More Than Just Blowing Smoke
Someone finally showed us a copy of Cigars & More, a locally produced
magazine devoted to showing that “Life’s Good in the South” –
primarily by showing that everyone here smokes big fat cigars.
There are indeed a few articles about cigars, but after perusing
the Fall 1997 issue, we began to notice another theme entirely.
First, there’s the full-page ad showing the naked lady puffing
a cigar. Then there’s the photo spread of former Playboy playmate
Traci Adell, telling readers that she wasn’t “trying to please
everyone” while slipping out of her panties. Then there’s the
party-pictures page, with one photo of a bikini-clad young woman
and the caption, “Didn’t get her name (who cares?)” Finally, there’s
a travel article illustrated with the supremely phallic-shaped
Palace Hotel sign in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
Uh, we think we’ve figured out what the “more” is in this publication’s
title, and it’s spelled S-E-X.
Just Being Fair
“MLG&W has notified Shelby County Government that we can include
an insert in the next month’s bills of the utility. I wanted you
to know that county government will not accept the offer because
it is our opinion that the use of public mailings for political
pamphlets of dubious accuracy is inappropriate.” – Tom Jones,
Jim Rout’s spokesman, in a press release.
You don’t think he was referring to the city’s pitch of the “Formula
for Fairness” in this month’s utility bills, do you?
No Place Like Home
Last Friday night, Rhodes College students spent the night in
cardboard boxes as a way of learning what it’s like to be homeless,
and to raise money for Habitat for Humanity.
We’ve got no problem with that last part, but somehow we think
that spending the night in your Gap duds, rolled up in a cozy
Eddie Bauer sleeping bag, listening to music echoing off stunning
Gothic Revival buildings, while security guards patrol the campus
isn’t quite the same as being homeless.
One student told a reporter that he wanted to get the police to
storm the campus, but “decided Rhodes administrators might not
like the idea.”
Well, we certainly do.
We Have A Winner
The Nashville Tennessean recently announced its Readers’ Choice
Awards, and we were pleased to see some familiar names. Gerry
House was named “Favorite Radio Jock” and took third place as
“Most Obnoxious Radio Jock.”
No, not that Gerry House. Our schools chief wasn’t even in the
running. The winning Gerry House happens to be a country-music
deejay in Nashville.
In another category, Steve Cohen didn’t even place in the top
three for “Favorite Tennessean for U.S. President,” ranking far
below Fred Thompson, Al Gore, and Lamar Alexander.
And yes, it was our Steve Cohen. n
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Shelby County AIDS Deaths Dropped in 1996
by Jacqueline Marino
 ast year the number of nonwhite men who died of AIDS in Shelby
County exceeded the combined number of white men, white women,
and nonwhite women who succumbed to the disease, according to
the Memphis and Shelby County Health Department, whose latest
statistics show a 20 percent decrease in AIDS deaths overall.
In 1995 there were 172 AIDS deaths in Shelby County and 137 last
year, with white men accounting for most of the decline. Deaths
among nonwhite women and white women also decreased. But the number
of nonwhite men who died from the disease (87) did not change.
Nationally, deaths from AIDS dropped 19 percent during the first
nine months of 1996. There was a 9 percent decrease in Tennessee
over the same time period.
Dr. Dan Lancaster, an infectious-disease specialist who treats
people with AIDS at the Methodist Teaching Practice, suspects
the numbers are decreasing locally for the same reasons they’ve
fallen nationally. He expects that more people have better access
to health care and that protease inhibitors, the most effective
drugs developed to combat the disease yet, are turning AIDS into
a manageable chronic illness. But the death rate remains higher
for many women and minorities who can’t afford them.
Some HIV-positive people are not treated with protease drugs because
they have mental illnesses, drug addictions, and other problems
that prohibit them from living in stable environments, says Tom
Roden, executive director of Friends for Life AIDS Resource Center.
Scientific evidence has shown the drugs may harm patients who
do not take them accordingly.
Lancaster believes the AIDS death statistics are somewhat misleading
because the health department gathers the information from death
certificates, which may not cite AIDS as a cause of death. People
with AIDS usually die of cancer, pneumonia, or other maladies
that attack weakened immune systems.
“Using death certificate information is a flawed way to gather
information on cause of death,” he says. “But it still may be
the best way.” n
Despite Questions, Library’s Fund-Raiser Keeps Job
by Phil Campbell
Even though main library fund-raiser BettyAnne Wilson has effectively
moved to Iowa, her boss, Memphis and Shelby County Library and
Public Information Center director Judith Drescher, doesn’t seem
concerned.
Wilson’s husband, Richard, was recently transferred to Iowa from
his position at International Paper in Memphis. The Wilsons have
put their Central Gardens home up for sale,
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Remember when this was J.B. Hunter department store? Demolition
has begun at 3030 Poplar to make way for the city’s new library. |
but BettyAnne is not giving up her library post. Instead, she’s
taken an apartment in Midtown while she tries to juggle the 600-mile
commute.
According to one inside source, some of Wilson’s own staff members
weren’t even aware their boss was moving until the Flyer reported
it several weeks ago.
Wilson is in charge of raising $20 million in private funds to
supplement financial support from the city and county governments.
Like other county employees, she is bound by local regulations
to live in Shelby County.
To work around the residency rule, library administrators briefly
discussed switching Wilson from being a full-time employee to
giving her a professional-service contract. “She and I have talked
about a variety of ways to remain the marketing director of the
public library,” says Drescher. The director adds, however, that
Wilson’s residency status and talks about contracts or other employment
possibilities have not become serious.
Meanwhile, the money that Wilson is in charge of raising is slow
in coming. Back in July, the Friends of the Library organization
kicked off the capital-fund-raising campaign with a $1 million
pledge, which will be spread out over the next five years.
Drescher and Wilson say they are working on securing more pledges
from other private donors, but they haven’t received anything
firm at this point.
Meanwhile, work on the new main library facility at 3030 Poplar
Ave. is beginning. The former AutoZone headquarters building that
stands in the way is being torn down. “We’re now demolishing the
building down to the floor slab,” says City Engineer John Conroy.
“That will be completed here in another month or month and a half.”
Construction on the new library is expected to be complete by
April of 2000. Relocating the books will take an additional few
months, Conroy says. n
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