Love is a many-splattered thing: Chris Darryn of the Talk Show Guest Registry in Reseda reports that the latest addition to his database of TV hopefuls is Brenda Love, author of "The Encyclopedia of Unusual Sex Practices." Love has profiled 706 subjects, including "a man who is aroused by having pies thrown in his face during sex."

*

Speaking of sexual humor: For one of the area's longest-running billboard misspellings, June Shelnutt of Los Angeles nominates the Smash blunder on La Cienega Boulevard in West Hollywood.

*

Who said Hollywood can't sink any lower?You may recall that construction of the Metro Rail Red Line caused sinkage of the Hollywood Walk of Fame and cracking of some plaques.

Now, there's a sequel to this real-life horror story. Mann's Theater has written to Parsons-Dillingham, the construction management firm for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, complaining that "over the past few weeks, an 8-by-15-foot section in the southeast corner of the Chinese Theater forecourt began sinking. . . . It includes handprints, footprints and signatures of such motion picture stars as Bette Davis, Lana Turner, Myrna Loy, James Mason and Esther Williams."

And the sad fact is that, unlike the Walk of Fame plaques, the prints of such departed stars as Davis, Loy and Mason cannot be replaced.

*

Obviously, the juror candidates haven't been buying: Don't know if you noticed, but "Nicole Brown Simpson" by Faye Resnick with Mike Walker is No. 1 on the national charts for nonfiction hardcovers, followed by "Crossing the Threshold of Hope" by Pope John Paul II. But in Southern California, the Pope's book is No. 1, followed by Resnick's tome.

*

Ethnic politics, 1850-style: Author Gloria Lothrop notes that even 144 years ago, newcomers to the state were a controversial issue.

But these newcomers were Americans who had moved here from elsewhere in the United States after California was admitted to the Union. These Americans were sometimes accused of ignoring California land titles and of preferring to settle disputes with firearms.

Lothrop, a California history professor at Cal State Northridge, found an 1850handbill distributed in the city that said:

"It is time to unite! Frenchmen, Chileans, Peruvians, Mexicans -- there is

the highest necessity for putting an end to the vexations of Americans in California."

*

One measure whose backers refuse to give up: Marge Klugman of West L.A. noticed the accompanying proposition is listed in the Official Sample Ballot -- just as it was in 1992, when it apparently lost. We're not committing ourselves until we hear Ross Perot's position. miscelLAny Looks as though the computer age has even come to fortune-telling. A Long Beach woman advertises her business as "Anna, Technical Consultant on All Problems."

In a county of 9 million people, we're lucky if we have one or two we can always depend on. Bob Abrams had one. Her name was Mary.

She was the element in his life that made everything work; words that made sense and laughter when he needed it.

Mary brought music and energy into their small Westside home, and a sense of order that transcended even the knowledge that she was dying.

She cooked for her husband and young son Josh as long as she could, and dinner was always a formal affair. There were cloth napkins on the table when Mary served, and never a bottle of ketchup.

She was, as wives so often are, Bob's best friend, but no docile little woman willing to tolerate his bombast with submission. Holler she could and holler she did, and the silence in their house is deepest in the rooms she once filled with the sound of her voice.

Her vitality lasted into the final few weeks of her life, and even then it burst through the pain and finality of cancer like shards of glass in sunlight, sinking back into darkness and silence with reluctance.

"I'm terminal," she said to me one day in a glowing period of lucidity. "It's a funny feeling."

Abrams is a familiar figure in L.A., a publicist I've known for as long as I've been a columnist. Mary worked as his secretary, and was a voice of casual good humor on the telephone.

He called one day, as he often did, but not to pitch an idea. His tone was edged with sorrow and incredulity. He said, "Mary's dying."

*

At 48, she had been given only a few months to live, but clung to the threads of her life for almost two years. They took a delayed trip to Europe and, later, Mary went on a hot-air balloon ride with Josh.

She wanted a long, last look at the world before she left it, a view from the heights at an existence that was fading. She saw it not through tears, but with characteristic gusto. She waved and winked and that was that.

Mary died last May 27th, shortly after noon, the sizzling energy of her life silenced at last. Her ashes lie in a niche at the Pierce Brothers Mortuary in Westwood.

I met Bob there to talk about her. A light rain was falling as we sat in a sheltered cove. The weather seemed appropriate to the moment. Autumn has its own way of dealing with grief.

I wrote about Mary in 1992, a few weeks after she'd been told she had terminal cancer. If my job is to put a face on the city, I wanted to reveal a face that wasn't smiling. Death is a walk we take alone, and it's important to know that among us are those who take it with remarkable aplomb.

But the story doesn't end there. Bob and Josh, now 18, continue on in the house Mary once filled with her presence.

"She's everywhere," Bob said that day at the mortuary, his voice breaking slightly.

He meant it. Her clothes still hang in the closet, her costume jewelry still has its place on a night stand, her books still jam shelves in their bedroom. A whiff of her cologne lingers in the air, like the scent of roses in the wind.

*

Mary is an abiding presence in sound and image.

Bob sees her lying on the couch reading, and hears the clatter of her typewriter in the hours past midnight. She worked while others slept.

Mary studied the violin, and bits of classical music, played as an amateur, embrace her memory, the way ribbons embrace love letters from the past.

"She wore her hair long and tied back," Bob said, seeing her even as he spoke. "I'll never stop remembering her that way."

When Mary died, Bob wanted to die with her. "She was too good and too young," he said, as we watched rain turn green patches of the cemetery into emeralds. "I can't think of her without crying."

Their house, damaged by the January earthquake, is still a wreck. His public relations business is all but nonexistent. But for his son's sake, he has begun therapy to emerge from the depression left by Mary's death.

"Life goes on," he said, reaching for sunlight. "But she'll always be there."

I can't imagine, and don't want to imagine, what life would be like without my Cinelli. But I can, at least, try to empathize with his loss and the need to emerge from a devastating emptiness.

In moments of sorrow, we need the assistance of others to keep us from drowning in our own tears. A hand reaching out to those who grieve is one worth grasping. For what help it brings, Bob Abrams, . . . here's mine.

T imes policy is to endorse selectively, on a case-by-case basis. Only those races in which this newspaper is endorsing in Tuesday's election are listed below.

National Offices

U.S. Senate: DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D). Why take a chance with a relative unknown? Especially when the incumbent is terrifically effective? Feinstein is a powerful voice for California in the U.S. Senate and richly deserves reelection.

U.S House of Representatives,

by District:

24th -- ANTHONY C. BEILENSON (D)

26th -- HOWARD L. BERMAN (D)

28th -- DAVID DREIER (R)

29th -- HENRY A. WAXMAN (D)

30th -- XAVIER BECERRA (D)

32nd -- JULIAN DIXON (D)

33rd -- LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD (D)

34th -- ESTEBAN E. TORRES (D)

35th -- MAXINE WATERS (D)

36th -- JANE HARMAN (D)

38th -- STEVE HORN (R)

40th -- JERRY LEWIS (R)

42nd -- GEORGE E. BROWN JR. (D)

43rd -- MARK TAKANO (D)

47th -- CHRISTOPHER COX (R) State Offices

Governor: PETE WILSON (R). Kathleen Brown is fresh and determined but the experienced and capable Wilson, though wrong about Proposition 187, is right about a lot of other things and merits a second term.

Lieutenant Governor: GRAY DAVIS (D). The longtime state controller offers experience and imagination.

Secretary of State: TONY MILLER (D). Miller, the acting secretary of state, promises to curb voter fraud and clear the deadwood from voter registration rolls.

Controller: KATHLEEN CONNELL (D). Formerly an investment banker, Connell would bring sharp, modern management ideas to government.

Treasurer: MATT FONG (R). Fong gets the nod over Phil Angelides, a quality player, because of his comprehensive proposals to increase efficiency and cut government costs.

Attorney General: TOM UMBERG (D). The tough-on-crime Orange County assemblyman offers a nuanced approach to crime-fighting.

Insurance Commissioner: ART TORRES (D). The Los Angeles state senator has a solid record as an advocate for consumers and has much experience dealing with insurance issues.

Board of Equalization Office No. 4: BRAD SHERMAN (D). Sherman is a solid choice and deserves a second term in this important but often overlooked office.

Superintendent of Public Instruction: DELAINE EASTIN. Maureen DiMarco is also a good candidate, but the edge for this nonpartisan office is held by Eastin, a Fremont assemblywoman who knows educational issues and has the political acumen for this key post. California Legislature

State Senate:

36th -- KAY CENICEROS (D)

State Assembly:

41st -- SHEILA JAMES KUEHL (D)

42nd -- WALLY KNOX (D)

43rd -- ADAM SCHIFF (D)

44th -- BRUCE PHILPOTT (D)

53rd -- DEBRA BOWEN (D)

69th -- MIKE METZLER (D)

70th -- MARILYN C. BREWER (R) Statewide Propositions

NO -- Proposition 181 (Public Transportation Bonds): Authorizes $1 billion in general-obligation bonds to fund California's passenger rail transportation network. Unwise given the state's heavy debt load.

YES -- Proposition 183 (Recall Elections): Attacks wasteful back-to-back elections by allowing recall votes to be held as late as 180 days after certification.

NO -- Proposition 184 ("Three Strikes"): This ill-conceived and hugely expensive measure would imprison criminals convicted of a third felony (there are more than 500 such felonies under California law) for 25 years to life. It's dumb criminal justice policy. Worse still, it's unnecessary; legislation nearly identical to this initiative took effect last March. Passage would only make it harder for the Legislature and the governor to make necessary refinements in the existing law.

NO -- Proposition 185 (Gas Tax/Transportation): This measure, backed by Southern Pacific Railroad Co., imposes a 4% sales tax on gasoline. It would fund rail projects primarily; other transportation-related needs such as seismic retrofitting would be scanted.

NO -- Proposition 186 (Single-Payer Health Care): Establishes a state-run "single-payer" health care insurance plan and creates the post of state health commissioner. It sounds good in principle, but it's a big-government nightmare. This is one time California doesn't need to be the guinea pig for the nation.

NO -- Proposition 187 (Illegal Immigrants): This counterproductive measure would cut schooling, health and social services for the estimated 1.7 million illegal immigrants here -- and, even then, not come close to addressing the complex problem of immigration, which is rooted in economics.

NO -- Proposition 188 (Smoking and Tobacco Products): Masquerading as a tough anti-smoking measure, this mendacious offering -- paid for by tobacco companies -- would in fact emasculate all tough smoking regulations, both local and statewide.

YES -- Proposition 189 (Expanding No-Bail Provisions): Amends the Constitution to permit courts to deny bail to individuals accused of "felony sexual assault offenses" who threaten another with physical harm. Good idea as long as it's not abused in implementation.

YES -- Proposition 190 (Judicial Performance Commission): Reforms the state's Commission on Judicial Performance, which is responsible for disciplining errant or incompetent judges. The measure ensures that a majority of commission members will be from the public and grants the panel more authority to remove or discipline current and former judges.

YES -- Proposition 191 (Justice Courts): Eliminates justice courts and merges them with the municipal courts in jurisdictions of 40,000 or fewer people. Los Angeles County

Superior Court Office No. 2: TERRY B. FRIEDMAN. This veteran state assemblyman and former poverty lawyer has the patience, fairness and compassion to be an excellent judge.

Superior Court Office No. 4: TERI SCHWARTZ. An outstanding prosecutor with the hard-core gang division of the L.A. County district attorney's office, Schwartz has the respect of her peers for her skill, intelligence and demeanor.

