May 20, 1984

Representative Les Aspin, the Wisconsin Democrat, once said that if you give Congressmen a chance to vote on both sides of an issue, they'll do it every time. Last week Mr. Aspin had another example. With the House of Representatives facing an excruciating choice over whether to halt production of the MX missile or forge ahead with a full-scale procurement schedule, Mr. Aspin found a way for the lawmakers to settle somewhere in the middle. His compromise, approved 229 to 199, provides $1.8 billion for only 15 missiles; that compares to 40 requested by the President and 30 approved by the Armed Services Committee.

Boil 1 lb. shrimp shells with strong lye for a whole day. Strain it through cheesecloth and wash the residue with a lot of water. Dissolve residue in vinegar to a maple syrup-like consistency. Definitely not to put on pancakes. This is the varnish that Joseph Nagyvary of Texas A&M University has developed for violins. He thinks that the great Cremonese violin makers must have used something like it. Prof. Nagyvary's theories are the subject of an article by Joseph Alper in the March issue of Science 84. Like so many in the past, the good professor has been searching for the secrets of the great Cremonese violin makers, from Nicolo Amati in the mid-16th century through Stradivari, Guarneri, Bergonzi, Guadagnini and the other violin makers who lived and worked in the little Italian city of Cremona.

Gate Dancer, the colt who ran so erratically only two weeks ago that he became the first horse ever disqualified for interference in the Kentucky Derby, straightened out under Angel Cordero Jr. today and won the 109th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in track-record time. Sporting his usual pair of purple earmuffs that are designed to keep the roar of the crowd from bothering him, Gate Dancer came from off the pace under a brilliant ride by Cordero to beat Play On by 1 1/2 lengths. Fight Over, who set a scorching pace, tired but held on for third, 3 1/2 lengths behind Play On and three-quarters of a length in front of Taylor's Special. Swale, the Kentucky Derby winner and the 4-to-5 favorite today, finished seventh.

WHILE voter registration drives are in progress around the country, a similar effort in Bridgeport is stuck at the beginning: getting permission to go out and sign up new voters. A coalition called Alliance for Justice in '84 last week launched what has become an annual battle in Bridgeport between coalition members and city officials over the deputizing volunteer voter registrars. State law permits a municipality's elected registrars of voters to authorize volunteers to register citizens outside of government offices. But so far, the registrars in Bridgeport, one Democrat and one Republican, have refused to deputize the coalition's members.

YEARS ago, when officials at the State University of New York at Purchase approached Brooks Jones to, as he describes it, ''evaluate the viability of a theater built in the middle of a field in a town that had a population of 1,000,'' he told them very simply that it was ''a silly idea'' that ''didn't make a whit of sense.'' ''The operation is ill-advised,'' Mr. Jones, who had just established two large theaters in Cincinnati, wrote in his report and he cautioned against undertaking a venture that ''just wouldn't work.'' The college officials went ahead anyway, constructing a four-theater cultural complex, the Center for the Arts, that opened in 1978. And the center has grown to be a success - not, ironically, in spite of Mr. Jones but because of him. For the last five years, since coming to Purchase, he has been the artistic director of the Pepsico Summerfare, an extremely popular campus arts festival credited not only with securing the center's reputation but also with changing the nature of the arts in Westchester.