Chances for recovery of the Axe in time for this year's Big Game (Nov. 18) seem remote.

Rescue efforts have "hit a dead end right now," according to Neal Okabayashi, director of Axe Comm's Rally Commission.

"Truthfully, I think the odds are very slim," he continued. "I have no conception how we're going to get it back."

The Axe, taken from its Tresidder Union case last May 12, has been the object of at least one recent attempt, however. Last week a Stanford student invaded the suspected Beta Theta Pi house at Cal but found nothing.

Asked about the results from a meeting held three weeks ago, Okabayashi could not refute that "there are different little pockets of ideas on how to get the Axe back, but there is little coordination."

The main problem, he said, is that Cal has not put their stolen prize on public display. "Until they do, we can't get a trace on it. And without a trace there can be no definite plans for rescue."

"Nevertheless," Okabayashi noted spiritedly, "we're going to try. We have gotten information in the past from friends at Cal and through the underground grapevine."

He also added an appeal for ideas from the general student body and closer coordination with any self-styled groups now contemplating a rescue attempt.