Superior Court Office No. 93: MITCHELL BLOCK. In a close call over Susan Bryant-Deason, an accomplished prosecutor. Measures in L.A. County

YES -- Los Angeles County, Charter Amendment A: Gives the County Board of Supervisors needed flexibility to increase or decrease the compensation for the posts of district attorney, assessor and sheriff.

YES -- El Rancho Unified School District, Bond Measure C: Permits the El Rancho Unified School District in Pico Rivera to issue $13.3 million in general-obligation bonds in order to upgrade facilities including fire, earthquake, electrical and security systems; provide students with access to modern technology; renovate or replace obsolete facilities; construct permanent facilities, and make improvements to older buildings on district property.

YES -- La Verne, Lancaster, San Dimas and Walnut, Measures E, F, G and L: An advisory vote to support the L.A. County Board of Supervisors' creation of a community facilities district (CFD). Property owners in cities that voluntarily join the CFD would be subject to a small assessment on their property taxes, when needed, to increase materials, hours and days of service at the besieged county public library branches in their communities.

YES -- Long Beach, Bond Measure D: Authorizes the issuance of up to $48 million in general-obligation bonds to finance improvements to city facilities, bringing them into compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act.

YES -- San Marino, Special Tax I: Extends a special public safety tax for paramedic services, police protection and fire protection and prevention. The current levy expires in 1995.

YES -- Santa Monica, Charter Amendment J: Saves the city money by allowing it to publish condensed versions of city ordinances.

YES -- Santa Monica/Malibu Unified School District, Measure K: Permits the school district to continue a special tax that funds educational improvements. This measure extends the special parcel tax -- $58 a year -- for six years and increases it to $68 per parcel. The measure requires a two-thirds majority for passage. Orange County Offices

(Nonpartisan)

Supervisor, 2nd District:

LINDA MOULTON PATTERSON

Clerk-Recorder: GARY GRANVILLE

Judge, West Muni Court:

DANIEL C. DUTCHER Orange County Measures

NO -- El Toro Initiative, Measure A: Movers and shakers are agitating prematurely to require that a commercial airport be established at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, in Orange County's largest remaining open space. Let planners study the airport and other ideas before deciding. Everybody will be better off if this initiative is rejected.

Your article on the St. Lo memorial was welcome reading for this old sailor. The 40th and so far the 50th World War II anniversaries concentrating on the Normandy invasion have made some of us feel our ordeal in the Pacific is a forgotten war.What your article neglects to mention is that by far the bulk of those 3,000 Kamikaze attacks came at a place called Okinawa. For six weeks the Navy was hammered by day and by night.

This was the last, the bloodiest, and the least known battle of the war. The surrender of Germany ahead of it and the cataclysms at Hiroshima and Nagasaki afterward succeeded in burying news of a fight of epic nastiness. Anyone with a strong enough stomach who would like to know more could read "Tennozan" by George Feifer. It tells exactly what we were up against, courtesy of the warlords who perpetrated the rape of Nanking and the death march on Luzon.

VARREL SMITH

Rancho Mirage

* The item about the first kamikaze reminds me of the last one in Leyte Gulf. It struck the ship ahead of ours in the convoy, carrying units of the 38th Infantry Division (Avengers of Bataan) during the first week of December.

KEITH STARK

Alhambra

When is California going to put another box on its ballot form -- "None of the Above"?

JEANETTE SWAIN

San Marcos

Re "Kicking Homework Out of School," Oct. 27:

As the producer of the longest-running, Emmy-award winning, live homework assistance television program in the nation, "Homework Hotline," I am deeply disturbed by the notion that homework is superfluous in the education of K-12 students. We field over 700 calls per week from students who need homework assistance. Some of them need minor reinforcement, others require more involved help, and almost all of them have no parent or sibling home in the afternoon to help. None of the students who call our hot line complain about the assignments. These students are utilizing homework to reinforce the lessons learned in the classroom, as well as learning study habits and skills that will help them succeed in college and work-life in their adult years.

When you watch the show (which is broadcast to 10 million homes on Channel 58 Monday through Thursday from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.), you'll see the real value of homework. These students are learning, achieving, getting better grades, and advancing to higher levels of knowledge.

JON C. MERRITT

Los Angeles

* As a special-education instructor for English at Dorsey High School, I am very interested in educational policy for all students, but especially for low-achieving minority students of the inner city. The issue of homework reflects more than just the common concerns on how much homework to assign, when to assign homework, whether or not to even assign homework. Rather, it may be more important for us as educators, parents and policy-makers to examine what kinds of homework activities are assigned and to which student populations.

Within the area of special education, most homework assignments are usually reductionistic in nature, typically including activities such as "drill and skill" work sheets, phonics attack practice sheets, vocabulary words to define. Many special educators complain that their students do not return homework assignments and often display problems of motivation and distractibility. At the other extreme of the continuum, students participating in classes for the intellectually gifted usually bring home assignments that are meaningful to their own lives, authentic (based on the real world around them) and conducive to working with others during the assignment.

Ask your child to show you a recent homework assignment. Is it a list of 20 words to define or a letter to write? Is it a phonics fill-in-the-blank work sheet or a real book to read (not a textbook)? Homework assignments reflect the teacher's and school's educational theory of how students learn! Do children learn through drill-and-skill or through motivation and interest?

SUSAN KOGAN

Los Angeles

I was delighted to read the article by Chief Jerry Oliver of Pasadena (Oct. 17). Oliver has certainly got it right.Community policing is a philosophy of doing business, it is not a program and it's not a quick fix. It's the right way to go, but it will take time to make the change in our systems. Community policing does not require just a change in the police department, either. It requires a change all through our systems. In fact, you can successfully make the argument that community policing is only one part of what must be viewed as community-based government.

It is going to take a long time to make the changes Oliver and Patrick Murphy (Commentary, Oct. 17) so eloquently describe. What works well in Pasadena may not work well in Glendale or La Habra. Community policing is very much a philosophy that must be created for an individual community.

I hope and I believe that we are entering a period of time in our community when we will reverse the decades-old trend of "letting George do it," and move into a period of time when we all will hold ourselves responsible for the conduct of our communities. It's our community and we are responsible. Community policing is but one element, maybe the leading element, to foster this change.

Thank you for presenting this issue in such a realistic and positive way.

STEVE STAVELEY

Chief of Police

La Habra

The interview with Mikhail S. Gorbachev (World Report, Nov. 1) struck a note of irony. Celebrated for his openness and candor, Gorbachev has yet to demonstrate that candor when it comes to a key historical reality: Communism was unreformable. Perestroika amounted to mere tinkering with a system which was, at its root, rotten. This explains why the Eastern European dictators dropped off their high places like ripe fruit once Moscow let it be known that it would no longer use troops to protect those regimes from their own people.

But why was communism unreformable? Because as a relic of the old industrial era it ran up against the new era of the computer and communications. Mind control from the Kremlin would no longer work -- not even at the end of the barrel of a gun.

But for Gorbachev to admit as much would pry open a Pandora's box of even more hard-to-face questions such as: "Was communism a grave error from the beginning?" And so long as he spends time looking back at might-have-beens, how about this one: a 20th Century minus the bloody tyranny, economic backwardness and ecological disaster of communism.

CHARLES WELLING

Newport Beach

Edith Hamilton, that remarkable teacher and woman of letters, was unyielding in her admiration of Greek civilization and of the Athenians, who, she believed, achieved the world's purest form of democracy.

We may differ with Hamilton's assessment of the democratic attributes of the Athenians (it was a slave state and women couldn't vote), but find agreement with her in that the Athenians had a profound understanding of the word idiot.

To the Athenians, an idiot was any person who did not participate in the democratic life of the nation, and who, therefore, in the Periclean sense, was viewed as useless.

Today, in California and across the nation, several millennia beyond ancient Athens and its experiment in democracy, millions of our citizens will ignore our own elections. They will do so for a variety of reasons -- but whatever those reasons are, the citizenry's failure will represent a staggering indifference to the fate of American society and our democratic institutions.

Their contemptible refusal to vote, which is the bare, minimum requirement of a citizen in a democratic state, is not a new phenomenon. It has been growing at an alarming rate since the 1960s.

It has been said, "we get the government we deserve." Please, if you don't vote, spare those of us who take this duty with the utmost seriousness, your empty, hypocritical complaints.

The Athenians were wrong about a number of things, but in their definition of the useless members of their society, the "idiots" among them, they got it right!

On Sept. 27, Newt Gingrich and the House Republicans issued their now-notorious "Contract with America," a 10-plank platform including tax and spending cuts, a balanced-budget amendment, legal reform and term limits. Predictably, President Clinton and the Democrats pounced, labeling it "Voodoo 2," and "Reagan Redux," a budget-busting, job-exporting "Contract on America."

The media reaction has been just as harsh: "Broken Contract," snarled the New Republic. "Duplicitous propaganda," editorialized the New York Times. The double-barreled barrage is clearly taking its toll on Republican prospects; today the voters finally get their say.

Yet whether the Republicans are triumphant or trampled, one thing is certain: the charge that the contract is just a neo-Reaganite vote-grubbing ploy is wrong. The contract has emerged from Gingrich's brow after a lifetime of rumination and reflection. And Gingrich is no Gipper nostalgic -- he is an unconservative conservative, impatient with the past, eager to bring the "quality revolution" that is storming the private sector into the sleepy public sector. Even if Gingrich is merely the minority leader in the upcoming 104th Congress rather than Speaker of the House, his vision of transformation through technology, of a post-bureaucratic new New Deal, is sure to help shape American politics for the rest of the decade.

Most politicians seem to have no higher goal than energetic constituent service and endless reelection. Gingrich is different. He has built a national grass-roots following on his one big idea: The 20th-Century welfare state will not stand. Does that make him a radical? Responds Gingrich: "I'm unwilling to accept the boundaries and norms of the decaying Establishment."

Gingrich's Bigthink recalls another revolutionary -- his own staff freely uses the adjective Leninist to describe him. Gingrich is no Bolshevik, but he plots and prepares like one. In his 16 years in Congress, Gingrich has created his own vanguard of groups with names like COS, GOPAC and the Progress and Freedom Foundation. The cyber-era equivalents of Lenin's agitprop pamphlets are Gingrich's audio and videotapes, distributed to Republican candidates and cadres nationwide. Gingrich's hot, apocalyptic talk -- he recently called the Clinton Administration "the enemy of normal Americans" -- aims to spark the grass-roots to insurrection.

But Gingrich's inspiration came not from Marx but from a visit to Verdun. An Army brat growing up on military bases in Western Europe, Gingrich had wanted to be a zookeeper. But on that World War I battlefield, he saw the glassed-in ossuary with the unidentifiable remains of 100,000 men, just some of the 1.3 million who died there. That persuaded him that blundering political leadership can plummet whole nations into the abyss.

Gingrich went from the big historical picture to the even bigger tapestry of the imagination. Science fiction is a key to understanding the Newtonian universe. Two of his favorite works are Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" trilogy and Frank Herbert's "Dune" chronicles; both are multicentury epics of wax and wane. A decade ago, Gingrich was an "Atari Republican" who thought that technology could shortcut earthbound cultural concerns. His 1984 book, "Window of Opportunity," argued the urgency of the Reagan "Star Wars" program, which he folded into a larger brief on the importance of American space supremacy.

