Christmas Present

The commuter town of Darien, Conn., has recently felt much abused. Feature writers portrayed it as a horrible example of suburban depravity in the wake of the trial of 19-year-old Michael V. Smith, who got drunk at a couple of debutante parties, drove a station wagon into a tree, and killed a 17-year-old companion. All the parent-hosts were haled into court under a controversial law against giving a drink to anyone under 21. Then, to make matters worse, a star prosecution witness at the trial, William Alpert, 20, was arrested for the possession of marijuana. But last week the beleaguered community got a Christmas present of sorts: a spotlight on a different Michael Smith.

Princeton Senior Michael E. Smith, son of a fiber and burlap importer and no kin to the other Michael Smith, was selected as a Rhodes scholar at Ox ford for the next two years. Smith, like his namesake, had attended Darien public schools. He went on to the Hill School and Princeton, where he was president of his class three years running, and is now chairman of the Undergraduate Council. Smith is majoring in English and was first-string center on Princeton's undefeated football team.

Being 22 years old, Michael may legally accept a drink from any of his father's friends in Darien. And for the first time in months, Darien felt a swell of civic pride.

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