Claremont Graduate School

The little-known Ancient Biblical Manuscript Center in Claremont may make the next significant breakthrough in deciphering the still-unpublished portions of the Dead Sea Scrolls when it releases a complete index of the ancient documents next year. Without an accurate index, looking at the documents is a little like digging for treasure without a map.

By the time Democratic Rep. Diane Watson announced Thursday that she would end her political career after more than three decades, word of her impending retirement had spread so widely that she joked about the anticlimactic nature of the news conference she held in her Wilshire Boulevard office. But Watson had at least one surprise up her sleeve -- she declined to endorse a candidate to succeed her, raising eyebrows among the many political observers who expected her to back state Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles)

In his 12 years as a congressman from Philadelphia, Robert W. Edgar had plenty of time to scrutinize the political process. He came away convinced of one basic truth. "Congress and senators are followers, not trend-setters," says the 47-year-old United Methodist minister, who left the House after the 1986 session. "Trends come from the bottom up . . . from a groundswell."

What's in a name? Plenty, according to the folks at the Claremont Graduate School. That's why they've just changed theirs. Everyone at the nationally renowned institution 35 miles east of Los Angeles knows the pitfalls. A new name could alienate alumni, making them feel less connected to--and generous toward--the 72-year-old school. Some faculty members worry that a name change will strip away some of the school's intimate character.

At the Claremont Graduate School, when they talk about classes in management, invariably they talk about a professor named Peter. But if you were to have a chat with Peter, he might tell you the real apostle was Paul. Paul is Paul A.

"At first, you see the eyes," James Hueter says of a mysterious, multilayered work in his exhibition at the Claremont Museum of Art. And sure enough, two eyes roughly carved on wood in the center of the piece slowly come into view, echoed by another pair painted in the background. "Then you see that there is more than eyes," he says, peering into glass-covered, mirrored corridors that seem to tunnel into the wall, making the 12-by-12-by-4 1/2 -inch piece appear much deeper than it is.

The Claremont Graduate School held its 58th annual commencement exercises Saturday in Bridges Auditorium. Degrees: 202 diplomas, including 44 doctoral degrees and 158 master's degrees. Speakers: Mayor Henry Cisneros of San Antonio, Tex., talked about the qualities of leadership needed in the nation. "In these complex, fast-moving times, different styles of leadership will be important," he said.

'Tis the gift to be simple / 'Tis the gift to be free. --Shaker hymn from the early 1800s If Mother Ann Lee and her band of celibate, simplicity-loving Shakers were to materialize in Los Angeles in the 1980s, would they find kindred spirits here in the land of car phones and $100 sweat suits? Impossible, it seems. On first glance, at least, Mother Ann would be mortified from her efficient shoes to the tip of her plain muslin cap.

One Saturday last spring, the same day that marked the kickoff of West Hollywood's annual Gay and Lesbian Pride Celebration, a small group of conservative Republican activists got together for an alfresco fund-raising brunch in a Hollywood Hills home. The setting seemed like heaven--ripe oranges and lemons on curving branches, mockingbirds burbling arias beneath an azure sky--and the dozen or so guests seemed perfectly cast for their roles as Grand Old Party stalwarts.