But with the Cold War over, Gingrich fears that the long struggle against social chaos is being lost. His oft-repeated jeremiad -- "Our civilization cannot survive with 12-year-olds having babies, 15-year-olds killing each other, 17-year-olds dying of AIDS, 18-year-olds getting diplomas they cannot read and 25-year-olds who have never held a job" -- could have been spoken by Children's Defense Fund President Marian Wright Edelman.

Gingrich, however, believes that this plague of pathologies comes because, not in spite of, the bureaucratic welfare state. Determined to replace the Great Society with an "opportunity society," Gingrich is reaching into the heart of the welfare system to pluck out the votes and moral authority of the damned, the dispossessed and the despised. It is an audacious strategy, a mix of idealism and calculation designed to split the poor from their bureaucratic overseers. Gingrich strongly supports school vouchers; for him the liberation of inner-city schoolchildren to pursue better learning would happily coincide with the annihilation of the National Education Assn., a pillar of the Democratic Party.

Searching for streamlined models for a functional future, Gingrich analogizes from the debureaucratization of corporate America in the past 15 years. He frequently cites management gurus W. Edwards Deming and Peter Drucker as guides to what a Gingrichified government would look like. In "The Effective Executive," Drucker urges his readers to examine any activity and ask themselves one question: "If we did not already do this, would we go into it now?" Few institutions can survive the rigorous "Drucker Test" intact. Vice President Al Gore's "reinventing government" initiative may have chipped at the Gibraltar of bureaucratic obsolescence, but Gingrich promises to bring in the blasting caps. One target: the health-care system. Gingrich believes that health-care costs would crash like the price of computer chips if only the IBM-like bureaucracy were blown away. His solution is for market forces and health-care "IRAs" to make every American a cost-conscious, comparison-shopping consumer.

Gingrich plans a secular alliance to besiege the last bastions of bureaucracy. He shies from the late Lee Atwater's inclusive "Big Tent" formulation, but he clearly sees hot-button moral issues such as abortion and homosexuality as a diversion. Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition is one player on his "new majority" team, but so is Steve Gunderson, the openly gay GOP congressman from Wisconsin. Says Gingrich, using words not often heard in Georgia, "I've never asked him what he does in the bedroom and he has never asked me."

As Lenin wrote, "every crisis in history . . . stuns and shatters some, but it enlightens and hardens others." The crucible of the next two years will distinguish glass from diamonds. With his own rare clarity, Gingrich sees his chance to cut a window of opportunity for himself and his ideas.

Sue and I are sprawled on the old orange corduroy sofas, still grungy from our camping trip when Tom finally gets home. He navigates easily through the toys and puzzles and piles of camping gear his wife and I have just dragged in, and plunders the kitchen for dinner, which today will be a cucumber, two carrots, a pear, cheese curds and zucchini bread.

He kisses his wife and drops beside me on the mushy couch. The comfortable disarray feels like old times.

Tom has always had boundless energy, and despite a long day's work, he is eager to talk, hearing the highlights of our camping trip, quizzing me on my own life, and then, as usual, slipping into politics.

Within a half hour, we are plowing through the minefields of welfare reform and U.S. policy in Haiti. It is the same sort of passionate political discussions that we have had for years, Tom and Sue and various others crowded on these very couches, talking out our plans for the world. But this time it is for real. Tom is running for Congress.

Although the campaign has been going on for more than a year, I'm still not used to the idea that a friend of mine, a contemporary with whom I have danced all night, flipped pancakes and moved furniture, could actually be helping to govern the country some day soon. It is hard to picture Tom at a state dinner after I have watched him at his kitchen table devouring a mixing bowl full of spaghetti, "carbo-loading" for a triathlon.

I mean, I know this guy. I dated his housemate. We had yard sales together. Being best friends with his then-girlfriend, (now wife and mother of a 2-year-old) I was privy to his every fault and transgression.

There is something unsettling about the idea of one's contemporaries running for Congress. Was this always so? Did Eisenhower or Truman have old school buddies sitting around shaking their heads, saying, "Can you believe it? Do you remember what that bonehead did that time . . . "

Our generation, the thirty-somethings, have been notoriously reluctant to admit that we have grown up. The American people have always wanted wise, noble and (though loathe to admit it) somewhat paternalistic government. The horror of my generation now is that this government must come from us.

I had a hard time accepting Tom as a congressman, not because I know him to be unqualified but simply because I know him at all. And yet, Tom fits perfectly our classical ideal of a representative -- intelligent and creative, of common birth and modest background.

Campaigning and politics, never pretty I'm sure, have become savage. Five or six appearances in one day, shaking hands, handing himself out in pamphlets. How can the people possibly know him? How does an ordinary person without millions to spend on a campaign even compete?

Tom is lucky. Wisconsin is still the sort of place where a campaign bicycle ride is respected. What happens to the Toms in California, Texas and New York?

Tom has already traded his Guatemalan shorts for blue shirts and khaki pants. How much more will he and his family have to change? Will Sue have to start wearing pantyhose every day? Will these couches have to go?

Can you even get elected with couches like these I wonder? They are horrid things, soft of spine and saggy of cushion, but still undeniably orange. These couches, hulking there like a dowager and her hunchback son, came from a friend's group house, to my group house to Tom's group house some 10 years ago.

But these couches are exactly why Tom should be elected. These couches are fiscal responsibility; living within a budget and choosing priorities for spending. These couches are family values; spending your money on frequent flights home to Grandma's instead of on new furniture. These couches are substance over form, issue over rhetoric, tradition over speculation.

As we finally turn out the lights and go to bed, I feel this mix of awe and sadness and lovely fragile hope. In the dark, the couches look like battered old orange freight cars, freight cars loaded with dreams, ideals and responsibilities.

Now my only thought is, if Tom actually wins, will we have to move these things again?

The recently released report of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence regarding the Aldrich Ames espionage case is a catalogue of horrors. The committee, which is responsible for overseeing U.S. intelligence agencies, provides a detailed and gripping account of how the CIA ignored a crescendo of evidence that it had a traitor in its midst. The agency's harshest critics could not have imagined so damaging a sequence of events as actually occurred.

From April, 1985, to this past February, Ames spied for the Soviet Union from within the CIA. During that time he was frequently drunk on the job (and was once hospitalized for alcoholism), failed to provide required reports on his professional activities, met apparently dozens of times with Soviet "handlers," was unproductive in carrying out his CIA assignments, was given poor ratings by his supervisors, engaged in a lavish and conspicuous lifestyle that was clearly unsupportable on his CIA salary, deposited his cash payments from the Soviets in local bank accounts in his own name, stole documents, probed colleagues for information he was not authorized to have, disregarded security regulations, showed "deception" on his routine polygraph (lie detector) test and was careless to the point of unconcern when it came to concealing his espionage activities. He was so sloppy and cavalier that he drove his KGB sponsors to distraction. Nevertheless, in the words of the committee, "Ames was never disciplined by the agency and continued to be promoted and given key assignments during the course of this almost nine years of espionage activity."

The consequences for the CIA's ability to gather intelligence on the Soviet Union were catastrophic, resulting, according to the committee, "in the execution of 10 Soviet sources, the imprisonment of many others, the compromise of over 100 intelligence operations against the Soviet Union, and the passing of several thousand classified documents to the KGB." By 1986, the Soviets were "wrapping up our cases with reckless abandon," commented one CIA officer.

How can such ineptitude and inattention possibly be explained? The committee report does not try to answer that question except to note the existence of a CIA culture "unwilling and unable" to face the possibility that one of their own had become a Soviet agent. Whatever the validity of that explanation, there is at least one other major factor at work. Ever since the paranoid witch hunts within the CIA for a nonexistent mole in the 1960s and early 1970s, counterintelligence and security have been viewed with distaste and even disdain within the agency. To be assigned to either was a career dead-end for a CIA officer. Both were used as a dumping ground for substandard employees. In the critical period of the late 1980s when Ames began his career of betrayal, the overall head of CIA security was a former intelligence analyst with no background in investigatory or security work. In short, the designated guardians of the agency's secrets were its weakest employees. Give your least valued, potentially most disgruntled personnel responsibility for your most sensitive programs and you have a disaster waiting to happen.

The entire affair has been made far worse by the CIA senior management's reaction to it. When the scope of the intelligence losses first became known, CIA's leadership failed to inform the congressional oversight committees, as required by law. When Ames was finally arrested, CIA management initially attempted to downgrade his importance. When the full scope of the disaster became publicly known and the agency officials responsible had been identified, the current director, James Woolsey, responded with mild letters of reprimand to less than half of them. As the committee noted, no one "was fired, demoted, suspended or even reassigned as a result."

All this has highlighted a crisis of purpose and direction that has confronted the intelligence community since the Berlin Wall fell. The CIA and other agencies were created to collect intelligence on and do covert battle with the Soviet Union. With the Soviet empire's demise, what purposes do these agencies serve? Do those purposes justify the massive and expensive enterprise U.S. intelligence has become?

Woolsey had a unique opportunity to turn a fresh page in the history of American intelligence. He became director in a new Administration at a time when everyone was looking for new ideas and a new direction -- and a new austerity. He had a mandate to take bold initiatives. There have been none. As for Ames, he was a blight on the record of previous directors. Woolsey was in a position to claim credit for finally bringing Ames to justice and to underline the seriousness of the matter by punishing those responsible and instituting tough reforms in counterintelligence. He has not. Finally, in these difficult times when close and effective collaboration between the intelligence agencies and the congressional oversight committees is vital, Woolsey has so mishandled the relationship as to virtually disqualify himself from continuation in office.

If the CIA is to remain an important component of national security in the late 1990s -- and that is by no means certain -- it will certainly require a major overhaul under new leadership.

Meilen Tu, a 16-year-old from Northridge playing only her second professional tennis match, upset eighth-seeded Amanda Coetzer, 6-1, 6-3, on Monday in the opening round of the Virginia Slims of Philadelphia.

Coetzer is ranked No. 16 in the world. Last year, the South African won tournaments in Australia and Japan, but she was able to win only one service game against Tu.

"I knew if I played well, I'd have a chance," said Tu, who lost to Meredith McGrath, 6-3, 6-4, last Tuesday at Oakland in her professional debut. "I knew she was a little bit nervous because I came out playing pretty well. I was attacking right away. I didn't give her any errors."

Jennifer Capriati, who has been on a 15-month hiatus from tennis, will play a first-round match against sixth-seed Anke Huber on Wednesday.

Capriati, who was arrested May 16 for misdemeanor marijuana possession, has refused to do interviews before her match. In a statement she said, "I wouldn't say I'm in tip-top shape, but I feel good enough to break the ice."

Capriati, 18, entered a 28-day in-patient drug rehabilitation program in Miami after her arrest.

*

Olivier Delaitre of France offset fourth-seeded Richard Krajicek's 18 aces to win, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-4), in the first round of the European Community Championship at Antwerp, Belgium. Jurisprudence

The former controller of Bruce McNall's coin firm pleaded not guilty to charges that she helped divert money from a coin fund to McNall, but she has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy. Patricia Linden, 39, pleaded not guilty at her post-indictment arraignment in Los Angeles. Federal law prohibits magistrate judges from taking guilty pleas.

