College-Wide Card Will be Mailed to Injured Freshman

An Eliot House junior has begun an effort to encourage all Harvard undergraduates to sign a Christmas message to Margaret M. Cimino '87, who was injured by a falling goalpost at the 100th Harvard-Yale game.

Beginning today, the Undergraduate Council will set up posterboard "Christmas cards" for the signatures in all College dining halls alongside its Grateful Dead referendum materials. Representatives in some Houses began collecting signatures last night.

William A. Spencer '85, who conceived the idea, said yesterday he hopes that "a lot of people are interested in cheering the girl up" and will sign the cards.

The posterboard card Spencer posted yesterday in the Eliot dining hall has drawn a "tremendous response," said Felicia A. Eckstein '84, an Eliot representative to the council Spencer made all of the cards himself.

When Spencer first got the idea, he said he thought he would carry it through on his own. He wanted to make the Christmas message a gesture "from the entire College," he explained.

Another Eliot resident, R. Scott Falk '85, suggested that the project be handled through the council. At its Sunday evening meeting, the council voted unanimously to foot the bill, mainly as an expression to Cimino of "Christmas spirit," Falk said.

Although Spencer has never met Cimino, Eckstein said she believes he felt "Harvard, especially through the Undergraduate Council, should be making some response of sympathy."

Slight Improvement

Cimino is still partially paralyzed, but improving "slightly" in Westchester County Medical Center at Valhalla, N.Y., according to Betsy Weiner, a public relations officer at the center. Whether she will remain hospitalized over Christmas is uncertain.

The Undergraduate Council is covering costs up to $25 for the scheme. Meanwhile David C. Finn '86, a council representative from North House, said yesterday he plans to draw up a report to suggest possible solutions to the problem of unruliness after football games.

If the report attracts attention, he said he hopes it may "prevent goalposts from being torn down at Harvard or elsewhere," in the future.