Harvey Wood

The chairman and other top officials of the Christian Science Church resigned Monday after reports that pension funds had been misused to prop up the church's struggling television empire and amid a split over the church's future. Harvey Wood, who had overseen the church's recent move into broadcasting, resigned as chairman of the board after 15 years as a director, and the church said it would shut down its new cable television network, the Monitor Channel, unless a buyer is found by June 15.

The chairman and other top officials of the Christian Science Church resigned Monday after reports that pension funds had been misused to prop up the church's struggling television empire and amid a split over the church's future. Harvey Wood, who had overseen the church's recent move into broadcasting, resigned as chairman of the board after 15 years as a director, and the church said it would shut down its new cable television network, the Monitor Channel, unless a buyer is found by June 15.

UC Irvine defeated the University of the Pacific, 15-6, Sunday afternoon in Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. water polo action in Stockton. Anteater Tom Warde, a sophomore from Marina High School, led both teams with five goals. Julian Harvey, Kevin Wood and Mike Halphide scored two goals each for Irvine (3-0, 6-3). The Tigers are 0-1, 3-6.

They call it simply The Game, and usually they play it with a large jug of wine "and four straws" in the middle of the table. The players--happily married women who reside in the "better" neighborhoods of Riverside--call it a kind of Monopoly, with famous men instead of important real estate properties. Mel Gibson is the counterpart of Boardwalk, Richard Nixon the equivalent of Baltic. When the mother of one of the regular players joins in, they throw in Glenn Ford.

By distributing an "authorized version" of a controversial book about Christian Science Church founder Mary Baker Eddy to its 2,500 reading rooms this week, the financially ailing institution stands to gain $92 million left by the book's author through family wills.

In a recent episode of the TV comedy "Northern Exposure," hypochondriac Eve shocked her fiance, Adam, by telling him she was a Christian Scientist. "Christian Scientist!" Adam blurted in disbelief. "You're the poster child for the American Medical Assn.!" "I'm a reformed Christian Scientist," Eve said.

Newspapers by nature are the kind of thing people take personally. Just ask any editor about the irate phone calls that pour in after each decision to drop a comic strip. Now imagine if someone makes sweeping changes in a newspaper that is literally a religious mission, changes that provoke a debate about the very foundation of the religion.