Six jurors were selected for the trial of Toronto Blue Jay pitchers Dave Stewart and Todd Stottlemyre, who were charged with battery and resisting arrest after a scuffle with police outside a nightclub in Tampa, Fla. If convicted, each player could face up to five years in jail and a $5,000 fine. Stewart also faces a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct, which carries a maximum 60 days in jail and a $500 fine. Baseball

Baseball's chief negotiators are expected to talk from Thursday-Sunday in Rye Brook, N.Y., with mediator W.J. Usery, the first meetings on consecutive days since Aug. 24-25. There have been only four negotiating sessions since players struck Aug. 12 and only one since Sept. 9, five days before owners canceled the World Series for the first time since 1904.

Right-handed reliever Joe Grahe, who the Angels have already decided is no longer in the team's plans, will have arthroscopic surgery on his pitching shoulder today. Miscellany

The presidents of Tulane, Southern Mississippi, Louisville, Memphis, Cincinnati and Houston have voted to form an all-sports league, The Times-Picayune of New Orleans reported. Four additional schools will be invited to join.

Don Weems, football coach at Harbor College since 1989, was injured when he was hit by a car Friday while crossing a street near his home in Hermosa Beach. He remains at Kaiser Hospital in Harbor City in fair condition in the intensive care unit.

Sammy Fuentes (28-13-1, 24 KOs) knocked out David Ojeda (17-3) in the fifth round to retain his Penta Continental Junior Welterweight title at the Forum.

Toni Kukoc scored 19 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter, when he and the Chicago Bulls' other reserves outscored the Philadelphia 76ers by 20 points and rallied the Bulls to a 98-83 victory Monday night at Chicago.

It was the second consecutive career-high scoring game for Kukoc, who during training camp balked at being a backup.The second-year pro from Croatia, who outscored the 76ers during the fourth quarter, 19-14, scored 25 points Saturday against the Washington Bullets.

Scottie Pippen, the only Bull starter to play in the final quarter, scored 22 points.

Utah 104, Atlanta 86 -- Karl Malone scored 28 points and the Jazz held the Hawks to only 29 points in the second half at Salt Lake City.

The Hawks were short on offensive options because of the trade of forward Kevin Willis to the Miami Heat before the game. The Hawks acquired Steve Smith and Grant Long from the Heat, but neither was at the game.

San Antonio 105, New Jersey 96 -- David Robinson had 18 points and 19 rebounds and reached 10,000 career points to lead the Spurs at San Antonio.

Jerry Reynolds is the Will Rogers of the NBA. And in a day and age when players strike, leagues lock their players out and fans sulk, a sports humorist is a breath of fresh air.

Reynolds is a longtime member of the Sacramento Kings' front office. He has been general manager, player personnel director, coach, and now, player personnel director again.

Monday, he was the luncheon speaker in Sacramento for the editors representing the Western Region of the Associated Press Sports Editors.

He was also a breath of fresh air.

"If anything I say here changes or improves your life," he said, "you really haven't got a life."

Good point.

*

Trivia time: The NBA franchise known now as the Sacramento Kings is one of the NBA's most traveled. Where did the Kings originate?

*

Back home in Indiana: Reynolds is from French Lick, Ind., so he obviously has some Larry Bird stories.

"Larry was this big ugly guy," Reynolds said. "But he was the best-looking person in his family, and I'm not just talking about his brothers.

"French Lick had a population of about 1,009, but we lived in the suburbs. His family lived in town. They were poorer then we were, so we made fun of them. It's the American way."

*

French Lick, Part Deux: Reynolds said that fame is not only fleeting in French Lick, it is nonexistent.

"My mom still lives back there and she's getting along in years, but my brother is there and helps her out a lot," he said. "A while back, my brother was sick and the yard started growing a lot, and Larry Bird noticed that one day when he drove by. So he went home, got his lawn mower and mowed my mom's yard. When I heard about it, I called my mother and asked her about it and she said, 'Oh, yes, that happened. It was one of Rose Bird's boys, but I'm not sure which one.' "

*

The NBA Today: "Ten years ago, the players used to come into the league with big contracts and at least feel guilty about it," Reynolds said. "Now, some guy comes in his rookie year, getting half the rebounds of Karl Malone, and making more money than John Stockton in a lifetime and he feels like he has it coming."

*

What makes the world go around? "Invariably, when they say it ain't about money, it's about money," Reynolds said.

*

Seeking ultimate warrior: On some of the new NBA rules, including the one against hand-checking, Reynolds said: "I like the rule. Our league was starting to look like the World Wrestling Federation. Before long, Hulk Hogan would have been playing power forward."

*

Life in the NBA fishbowl: "Just think about it, there I was, coaching in the Forum, and being able to argue with Jack Nicholson," Reynolds remembered. "Or watching as Magic Johnson called all the fouls for the referees in the closing minutes. Ah, what a thrill."

*

This couldn't happen, could it? Reynolds' thoughts on salaries: "If I had $70 million guaranteed, I might miss a lick or two in some games."

*

Reynolds' rap: The Sacramento executive had this thought on the NBA's projected expansion: "There are plenty of players out there for us to come up with a couple of more bad teams."

*

Trivia answer: The Kings began life as the Rochester Royals in Rochester, N.Y., in 1948-49. The Royals moved to Cincinnati for the 1957-58 season, then changed their name to the Kings and moved to Kansas City-Omaha in 1972. In 1975, the Omaha part of the franchise was dropped and in 1985 the club moved to Sacramento.

*

Quotebook: Reynolds had this final thought about the NBA, a league attuned to international marketing and goodwill, sending the Clippers to Japan for their first two games this season: "Perhaps we don't want the Japanese market." BILL DWYRE

Meilen Tu, a 16-year-old from Northridge playing only her second professional match, upset eighth-seeded Amanda Coetzer, 6-1, 6-3, on Monday in the opening round of the Virginia Slims of Philadelphia.

Coetzer is ranked No. 16 in the world. Last year, the South African won tournaments in Australia and Japan, but she was able to win only one service game against Tu -- the fourth game of the second set.

A long deuce battle ensued in the ninth game of the second set between the two, each using a two-handed backhand. Tu closed the match when Coetzer hit a lob out of court.

"I knew if I played well, I'd have a chance," said Tu, who lost to Meredith McGrath, 6-3, 6-4, last Tuesday at Oakland in her professional debut. "I knew she was a little bit nervous because I came out playing pretty well. I was attacking right away. I didn't give her any errors."

* Baseball

Baseball's chief negotiators are expected to talk from Thursday-Sunday in Rye Brook, N.Y., with mediator W.J. Usery, the first meetings on consecutive days since Aug. 24-25. There have been only four negotiating sessions since players struck Aug. 12 and only one since Sept. 9, five days before owners canceled the World Series for the first time since 1904.

Angel right-handed reliever Joe Grahe will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his pitching shoulder today.

The surgery will be performed by the Angels' orthopedic physician, Lewis Yocum, at Centinela Hospital in Inglewood.

Bobby Meacham, a former infielder for the New York Yankees, was promoted by the Pittsburgh Pirates to manager of the triple-A Calgary Cannons.

The Detroit Tigers fired pitching coach Bill Muffett and replaced him with Ralph Treuel. Miscellany

Elaine Roque, an eight-year veteran on the Coors Light Women's Pro Beach Volleyball Tour, has been elected president of the Women's Professional Volleyball Assn.

When USC quarterback Rob Johnson cashes that big NFL bonus check next summer, he should send a contribution to the Washington State football scholarship fund.

The Cougars have been known as an outstanding defensive team but they could not prove it by their performances against Johnson the last three seasons.Johnson completed 60 of 85 passes for 915 yards against the Cougars. His three touchdown passes to Keyshawn Johnson on Saturday gave him seven against the Cougars.

And by completing 20 of 31 for 327 yards, Johnson raised his 1994 completion percentage to .675.

*

Washington State's athletic director, Rick Dickson, will receive a letter this week from the Pacific 10 Conference office, reminding him that the conference has a guideline about impartiality on the part of public address announcers.

Glenn Johnson, the Cougars' PA man at Martin Stadium for the last 10 years, encouraged "First Down!" chants by the crowd Saturday on Cougar first downs, and was impartial only in announcing USC plays -- until Trojan Ed Hervey made a remarkable catch late in the game, a play Johnson described as "fantastic."

"We'll send Washington State a letter, a gentle reminder, that we encourage impartiality," said conference spokesman Jim Muldoon.

*

USC faces another noted defensive team Saturday against Arizona, and Coach John Robinson said it's a better unit than Washington State's. "It's a more balanced defense, and it doesn't play as close to the edge as Washington State's," he said. "They play a better overall defense against a variety of offenses." EARL GUSTKEY

A week off did UCLA good, said Coach Terry Donahue, but, then again, it wasn't really a week off.

The Bruins practiced hard on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, then had a weekend respite before beginning preparations for Saturday's game against Arizona State at Tempe, Ariz.

"It was a productive week," Donahue said. "We made some progress in our timing, and it helped get some people ready to play who might not have been able to play if we had had a game."

Center Mike Flanagan is one, right tackle Chad Overhauser another. Both are nursing leg injuries. Linebacker Rod Smalley and fullbacks Daron Washington and James Milliner profited by a week off to nurse injuries. All are expected to play Saturday night.

*

The UCLA-USC game of Nov. 19 will be on ABC, with a starting time of 12:30 p.m. Tickets remain at both schools. JIM HODGES

The Raiders' magic number is 1995. . . .

Maybe then they will have a new coach, a new playbook, a new attitude and a new opportunity to fulfill their enormous potential. . . .

What happened Sunday at Kansas City was a disgrace to the silver and black. . . .

A night full of penalties, other fundamental mistakes and poor decisions left the Raiders (4-5) with the same record as the Rams going into Sunday's game at Anaheim Stadium. . . .

"The Raiders can't continue to do this," ESPN commentator Joe Theismann said in the third quarter after either a pass intended for Tim Brown or a run by Harvey Williams. "The Chiefs aren't stupid." . . .

But the Raiders continued to do that and finished with a total of three points. . . .

It was a shame that a terrific performance by the defense -- led by Chester McGlockton up front and Terry McDaniel in the secondary -- was wasted. . . .

Jeff Hostetler was off form again. . . .

The questions to be asked about the quarterback: Was last year an exceptional year that he won't be able to match again? Is his arm hurt? Is the play calling from the sidelines so predictable that he can't overcome it? . . .

Enjoying more success Sunday was Chris Chandler of the Rams. . . .

It develops that the Rams' most important quarterback acquisition might have been Chandler, not Chris Miller. . . .

Chandler hung up some good numbers -- 19 for 25, 223 yards and two touchdowns -- in the Rams' 27-21 victory over Denver, despite having his bell rung early in the third quarter. . . .

*

Last year, Los Angeles universities had perhaps the two best wide receivers in the nation, J.J. Stokes of UCLA and Johnnie Morton of USC. . . .

The same should be true next season with Keyshawn Johnson of USC and Kevin Jordan of UCLA. . . .

Johnson, a junior college transfer who caught three touchdown passes against Washington State, has the smile, confidence and tools of Michael Irvin. . . .

Clearly, the mythical national championship is Nebraska's to lose now that the Cornhuskers are No. 1 in both polls.Remember, they will be playing a highly ranked team in the Orange Bowl while Penn State will be playing a lesser regarded team in the Rose Bowl. . . .

I guess the problem with Nick Van Exel last season was that he didn't shoot enough. . . .

The Lakers open their home schedule Friday against Denver, and the Clippers open Thursday against Atlanta. Plenty of good seats are available. . . .

Give the edge to the Golden State Warriors in the deal that sent Billy Owens to the Miami Heat for Rony Seikaly. . . .

