Dedicated Teachers Still Rallying Under Her Banner

--A flag carried aboard the space shuttle Challenger by New Hampshire teacher Sharon Christa McAuliffe went on display publicly for the first time at a conference of educators in Charleston, W. Va. The Flag of Liberty and Learning was recovered after the Challenger exploded on Jan. 28, 1986, killing McAuliffe and six fellow crew members. State Schools Supt. Henry Marockie said educators nationwide still quote McAuliffe’s words before the doomed flight: “I touch the future. I am a teacher.” Marockie said the flag symbolizes America’s reliance on education. Visitors may view it, along with a plaque from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, plus photographs of the Challenger crew, when the education conference ends. Later, it will travel to the other 49 states.

--It has been host to everyone from royalty to war heroes to all manner of celebrities, and London’s Savoy hotel celebrated its 100th birthday a little less snobbish but no less swank. Queen Elizabeth II first danced with Prince Philip there, when she was a princess. Another who graced the ballroom floor was Anna Pavlova. Winston Churchill held War Cabinet meetings there, and Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower sent the hotel his linen from the battle front. Johann Strauss conducted waltzes in its restaurant, and impressionist Claude Monet painted views of the Thames from his suite. Today, said Stanley Jackson, author of a book on the hotel, “you’ve got your dukes and your Sinatras, and they seem to mix very well.” Not that the hotel is for everyone. The Savoy has a staff of 650 to cater to 300 guests; each of the eight floors has its own kitchen; every room--all of them different--has call buttons marked waiter, valet and maid; the mattresses are custom-made; the sheets and towels are pure linen. But the prices are between $244 and $832 a night.

--Chinese student leader Wuer Kaixi spent part of the weekend sailing and attending a clambake with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and his relatives at Hyannis Port, Mass. Among the other Kennedys were Rhode Island state Rep. Patrick Kennedy, Ethel Kennedy, Eunice Shriver and Rep. Joseph Kennedy (D-Mass.). Wuer missed a breakfast meeting with Boston Mayor Raymond L. Flynn, but the mayor’s spokesman chalked it up to miscommunication or a scheduling problem.