Short Takes

Dance Marathon Returns in Feb.

After a year's absence from the University social scene, the Harvard dance marathon for charity causes is slated to return this February.

Organizers said they expect more than 150 dancers to fill Memorial Hall for the the 12-hour marathon, which they said might raise as much as $12,000 for Phillips Brooks House Association and other public service groups.

North House residents Jodie M. Kalikow '90 and Nancy S. Goroff '90 said they both danced in the 1988 marathon and were upset when the event was not held last year.

Along with Brent Chinn '92, they decided to revive the event and have been busy since the fall making the arrangements, they said.

"I'm really surprised with the response we've gotten since it was dead last year and since it's so far away," said Chinn.

Kalikow said the Lutheran Homeless Center and the Jefferson Park Teen Drop-In are among the groups which will benefit from the funds.

Past participants in the marathon yesterday praised the event as an enjoyable way to meet people and support worthy causes.

Although the marathon is tiring, said Kenneth A. Gerber '89-'90, it is not difficult to last the entire 12 hours.

"It's a lot of fun," said Goroff. "It's like a 12-hour bonding period. You get tired, but happy and tired. It's a great feeling of accomplishment."

Irish Official Lauds '1992' Plan

The plan to merge Western European economies in 1992 has had a "catalytic effect" in triggering recent reforms and popular uprisings in Eastern Europe, said a former commissioner of the European Community.

Peter Sutherland, now chair of the Allied Irish Bank and former Attorney General of Ireland, told three press members at the Kennedy School yesterday that the changes sweeping both halves of Europe were vital for a stable future.

"There have been two great political events over the last 15 years," said Sutherland, former Commissioner of the European Community said. "One of them is '1992'...The other is recent happenings in Eastern Europe...Neither of them can fail without damaging the other, and U.S. support for both is crucial."

Critics have charged that the move will close European markets to foreign firms. But Sutherland said "the debate and discussion about a 'fortress Europe' has been largely generated on this side of the Atlantic."

"Europe doesn't have the option of becoming a fortress because of its dependence on trade," Sutherland said. "If it does, it will be the result of U.S. protectionism rather than the other way around."

Sutherland also addressed the Irish political situation, saying the unreconciled differences between Catholic and Protestant interests in his native country were "a significant failure" of the European Community.