Surprise of the rookie crop could be guard Wesley Person of the Phoenix Suns, who scored 23 points against Miami on Sunday. The younger brother of Chuck also attended Auburn and was the 23rd draft choice overall. . . .

What do you think about those unbeaten, Atlantic Division-leading Washington Bullets? . . .

*

The only American citizen among the top 26 males in the New York City Marathon was third-place finisher Arturo Barrios, a native of Mexico City who got his citizenship papers in September. . . .

Gary Stevens' front-running ride on One Dreamer, who won the Breeders' Cup Distaff at 47-1 Saturday, reminded me of his work aboard filly Winning Colors in the Kentucky Derby six years earlier. . . .

Wayne Lukas saddled eight starters in Breeders' Cup races and only Cat Appeal, who was eased in the Juvenile Fillies, didn't bring home a check. . . .

Lukas' horses earned $1,936,000, lifting the 59-year-old trainer back to the top of the national standings with $10,844,000 in earnings this year. . . .

Lukas says Timber Country is as good as any 2-year-old he has had, which puts the colt in the same company with Grand Canyon. . . .

Horses that finished first or second in each of the Breeders' Cup races have been nominated for stakes that make up Hollywood Park's seven-race Autumn Turf Festival. . . .

Santa Anita is hoping to attract Timber Country to its Derby, Concern to the Strub Stakes and Holy Bull to the Big 'Cap. . . .

A young heavyweight to watch is 6-foot-5, 222-pound Courage Tshabalala of South Africa, who scored his eighth consecutive knockout by flattening Ricky Rice in 20 seconds on the Foreman-Moorer card. . . .

I get a kick out of the boxing purists who say that having a 45-year-old champion is bad for the sport. . . .

Actually, the revival of George Foreman is the greatest thing to happen to the sport since the emergence of Muhammad Ali.

A week off did UCLA good, said Coach Terry Donahue, but, then again, it wasn't really a week off.

The Bruins practiced hard on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, then had a weekend respite before beginning preparations for Saturday's game against Arizona State at Tempe, Ariz.

"It was a productive week," Donahue said. "We made some progress in our timing, and it helped get some people ready to play who might not have been able to play if we had had a game."

Center Mike Flanagan is one, right tackle Chad Overhauser another. Both are nursing leg injuries. Linebacker Rod Smalley and fullbacks Daron Washington and James Milliner profited by a week off to nurse injuries. All are expected to play Saturday night.

*

The seasons of Arizona State and UCLA are parallel, and for more reasons than their matching 3-6 records.

Both anticipated being better, but injuries have gotten in the way and neither has stood out on defense.

UCLA is ninth in the Pacific 10 Conference in total defense and Arizona State is last. The Sun Devils have given up an average of 31.1 points, and teams have passed for 2,500 yards against them. UCLA gives up 28.1 points and 223 rushing yards a game.

*

The UCLA-USC game of Nov. 19 will be on ABC, with a starting time of 12:30 p.m. Tickets remain at both schools. JIM HODGES

The Dallas Cowboys, resisting the temptation to look ahead to San Francisco, were in a fighting mood after losing one of their best players.

Emmitt Smith rushed for 163 yards and scored twice and Troy Aikman threw a touchdown pass and ran for another Monday night in a 38-10 victory over the New York Giants that cost them wide receiver Alvin Harper.

The two-time Super Bowl champions improved to 8-1, best in the NFL, with their 12th consecutive victory over an NFC East opponent. Harper sprained his left knee just before the teams scuffled heading to the locker rooms for halftime, and owner Jerry Jones said the injury "didn't look good."

"It could be a tear and we're worried about him being out for the year," Jones said in the press box during the game. "The way the doctors were talking, I didn't like the way it sounded."

Dallas plays at San Francisco (7-2) next Sunday in an important game for playoff home-field advantage. But the Cowboys apparently weren't thinking about San Francisco as they handed the Giants (3-6) their sixth consecutive loss.

"We dominated the game from start to finish but we have a tragic loss because Harper is probably out for the season," Dallas Coach Barry Switzer said. "It just devastates us. We'll have to go to a second-team player against the 49ers."

It was the first time the Giants had lost six games in a row since 1980 under Ray Perkins. Dallas, which has won five consecutive times against the Giants, hadn't beaten them this badly since a 52-7 romp in 1966.

"It was no contest," Giant Coach Dan Reeves said. "We looked as bad as we could look. Dallas was too strong and too good. This hurt. I don't like to be embarrassed like that."

Dallas put the game away quickly.

Aikman and Smith took the Cowboys 95 yards in 10 plays for a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter. Smith ground out 58 yards on the drive, and Aikman finished it with a 17-yard pass to Michael Irvin and a 22-yard touchdown strike to Harper, who beat rookie Thomas Randolph.

Smith scored Dallas' second touchdown on a one-yard run to join Jim Brown as only the second player in NFL history to score 10 touchdowns a season in his first five years.

Cowboy offensive guard Derek Kennard suffered a sprained big toe but may play against the 49ers.

The first half ended on a bizarre play when Harper and Giants defensive back Tito Wooten went down in a tangle in the end zone on a long Hail Mary pass. Harper injured his left knee on the play, missed the second half and will undergo a magnetic resonance imaging test today.

Harper, who left the dressing room in crutches, said, "He (Wooten) cheap-shotted me. All I've got to tell him is the last game of the season is in New York and somebody is going to get hurt."

Harper left, vowing, "I'll be ready for Sunday. I'll be ready for Sunday."

After the play, Irvin and Jarvis Williams of the Giants exchanged swings as more players gathered. No damage was done as the teams pushed and shoved their way to their dressing rooms, scattering cheerleaders and halftime performers.

Dallas safety James Washington took a tripod away from a photographer during the scuffle and brandished it as a weapon, although he never hit anyone.

Brian Keefe was resigned to putting his college basketball career on hold and attending a prep school in the East. His SAT scores weren't lacking and his grade-point average was fine, but Keefe wasn't happy with the kinds of college opportunities afforded him.

"I thought with a year of playing at a prep school, I could get to a better level of Division I basketball," he said.

But Keefe's play last summer in an AAU tournament in Las Vegas drew notice and, all of sudden, he had scholarship offers from Rutgers, Boston University, Duquesne, Drexel, Richmond . . . and UC Irvine. The Anteaters had a scholarship to offer when Todd Whitehead left school because of academic difficulties.

"Coach (Rod) Baker told me he wanted me," Keefe said. "My parents kind of made me take the trip out here to see the school. It's a long way from home (Winchester, Mass.) and that was a big factor for me. I thought about it for two weeks before I decided. And how far away it is is what I thought about most.

"But I really liked the coaches and when I weighed UCI with the other offers I got, this came down to the best opportunity. The coaches said I would get the chance to play some minutes because there's really only one other player at (the shooting guard) position."

Talk about significant others . . . the Anteaters' starting shooting guard is senior Chris Brown, the nation's No. 1 three-point shooter last season. Maybe Keefe would have gotten more playing time at that prep school. But the 6-foot-4 freshman has been impressive in practices and scrimmages. And he's proven that he's more than just a shooter.

"I wouldn't say he has been a surprise," Baker said. "It's more of one of those occasions when a player turns out to be exactly what we thought he would be. All too often, it's the other way around, when a player isn't as good as you thought and you have to start making adjustments."

At Winchester High, Keefe averaged 28 points as a senior, was the Middlesex League Most Valuable Player and still wasn't a campus hero.

"Basketball isn't given that much attention in our town," Keefe said. "I mean a lot of people come to the games, but football is the big sport in our town.

"We didn't have a very successful basketball team. I was really the only one who concentrated on basketball. Everyone else on the team came out as like a second sport."

Keefe's focus resulted in his ascent to the top of Winchester's all-time scoring list with 1,163 points during his career.

"Yeah, I was the focus of the team," Keefe said, "but it's not like I'll have to make this big adjustment to play here. On my AAU team, I played with guys who are going to Kentucky and North Carolina, so you don't go into it thinking you're going to be the man on those teams."

Baker says Keefe came into his own in competition with the big boys and sees the same kind of improvement every day during practice.

"He has pretty good fundamental skills," Baker said. "He listens. He learns. He plays hard. And, as a sidebar to that, his ego is not a problem. I don't doubt that it's in there, but he keeps it in check."

On occasion, however, Keefe's self-confidence shows. After a few weeks of pickup games against teammates and other area college players, he was asked for his feelings about the local talent.

"I've played against better," he said. "I think the players back East are a little bit better. I think I can play here."

*

Sequestered: Baker isn't exactly overjoyed with the new NCAA cost-containment rule that prohibits coaches from scouting other teams.

"It's all football," Baker said. "They do all their scouting by tape, so why can't we? But they all play on the same day. They have no choice.

"We have to hope that (an opponent) will provide us with tape, unless we can somehow get it off the airwaves. Anyway, you can only get nuts and bolts from tape. You can't get a feeling about how a team reacts to changes or certain situations from a tape."

Baker never misses a chance to take in a game, even when he has to accept the abuse he gets from Cal State Fullerton fans at Titan Gym. He admits coaches probably will circumvent the rule by sending local high school coaches or even educated boosters, but it won't be the same.

"There are a ton of people you can send, but it's not the same," he said. "I want to be there, or have one of my assistants."

*

Polo yo-yo: The water polo team is ranked eighth in the nation, which means it's a down year for the Anteaters. But they're up at the moment, having upset sixth-ranked UCLA Sunday to extend their winning streak to three.

Irvine (8-11) will be seeded sixth in this weekend's Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach. The Anteaters play ninth-seeded Long Beach State at 2 p.m. Friday.

Anteater Notes

Former Corona del Mar standout Keri Phebus of UCLA is the top-seeded player for the Rolex/International Tennis Assn. Southern California Women's Tennis Regional, Wednesday through Sunday at the UCI Tennis Stadium. The singles final is scheduled for 10 a.m Sunday, to be followed by the doubles final. . . . The men's and women's cross-country teams compete Saturday in the NCAA District 8 Championships on the Randolph Golf Course in Tucson, Ariz. . . . Rod Baker on freshman Kevin Simmons, who had his nose broken and front teeth loosened in practice 10 days ago: "He was back in practice (two days later) on Monday with a mouth guard and a nose thing and there's something to be said for that. We've had a few guys here who would've set up residence in the training room and been out six months." . . . Skipper Andy Beeckman and crew Danielle Hill, Eric Knopf and Jonathan Posner won the Sloop qualifying race at Waikiki Yacht Club last week to qualify for the Sloop Nationals at St. Petersburg, Fla., Nov. 18-20. . . . Mark Roberts, play-by-play announcer for the Riverside Pilots, will handle Irvine basketball broadcasts this season for KUCI (88.9 FM). Roberts has done play-by-play for Birmingham and Pensacola of the Continental Basketball Assn. . . . Members of the women's basketball team put in a lot of work during the off-season, according to Coach Colleen Matsuhara, and the result has been spirited early-season practices. "So far, I'm quite pleased with overall conditioning level," she said. "It's been much better than I thought it would be, a very pleasant surprise."

Put the simplest way, Rancho Santiago and Fullerton meet Saturday in the biggest regular-season football game of the season.

Here's what's on the line when the Dons and Hornets play at 7 p.m. Saturday at Cal State Fullerton:

-- A share of the Mission Conference Central Division title. The teams each have 4-0 records. Rancho Santiago (7-1) has won seven in a row and Fullerton (5-2-1) has won five of its last six.

