K-School Auction Nets $8520 for Internships

What do a Dan Quayle signature jacket, a piece of the Lenin statue from St. Petersburg, and one of Bette Midler's shoes have in common?

They all went to the highest bidder last night (for $310, $1000 and $90, respectively) at the third annual auction to benefit the Kennedy School of Government's Summer Internship Fund (SIF).

The live auction raised approximately $8520 and the silent auction raised at least double that amount, according auction officials.

"It was perfect," said Judy Kugel of the school's Career Services Office, which administers the fund.

Kugel reserved special praise for the Nancy Bush Ellis, President Bush's sister, who served as the events co-auctioneer--along with Kennedy School Lecturer in Public Policy Robert B. Reich. "She's been wonderful. I had no idea she would be this good," said Kugel..

SIF will distribute the auction money of public-services organizations, such as the AIDS-Action Committee and Children's Defense Fund, which otherwise could not afford to pay for needed summer help from trained students such as those at the Kennedy School.

"These organizations are hungry for that kind of help and can't afford it," said Kugel, who initiated the fund in 1986.

the fund also provides a service to Kennedy School students who want to test their newly-learned skills outside the classroom but can't to take nonpaying jobs during the summer.

"A lot students were coming to me saying, 'I've got the perfect job for the summer but it doesn't pay," Kugel said.

The auction is just one of several fundraising activities for SIF, but it is by far the largest, Kugel said. Last year, the auction raised $14,000 to help send 26 students to summer in ternships.

This year, almost twice as many items were auctioned, ranging from massages and home-cooked meals donated by Kennedy School students to a basketball signed by the 1991 NCAA Champion Duke Blue Devils, which went for $160, to a spring break vacation in Vail, Colorado which netted $1500.

Other high ticket items included a lunch with fomer Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis, which was auctioned for $475, and lunch with University President Neil I. Rudenstine, which earned a mere $230.

Auction participants said they were happy with their recently acquired collectibles.

The proud new owner of a chunk of Lenin statue Greg, Carr, a 1986 Kennedy School graduate, said the piece will become part of a "very in formal" collection which also includes part of the Berlin Wall.