelve seniors who joined the society last spring, two Harvard professors and Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57--chair of the Election Committee--reviewed transcripts and recommendations from the 48 men with the highest class rank.

"We tried to take into account some degree of breadth of academic experience," said Christopher A. Ford '89, a member of the committee. The selection committee considers not only grades and recommendations, but also the variety and difficulty of classes taken, he said.

This year, the committee deliberated for about six hours before all the decisions were made, said Jackie Weiss '86, Jewett's assistant. "It can be a really long, laborious process," she said.

Every fall, the chapter elects 24 seniors. It then chooses 12 juniors and about 60 seniors in the spring.

"Our goal is to elect, all together, 10 percent of the men in the class to the Alpha Chapter," said Weiss.

The following students were chosen: Charles H. Ahn, Chemistry and Physics; Jeremy D. Avigad, Mathematics; Kenneth S. Boockvar; Chemistry; William C. Crain, Literature; Randall Fecher, Biology; Mark D. Harris, Philosophy; Anthony S. Laden, Philosophy; Steven D. Levitt, Economics; Arthur S. Long, History; Gary D. Mitchell, Economics; Scott A. Nathan, Fine Arts; and John M. Plotz, History and Literature.

The Alpha Chapter also selected Ameek Ponda, Economics; Bjorn M. Poonen, Mathematics; Daniel A. Raskas, Government; H. Scott Roy, Computer Science; Daniel S. Sage, Mathematics; Andrew A. Samwick, Economics; Andrew R. Slusky, Economics; Alexander B. Star, History and Literature; Adam F. Strassberg, Engineering Sciences; Nicholas Waldvogel, Music; Adam Weiss, Fine Arts; and John C. Yoo, History.

Sophomore standing students are not eligible for Phi Beta Kappa in their second year, Weiss said. If they graduate in three years, they are eligible to join in the fall or later in the spring of their third year.