-- An invitation to the Simple Green Orange County Bowl Dec. 3 at Orange Coast.

-- Rankings. Rancho Santiago moved into the top spot in the Southland Poll Monday and Fullerton is ninth.

-- The lead in the oldest series in the state. The teams first met in 1916 and are 33-33 with four ties. Rancho Santiago Coach Dave Ogas has a 6-6 record against his alma mater.

"It's going to be fun playing (Fullerton) for the championship," Ogas said.

Fullerton Coach Gene Murphy is 0-2 against Rancho Santiago.

"This is great," Murphy said. "This is fun. Having an opportunity to coach a game like this is what you're in coaching for."

*

This season: Neither team was expected to challenge for the division title but defense has made the difference. Fullerton is first in the 14-team conference, giving up 341 yards a game.

"At the start we knew if we had a strength it was going to be the defense," Murphy said. "They are really playing well together and improving each week."

Rancho Santiago is second in the conference, giving up 351 yards a game.

"The play of our defense has been the No. 1 reason we're doing so well," Ogas said. "They have given us a lot of confidence to try things on offense."

Rancho Santiago is coming off a 72-21 victory over Southwestern. The 72 points is a Mission Conference record and the second-highest total in the Dons' history.

The Dons scored 80 points against El Centro (now Imperial Valley) in 1924.

Fullerton beat Orange Coast, 35-9, also on Saturday. The Hornets had eight tackles for losses and OCC had minus 37 yards rushing in 23 carries.

*

The quarterbacks: Rancho Santiago's Simon Fuentes and Fullerton's Marc O'Brien are accurate.

Fuentes, from Garden Grove High, is 87 of 128 (68%) for 1,382 yards. He has 16 touchdowns, which ties a Rancho Santiago single-season record. Four of his passes have been intercepted.

O'Brien, from Valencia High, is 134 of 202 (66%) for 1,702 yards with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions.

*

A large crowd?: If ever a game could draw well, it's this one.

The last time the teams met in a game of this importance was in 1988 when Fullerton was 7-0 and Rancho Santiago was 6-0-1.

Fullerton made a goal-line stand in the final minute and came away with a 24-17 victory before about 5,000 at Fullerton District Stadium. Coincidentally, the series was tied (30-30-4) before that meeting.

"I hope we can get a big crowd," Ogas said. "We're going to tell the kids about the olden days and try to renew the rivalry."

Fullerton is doing what it can to increase the crowd by offering a two-for-one ticket deal on $7.50 reserved seats.

The deal is available with a coupon, which can be obtained at the Fullerton athletic department, at Boege's Sporting Goods, the Togo's sandwich shop across from the college, the National Sports Grill and the Off-Campus Pub. All locations are in Fullerton.

General admission tickets are $5.

*

And one more makes 100: Golden West is going for its 100th consecutive conference victory in women's volleyball at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Rancho Santiago.

Golden West (16-2, 9-0) beat Saddleback in three games Friday for its 99th consecutive conference victory.

The victory over Saddleback also assured the Rustlers of at least a tie for the Orange Empire Conference title. Golden West is ranked second in Southern California behind Cerritos, which beat the Rustlers twice earlier this season.

Notes

Golden West, the five-time defending State champion, is the top-seeded team in the Southern California water polo playoffs, which start Friday at Long Beach Belmont Plaza. The Rustlers (25-2) play No. 8 Rancho Santiago (18-12) at 9:30 a.m. Long Beach (20-4) is seeded second and plays No. 7 Fullerton (21-11) at 12:30 p.m. In other first-round games: No. 4 Citrus (29-5) plays No. 5 Orange Coast (17-7) at 11 a.m. and No. 3 Grossmont (28-6) plays No. 6 Cuesta (18-9) at 2 p.m.

The first-round winners qualify for the State tournament, Nov. 18-19 at Belmont Plaza. The Southern California tournament continues with semifinal games at 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Friday. The championship game starts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

One exhibition game does not a season make, so men's basketball Coach Seth Greenberg is understandably neither giddy nor dejected following Saturday's 102-94 victory over High Five America at The Gold Mine.

Like most teams in early November, the 49ers didn't look especially polished in their exhibition opener. Overall, though, Greenberg is satisfied.

"I thought we played hard and unselfish," Greenberg said. "We did a good job extending our defense. I thought our defense was great for 30 minutes."

Long Beach led by as many as 18 points in the first half and 17 in the second. The 49ers often beat High Five America's pressure defense, leading to many layups and open jump shots.

Their success against the pressure is a big reason the 49ers shot so well. Long Beach was 68.3% from the field -- including a sparkling 80.8% after halftime.

"We handled it well," Greenberg said. "We've only worked on our pressure offense for about 10 minutes in practice so far."

Individually, point guard Rasul Salahuddin and forward Juaquin Hawkins, both juniors, stood out, Greenberg said. Salahuddin (6 feet 3) scored nine points and tied Hawkins (6-6) for the team lead in assists with seven. Hawkins also scored four points.

"Rasul was pretty solid when the game was undecided," Greenberg said. "Juaquin played exactly the way I want him to."

Long Beach did commit an eye-popping 35 turnovers, but Greenberg said he didn't lose any sleep over those miscues.

"We were playing combinations out there that we won't be playing together during the season," he said. "We made some stupid passes when we were up by 17, but most of the turnovers were the result of some unique lineups."

*

Waiting game: An NCAA decision on the eligibility of senior point guard Tyrone Mays is expected within the month, said Mary Ann Tripodi, Long Beach director of compliance and student services.

Mays, a starter for the men's basketball team last season, is academically ineligible for the fall semester because Long Beach officials incorrectly counseled him about selecting the proper courses in order to remain eligible under NCAA guidelines. Long Beach filed an appeal with the NCAA eligibility committee, seeking to restore Mays' eligibility immediately.

If denied, Mays (6-1) would become eligible at the end of the fall semester if he maintains satisfactory academic progress.

Greenberg said Mays needs only six classes to graduate. At worst, Mays, who is practicing with the team, should miss only five games. Tripodi said he should regain eligibility in time to play with the 49ers in the Michigan State tournament (Dec. 29-30) at East Lansing, Mich.

*

To the wire: Hawaii's split with the 49ers last week keeps the Big West Conference women's volleyball race going.

Hawaii (21-3, 14-2 in conference), ranked fifth in the nation by Volleyball Monthly magazine, closes its conference schedule by playing two matches against No. 11 UC Santa Barbara (22-5, 11-3), the conference's fourth-place team, on Thursday and Friday at home.

No. 8 Long Beach (19-4, 13-2), which is tied for second with Pacific, will play seventh-place Irvine (6-17, 5-10) tonight at The Gold Mine, and closes its conference schedule at fifth-place San Jose State (12-10, 8-7) on Friday and at No. 6 Pacific (20-3, 13-2) on Saturday.

Notes

The Long Beach water polo team will play host to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament, beginning Friday at 2 p.m. on campus. The tournament continues Saturday and Sunday, starting at 8 a.m. both days, at the Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach. Stanford is seeded first in the nine-team field, followed by USC, California, Pepperdine, Pacific, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, UCLA and Long Beach. Injuries have wrecked the season for Long Beach (5-16, 0-8 in federation), but a strong showing would make things a little brighter around the 49ers' pool. "With the problems we've had," Coach Ken Lindgren said, "anything would be a plus." . . . Elated 49er athletic officials said approximately 10,000 people toured The Pyramid Saturday in conjunction with The Brewster's Long Beach State Tip-Off Celebration Dinner. What's more, officials said the school has sold 1,429 season tickets -- nearly tripling the previous record of 500 established during the early 1970s. Many season-ticket packages also have been sold. "We set aggressive goals coming in and and we're exceeding them at this point," said Bill Shumard, assistant athletic director/administration and development. "The public's response to The Pyramid has been nothing short of tremendous." No need for worry, though. Shumard said several hundred tickets will be available for every game at the 5,000-seat facility. . . . A game between the women's basketball team and 49er alumni is scheduled Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. at The Gold Mine.

A few months after Mark Pasquarella was hired as the football coach at Ayala High in Chino Hills in 1990, he began to wonder what he had gotten himself into.

Since the school had not yet opened, the former Covina coach had to conduct spring practice on a local field with little grass and lots of gopher holes. By fall, the sprawling campus had opened but there were no athletic facilities.

The 40 freshmen and sophomores who went out for the team spent their first season practicing at nearby Boys' Republic High, a boarding school for problem kids. Home games were played at Chino High.

"A lot of things I thought would be in place simply weren't," said Pasquarella, who had left a job at Covina High for Ayala. "There was talk (that) the campus might not even open up on time. We didn't have a field, and the locker room wasn't ready.

"I certainly second-guessed my decision to leave Covina."

A year later, however, things had improved. The school's teams were given varsity status and assigned to the Southern Section's Olympic League, a Division X conference made up primarily of private schools with small enrollments. Although there were no seniors, Ayala finished 4-6 that football season.

By 1992, the Bulldogs had moved up to the Division III Sierra League. Lineman Steve Dundee became the school's first player to receive a Division I scholarship, signing with Colorado State.

Since then, things have gone better than anticipated. Ayala qualified for the playoffs last year and was eliminated by Montebello in the first round, 24-21. This year, the Bulldogs were the division's top-ranked team until they lost to Rowland, 7-6, last Friday.

At 8-1 with a game left in the regular season, Ayala is guaranteed its second consecutive playoff appearance and expects to get a home game in the first round. Quarterback Steve Birnbaum, a 6-foot-4, 180-pound senior, is being recruited by several colleges.

Ayala's enrollment has grown from 1,000 in 1990 to 2,900. More than 100 players are out for football.

"We still don't have any bleachers or lights, but the program is moving ahead," Pasquarella said "It's taken a while for the kids to buy into our coaching philosophy, but they're coming around."

*

Ayala is not the only new school enjoying success on the football field. Fontana A.B. Miller, South El Monte, Corona Centennial and Rancho Cucamonga have all had winning seasons shortly after opening.

Rancho Cucamonga leads the pack, however. In only its third year, the school has a league title to its credit and could add another this season. The Cougars finished 10-2 last year after losing to Temecula Valley in the Southern Section Division V quarterfinals. They are 8-1 this season and expected to challenge for the Division VI title.

"The kids bought into our program much quicker than any of us expected," Coach Pete Fotia said. "This has all been a very pleasant surprise."

*

Carson, the City Section's defending Division 4-A champion, is in danger of missing the playoffs after three forfeits left the team with a 1-8 record.

The Colts, who have won nine City championships, are coming off a 13-10 loss to San Pedro in a Southern Pacific Conference game Friday. Before that, they had to forfeit conference victories over Crenshaw, Harbor City Narbonne and Wilmington Banning for using an academically ineligible sophomore transfer.

Carson finishes the regular season Thursday afternoon at home against Washington. A victory would improve its conference record to 2-5.

A playoff committee will meet Friday to determine the 4-A and 3-A brackets. The section's top 16 teams will be put in 4-A and the second 16 in 3-A.

"For varying reasons I still feel we're a good team that should make the 4-A playoffs," said Carson Coach David Williams. "But our destiny is out of my control right now."

Said Belmont's Robert Levy, a member of the playoff committee: "Carson is probably a team that should be in the 4-A playoffs, but you have to put your feelings aside and look at their record."

*

Bill Redell, a football coach accustomed to the limelight, is suffering through his second losing season at St. Francis in La Canada.

The former Crespi coach who guided the Russell White-led Celts to the Southern Section Division I championship in 1986, took over at St. Francis last year with expectations of quickly rebuilding the Catholic school's football fortunes. But the Golden Knights finished 3-7 last year and are 4-4-1 this season, having lost consecutive league games to Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and West Hills Chaminade.

"I think I misjudged just exactly how far down the program was when I took it over," Redell said. "I think it has improved the last two seasons, but we're certainly below where I thought we'd be."

Prep Notes

Bloomington is expected to be the section's top-seeded Division VIII team. The Bruins became the state's highest scoring 11-man team in the regular season last Friday with a 68-27 victory over Riverside La Sierra. In nine games, Bloomington has scored 580 points, breaking the record of 565 set by Redding Foothill last year. . . . Senior Edgar Soto rushed for 158 yards and two touchdowns to lead Garfield to a 20-6 victory over Roosevelt last Friday in the East L.A. Classic before 22,000 at East L.A College. Times' Top 20 Football Poll

The Times' top 20 high school football poll, with teams from the City and Southern Sections. 05,20,07,06,06,04 School Sect. Div. Rec. LW 1. Bishop Amat SS I 9-0 1 2. Los Alamitos SS I 9-0 2 3. Mater Dei SS I 9-0 3 4. Hart SS II 9-0 4 5. Sylmar City 4-A 9-0 5 6. Westlake SS III 8-1 6 7. LB Poly SS I 8-1 9 8. Canyon Springs SS IV 8-1 7 9. St. Paul SS I 7-2 10 10. Loyola SS I 6-2 11 11. Muir SS II 7-2 12 12. Esperanza SS I 6-3 13 13. Edison SS I 7-2 14 14. Bloomington SS VIII 9-0 15 15. Alhambra SS III 9-0 16 16. Peninsula SS II 8-1 17 17. Newport Harbor SS V 9-0 19 18. Lakewood SS I 6-3 NR 19. Pasadena SS II 7-2 NR 20. Ayala SS III 8-1 8

David Slavitt's 50th book -- yes, 50th -- is a savage sendup of the literary life, a novel to keep away from those innocents entering MFA programs who don't yet know about things like agents, slush piles, writer's block, book tours, bad reviews, university tenure, writers colonies and grants.

The premise of "The Cliff" is deceptively hilarious. John Smith is a failed writer taking refuge in teaching at an obscure college. Out of the blue, he receives a letter from The Foundation inviting him to spend some time, all expenses paid, at the legendary Villa Sfondrata in Bellagio, Italy, so he can finish his project on the death of Mussolini in peace and quiet, surrounded by lakes, Alps and fresh air. The letter, however, was meant for the respected historian John Smith, on the other side of campus. This John Smith is more interested in mostaccioli than in Mussolini -- and he's about to be sacked by the English department.

He carries the letter around in his pocket for a few days, fully intending to deliver it to the real John Smith. But time passes. Then the real John Smith has a heart attack and is attached to various life-support systems.

Our John Smith figures the real John Smith has more important things on his mind -- like staying alive -- than worrying about responding to The Foundation about some grant. So, with no job prospects, no income, soon no place to live and nobody to go visit, John Smith goes to the Villa Sfondrata pretending he is the John Smith who is writing about the death of Mussolini.

Having seen too many Peter Sellers and Woody Allen movies, I went into this story fully expecting a sidesplitting escapade of mismatched identities, a silly love story, lots of slapstick entrances and exits (maybe a few guys dressed in gorilla suits) and a colorful cast of solipsistic, pseudo-intellectual literary characters exchanging witty dialogue. Wrong.

"The Cliff," although smart, doesn't turn out to be quite as hilarious as the premise implies. Slavitt is not so much telling a story as using his narrative to spoof everything he's probably come across in his distinguished and, let's face it, long academic career. He's jousting with philosophy and ethics ("It would be agreeable to go to the Italian Alps . . . But surely unethical! Outrageous to take advantage in that way of someone's innocent error. . . . But by now I was thinking what Freud had taught me to think, that there is no such thing as an error").

There are some wondrously funny moments. Our brilliant, moody, schlemiel of a narrator, a guy who can't even make his rent, is highly critical of the food served at this historic villa.

Our John Smith, the impostor, lives in daily terror of being exposed as a fake. His biggest worry are the evenings when the resident musicians, statesmen, poets or scientists discuss their works in progress. The guests -- who come and go -- and there are lots of them -- seem amusing enough, like the publisher who twirls, skips and hops down the halls when he thinks he is alone.

The problem here is that the characters are described, and Slavitt lets it go at that: There they are and well, isn't it amusing? Then one guest disappears. Slavitt's now turned it into a mystery, sort of Agatha Christie-style. But as the narrator, and reader, suspects: it's hardly a mystery at all.

Slavitt is brilliant and he writes with grace, passion and humor. The narrator's sincere attempts to reconcile with his alienated daughter are touching and not at all sentimental. The highlight of the book must be the narrator's scathing letter to the manager about the villa's terrible service and dismissive treatment of its guests.

And there is, inevitably, the ersatz historian John Smith's version of the death of Mussolini, a sendup of why the Italians could never win a war: The partisans have captured Il Duce but don't know what to do with him. "In Menaggio, however, the phone was out of order. They pushed on farther south to Mezzegra, another tiny village just below Tremezzo, where a prominent partisan chieftain lived, or anyway his mother did, in a farmhouse in the hills. They figured they could ask him what to do. Or at least to use the phone. Or if not the phone, then the bathroom . . . ."

"The Cliff" unfortunately is too self-consciously satirical to pass as a real novel. It is an academic exercise in how the writing life works -- but the book fails, ironically, as fiction.

In the tradition of Coco Chanel, fashion came to the aid of the arts Saturday when the Chanel boutique in South Coast Plaza staged a benefit for local arts education and outreach programs.

Three Orange County performing arts organizations -- Opera Pacific, the Pacific Symphony Orchestra and South Coast Repertory -- came together for a fund-raiser and performance called "Saturday in the Plaza with Chanel."

About 300 people paid $75 each (or $125 for preferred seating) to attend. Proceeds were expected to exceed $20,000 and will be distributed equally among the beneficiaries. Following Chanel's Footsteps

Festivities began with a buffet reception and informal fashion show in which wispy-thin models sported head-turners such as quilted mini-skirts, simple black slip gowns and other selections from Chanel's 1995 cruise collection.

While it's impossible to know what Chanel would have thought of the clothes, she certainly would have approved of the cause. She was known for supporting Igor Stravinski, Jean Cocteau and other artists of her day. In keeping with her spirit, Roger Martin, director of the Chanel boutique, decided to honor local performing arts groups that offer outreach programs to the community.

"I did not feel arts education was getting the attention it deserved," Martin said.

Party-goers filled their plates with fare catered by Wolfgang Puck. Among the offerings were gourmet pizzas with smoked salmon or shrimp, seafood salads, Mediterranean cuisine and such Asian specialties as pot stickers and shrimp tempura. Three Acts

At 9 p.m., guests were invited to a makeshift theater set up in the center's Jewel Court to see samples of the arts programs each group takes to Orange County schools.

"With all of the cutbacks in arts education, these organizations are taking it upon themselves" to expose young people to the arts, said Barbara Roberts, who co-chaired the event with her husband, Bill.

South Coast Repertory presented a play called "Make the Break," a story about a teen-age boy who recently broke up with his girlfriend and must overcome his grief to help a friend. The play, written by Jervey Tervalon, recently toured local junior high and high school campuses.

"This is an audience that doesn't get much live theater," said Jose Cruz Gonzalez, director of the play. "We're developing audiences for the future."

Opera Pacific's Overture Company presented selections from Donizetti's "Don Pasquale." The show also featured performances by members of the Pacific Symphony Institute Orchestra and 15-year-old Brenda Lee Jones, winner of the 1994 PSO Chinese-American League Showcase for Young Musicians.

"This is the first time the three primary producers have worked together on a fund-raiser," said Louis Spisto, executive director of the PSO. "It's a great way to showcase their programs."

Among the faces in the crowd: Beth Broderick, star of the television show "The Five Mrs. Buchanans" and former Huntington Beach resident, who created a stir with her sheer white mini-skirt; Gloria Gellman, George and Arlene Cheng, William and Laila Conlin, Jerry and Bobbi Dauderman, James and Barbara Glabman, Patricia Houston, Claire Trevor Bren, Olivia Johnson, John and Susan Kensey, Tom and Anne Key, Frank and Marilyn Lynch, Marcy and Maurice Mulville, Sharlene Strawbridge, Gayle Widyolar and David Scott. KATHRYN BOLD

Never a stranger to adventurous art -- and hallelujah for that -- Chapman University's Guggenheim Gallery has taken on a hugely controversial topic in "Treading on Hallowed Ground" (through Nov. 19).

The 12 mostly little-known artists represented in the show address a society in which genuine spiritual expression often has been eclipsed by materialism, bigotry and doublespeak.

Organized by the gallery's associate curator, Maggie Owens (with a frequently illuminating essay by Jacki Apple, a performance artist who teaches art history at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena), the show encompasses a range of viewpoints and abilities.

Some of the artists seem to be making an earnest, if awkward, case for the viability of traditional religious symbolism, while others use it to comment on the oppressive results of religious dogmatism. (Although the show was to have included work by Joel Peter Witkin -- famous for his photographs of grotesques -- a dispute with his former dealer kept him from participating, according to Owens.)

Several pieces vividly telegraph sardonic points of view, if not necessarily with the degree of nuance and metaphorical richness offered by the most rewarding art.

Cliff Davis' painting "The Conformist" offers a standardized image of Jesus -- except that he wears the brown business suit and American flag pin of a religious conservative. The irony, of course, stems from the disjunction between this image and the renegade historical Jesus. Amusingly, the celestial light around his head recalls formal Bachrach-style portraits of business leaders.

Bill Barminski's paintings give a hip, flip spin to traditional icons, reflecting an age that markets Christ and Pepsi with cheerfully similar crassness. "Time Out for Refreshing" archly implies that a swig of Pepsi might be just the thing Jesus could have used to take the sting out of his crown of thorns.

Fernando Hernandez contrasts the comfort and visual splendor of religious ceremony with the inflexibility of some of its religious tenets in "All the Pope's Children," an editorialized version of a Pope's miter. Against the blood-red silk of the ornamental headdress, myriad tiny blue embroidered hands symbolize aborted fetuses -- or, possibly, babies abandoned by mothers whose faith officially allowed no other alternative.

Manuel Ocampo, one of the Young Turks of the Los Angeles art world, is known for images that fiercely decry the Catholic Church's historical complicity with politically oppressive regimes, particularly in New World colonial outposts of Catholic Spain.

In his untitled painting in this show, Ocampo ventures again into controversial territory by focusing on imagery identified with Nazi Germany.

The traditional image of Jesus wearing a crown of thorns merges in Ocampo's painting with the claws and wings of what appears to be a Nazi eagle emblem clutching a bloody, headless body. Accompanied by double swastikas, this man-bird (a bitterly distorted combination of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, often shown in art as a dove) flies above a prison or concentration camp courtyard peopled by devils.

In a corner of the painting -- where a wealthy donor might appear in Renaissance religious art -- a praying woman is consumed by fire. Viewed through Ocampo's uncompromisingly severe vision, collusion between evil temporal and spiritual empires demonizes the poor sinner and offers, at best, a false salvation.

*

It is not clear whether Ocampo means to indict Pius XII, the conflict-avoiding Pope whose rule began in 1939. Decidedly anti-Nazi, the Pope nevertheless chose to preserve the church as an island of neutrality and to avoid possible reprisals on defenseless believers rather than speak out decisively against the slaughter of Jews and Christians.

For the most part, the other work in the show lacks the one-two punch of these pieces, in part because, as Apple points out, "the attempt to infuse the art object with a spiritual message or content is a far more difficult task" than ironic commentary. But there are a couple of exceptions.

Marcy Watton's quilt, appliqued with the words "Believe or Die," ironically recalls the dilemma of Catholic and fundamentalist Protestant women who cannot choose abortion without contravening the patriarchal laws of their religion. It is the medium, however, that lifts this piece above mere sloganeering.

Often made by several women working together, quilts are vehicles of cooperation as well as symbols of "traditional" (read: anti-liberal) values. Quilts also are attractive and useful articles made from castoff materials. Implicitly, the piece seems to call for compassionate understanding of women's struggle of conscience, as well as new ways of reworking outworn ideas for women caught between belief and reality.

*

Mary Cecile Gee is the standout, however, for her strikingly successful juxtaposition of two loaded images in "Cross Bed." A bed supported on a jerry-built foundation of plain wooden crosses and made up with flowing white sheets evokes the private struggle of a Believer trying to reconcile the uncompromising demands of faith with the lures of comfort and sexual expression.

Above the bed hangs a mirror; in this context, it might be either a sexual aid or the representation of an infallible Eye whose imagined scrutiny of Gee's soul may be inseparable from Gee's troubled gaze at her own psyche.

Though the appeals made by other pieces on view are not as clearly or thoughtfully constructed, or as compelling on a visual level, the show offers an excellent springboard for discussion and reflection on a burning topic. Particularly at a university, where students are encouraged to open their minds to divergent ideas, shows like this are only to be encouraged.

* "Treading on Hallowed Ground" continues through Nov. 19 at the Guggenheim Gallery, Chapman University, 333 N. Glassell St., Orange. Hours: noon to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday; 11 am. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Free. (714) 997-6729.

In "The Peaceful Liberators: Jain Art From India," a beautiful new exhibition that opened Sunday at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, a group of more than 20 compelling sculptures are unlike any I've seen before. In fact, they may have no counterparts anywhere in world art.

Most often carved in the soft sandstone so common to Indian sculpture, but found in metal and other, harder kinds of stone as well, they depict figures, always unclothed and always male, standing upright in a quietly unusual, frontal pose.

The legs are stiff, feet slightly apart. Arms hang loosely from broad shoulders but away from the tapering torso, so that the arms never touch the body. The head faces forward, with the trace of a smile across its full and sensuous lips and eyes typically downcast.

The smooth limbs of these standing figures are usually columnar and elongated, the arms ending in oversized hands that hang like weights meant to stabilize the torso. Elongated earlobes dangle too.

Imagine a body in which every muscle, nerve-ending and square inch of exposed flesh seems utterly relaxed yet briskly attentive, as if meant to be receptive to the slightest sign of life outside itself, and you'll have some idea of how remarkable the pose is. It's as if the entire body functions as a kind of human dowsing rod, mystically attuned to the hidden rhythms of the universe.

The pose is called kayotsarga , which roughly translates into "body-abandonment" posture. It is believed to represent a perfect pose of nonviolence, in which a human being can inflict the least harm on any living thing.

Even if you're unaware of that precept, which is specific to the Jain religion, there's no mistaking the eloquent vulnerability of the pose. A visible sense of renunciation, to which the human spirit surrenders itself, is broadcast loud and clear.

The Jain religion is far less well-known than the Buddhism and Hinduism so familiar in India, but it shares many central tenets with both. A spiritual quest seeks liberation from the otherwise eternal karmic cycle of life, in which death is followed by reincarnation. In a manner unique to Jainism these sculptures demonstrate, in part, how to slip those mortal bonds.

They also make up a significant chunk of the largest segment of the LACMA show, a segment composed of 36 sculptural images of spiritual deities known as Jinas, from which the religion derives its name (Jain is pronounced jine ). The others show deities seated in the cross-legged lotus pose of meditation, and they include an austerely elegant, red-sandstone Jina encircled by a delicately carved halo, as well as an elaborately carved stele whose graceful central figure is surrounded by more than a score of attendants, lions and elephants.

*

Jainism is a religion of radical asceticism, but it shares a lot with Buddhism and Hinduism. (The nudity of the sculptural Jinas, a practice followed by Jain monks, is symbolic of a complete renunciation of worldly things, including clothes.) If subjects differ, stylistically not much seems to separate Jain art from its Buddhist and Hindu kin.

Instead, repetition of sensuous forms and intricacy of luxurious patterns proliferate. Together, these stylistic traits evoke a continuity of life and a resplendent sense of connectedness among all things.

Elaborate patterning also declares a central role for decoration in Jain art. Not only are the figures ornamented, they are themselves ornaments: Many of the carvings were originally part of vast decorative programs on temples and shrines. Decorative adornment assumes a kind of sanctity.

The exhibition, which was deftly organized by LACMA senior curator Pratapaditya Pal and also features an essential catalogue with several readable essays, is the first to focus on Jain art. Its 127 sculptures, paintings and architectural fragments, which range in date from the First Century to the early 20th Century, include rare loans from India and Britain, many never before seen in the United States.

It also includes a likely surprise for any but the Jain specialist. In addition to the three dozen sculptures of Jinas, there are galleries for often remarkable ritual objects and for images of subsidiary deities. Yet, the show concludes with an unexpected room dominated by monumental paintings.

For those (like me) who think first of exquisite miniatures when Indian painting is considered, the existence of monumental works comes as something of a shock.

*

One gallery in the exhibition contains elaborate folios and decorated book covers from a variety of Jain manuscripts, and several eye-popping cosmographical charts are also on view. But monumental Indian paintings?

Those in the show's last room are apparently unique to the Jain faithful. Typically made with opaque watercolors on cotton cloth, they are of two kinds: images of cosmic man (woman, as in most Indian art, has a tougher time in the transcendence racket) and pilgrimage pictures depicting holy sites.

One cosmic man is a flat, partially transparent silhouette of a 7-foot-tall Jina standing in the body-abandonment posture. He is metaphorically tattooed with symbols of the higher universe, around the head and shoulders; of the earthly realm, corresponding to the torso, and of the infernal world, in the vicinity of the legs and feet.

Even more remarkable are the colorful pilgrimage pictures, in which aerial maps of holy sites merge with frontal representations of shrines and temples. The big, ornate, tapestry-like paintings would be hung during festivals, so that those Jains who were unable actually to make the pilgrimage could get the same benefits by looking at the picture. This is landscape painting of a most unusual order.

It's also a fitting coda to an unusually ambitious and compelling show. "The Peaceful Liberators" ranks among the most significant shows the museum has organized in several seasons.

* LACMA, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., (213) 857-6000, through Jan . 22. Closed Mondays.

The Art Institute of Southern California has received an $8,000 grant from FHP Health Care in Fountain Valley to underwrite upcoming exhibits and lectures by three artists. The artists, each of whom will have a four-week show and deliver a public lecture, are graphic designer Rick Seireeni, painter Jack Beal and illustrator Marshall Arisman.

Compiled by Ken Williams

Post-Brahmsian music written by Howard Hanson in 1969 and Morten Lauridsen in 1980 set the stage Sunday night for John Alexander's highly effective conducting of Brahms' own "Ein deutsches Requiem" in the Pacific Chorale's season-opening program at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

Yet it was not too much. Hanson's handsome "Streams in the Desert," colorfully rather than painfully tonal, and Lauridsen's lean, alternately acerbic and lush "Mid-Winter Songs" composer without actually aping his style. Still, their debt to him is clear. Our debt to him, of course, is long-established and resonates in every part of the "German" Requiem.

Alexander's association with this monument gives him the courage to take risks, which he did Sunday in some very slow tempos in the two opening movements. In terms of continuity and dramatic tension, he made those tempos work; they set up the excitement that arrives midway through that second movement.

Subsequently, the conductor followed through with canny musical choices. He allowed choral climaxes to peak dynamically without ever becoming strident; he coaxed some first-rate soft-playing from the assisting Pacific Symphony; he let the work speak through its contrasts. Brahms was well-served.

Alexander's 180-plus vocal musicians seemed in fine form, producing handsome sounds, strong blend and legato singing, and, half the time (in German), followable text-articulation.

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David Pittman-Jennings was the authoritative, if sometimes woolly sounding, baritone soloist in the Requiem, Margaret Morrison the clear-voiced but unradiant soprano.

The more touching performances were given in the first half of this evening, when Hanson's ode to nature in the face of drought (Isaiah 35) gorgeously sounded a defense of the environment few could refute. With champions like Gerard Schwarz -- who has now recorded a number of Hanson's symphonies -- and Alexander, the all-but-neglected composer may rise again.

As performed elegantly by the Pacific Chorale, Lauridsen's masterly "Mid-Winter Songs" achieved a transparency and emotional resonance the composer, who was present, must have appreciated. In this part of the program, the (English) text emerged clearly, the dominant sound of the chorale meshed effortlessly with that of the orchestra, and the beauties of Robert Graves' words were unimpeded.

STAGE

Ready for King David, the Musical?: Producer Andre Djaoui says a musical he's planning based on the life of King David will be "the most spectacular and dramatic production ever staged, as well as conveying a message of inspiration, hope and peace to the world." The producer has some impressive talent to back his claims: composer Alan Menken and lyricist Tim Rice, Academy Award winners for their score of the animated Disney hit "Aladdin." They will write the music and libretto for the biblical tale, which is slated to be staged in Jerusalem in 1996 to mark that city's 3,000th anniversary. "King David" is also expected to tour worldwide, including a stop in Los Angeles, before alighting on New York's Broadway and London's West End. Menken also has a current Broadway stage success with the music for "Beauty and the Beast" (he co-wrote the original film score), while Rice co-wrote the score for the latest Disney animated movie, "The Lion King." For Rice, this will be his third biblical musical. He was the librettist for "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." Cast and production crew have not yet been selected.

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Highways Honored: Highways in Santa Monica has won the second annual C. Bernard Jackson Award, presented by the Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights, for achievement in nurturing local playwrights. The award will be presented Wednesday in a free public program that will feature performances by several Highways artists at the Venue, 600 Moulton Ave., Lincoln Heights. Reception at 7 p.m., program at 8. Information: (213) 957-4752. TELEVISION

Accentuating the Positive: It used to be that networks announced when shows were being canceled. But now, given the delicate state of prime-time series, it's news when additional episodes are ordered for existing programs. So ABC, which last week canceled "Blue Skies," announced that it has called for nine new chapters of "On Our Own" and six more of "Me and the Boys." "On Our Own" is a Sunday night family show about five brothers and two sisters who have been orphaned; "Boys" appears on Tuesday nights and stars comic Steve Harvey as a widower with three sons. The added shows will give "On Our Own" a total of 22 and "Boys" 19. MUSIC

Maestro Trebek: "Jeopardy!" game show host Alex Trebek picked classical music for 1,600 (people) and scored. He dressed up in bow tie and white tails Saturday to conduct the Greenville, Pa., Symphony Orchestra for the overture to Rossini's "Cenerentola (Cinderella)." Then he narrated Aaron Copland's "Lincoln Portrait." Trebek, in his first outing as a guest conductor, didn't hold a baton, saying the right to use one is like getting money the old-fa