Matthew Brown and Marlena at the Headress Ball.

Hudson's Illness Stirs Compassion For Star, PWAS

by John Wetzl

Screen actor Rock Hudson's announcement last week that he was being treated for AIDS in Paris has struck a compassionate chord among the public, the media, and the public health establishment.

found in his bloodstream.

President Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan reportedly

Ivy League Gay Pitch On Green

In New York's central park, on Sunday, July 21, a brilliant sun shone on the meeting of teams assembled in principle from the New York chapters of Brown GALA (Gay and Lesbian Alumni) and Yale GALA. Neither team fielded a full complement; the holes were filled by men and women from other Northeastern schools, particularly Smith, and some children who wanted to play ball.

After the game, over fifty alumni of the Ivy League and the Seven Sisters shared a picnic, doing what alumni of these schools do best, networking. This was the second event to bring together the alumni of the Ivy League and the first where alumni of the Seven Sister were specially invited.

DC Organizer Takes Foundation Helm

The GGBA Foundation last week announced its selection of Clint Hockenberry, of Washington, D.C., as Development Director.

Cheri Bryant, the Foundation's President, praised the choice, saying, "We are proud to have attracted someone of Clint's high calabre to our staff. His strong professional leadership, coupled with the expertise of our hardworking Board, signals a new period of growth and success for the GGBA Foundation."

Hockenberry, a health planner and attorney in Washington, brings 12 years of intergovernmental and nonprofit organization experience to the position. Co-founding and presiding over numerous Washington groups, including the Gay and Lesbian Pride Day Committee, Whitman-Walker Clinic, Gay Community

Gay American Indians celebrate their 10th Anniversary meeting.

called Hudson in Paris, followAntibody from 1

In a dramatic CBS News | trace of the virus could be presentation of the program "Face the Nation" Sunday, Newswoman Leslie Stahl asked Dr. James Mason, Assistant of Health and Human Services (HHS), why the administration had trimmed AIDS spending after calling AIDS the nation's "number one priority."

Stahl called AIDS "a modern plague," and carried newsreel of the Rock Hudson announcement, as well as a more in-depth interview with Hudson's publicity agent in Hollywood.

Last week, Thursday, ABC News aired a segment of the new program 20/20 earlier than planned, in which commentator Hiraldo Rivera asked why experimental drugs for treating AIDS, such as the drug Rock Hudson had gone to Paris to obtain, are not available in the United States. He interviewed U.C. citizens who are undergoing clinical treatment with the controversial drug.

Last week, a Food and Drug Administration official an-nounced that the FDA is clearing the way for approval of the drug, HPA 23, which could be licensed for experimental use in the U.S. within three weeks.

Hudson's agent, Yanou Collart, said Hudson had been diagnosed with AIDS last year. The 59-year old film and television great was flown back to Los Angeles this week because, Collart said, his condition was too weak to sustain further HPA 23 treatment.

HPA 23 is thought to inhibit replication of the AIDS-related virus, HTLVALAV, in people. To date, at least one person with AIDS has been tested for results of the drug wherein no

ing the announcement of his condition, to wish him well. Hudson's agent, Dale Olson, told CBS that Hudson had told no one about his illness.

In San Francisco peopole with AIDS critized Reagan in a Monday press conference for never having mentioned the word AIDS in public (though they could not precisely substantiate the charge) even while a friend of the president has AIDS.

At that conference, former hostage, one of forty hostages recently released by Shiite Mos ems, and counselor for people with AIDS, Jack McCarty made a public plea to Reagan.

"I'd like to thank you, Mr. President, for saving my life and bringing me back home. But now, I beg you, please save these peoples' lives. Something must be done.

The public also has been moved by the events surrounding Hudson's illness. Holly Smith, of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation said the foundation has been receiving numerous calls "from people who previously were not aware of the disease, but suddenly thought maybe they are at risk,".

Hudson's condition is listed as serious stable. He is under observation at the University of California Medical Center in Los Angeles, under the care of AIDS specialist Dr. Michael Gottleib.

Gottleib says Hudson's condition probably will not improve rapidly.

2 Sentinel USA August 1, 1985

The antibody test indicates whether a person's body has created antibodies to HTLV, but not whether the HTLV virus is present. Widespread use of the antibody screening process began in April. A test does exist for detecting the presence of the HTLV virus, however, it is not currently licensed for large-scale use.

The antibody test was designed to screen blood supplies which are used for blood transfusion and the production of blood products such as a clotting factor used by hemopheliacs. The intent of the test was to eliminate transmissibility of the virus through transfusion by screening it out of blood.

In past months, public health clinics and private physicians have offered the test which only tells whether a person has had past contact with the virus. State and local funds have gone toward counseling people who test positive to the antibody.

The test does not tell whether if a person has AIDS, or whether a person will develop AIDS in the future, 'experts say.

Dr. Bill Kapla, who will take over as chair of the Bay Area Physicians for Human Rights (BAPHR), said, "These are not surprising results. In the Atlanta conference (in June) Dr. Jay Levy said that up to 80% of people with antibodies could be viremic (carry the virus).

"It certainly gives credibility

to the fact that a person has come in contact with the virus," he said. "But it doesn't really tell us much. That's what we've been saying, 'the antibody test doesn't tell you anything.'

"Everyone at this point ought to consider themselves well-exposed and take any necessary precautions. That is the message BAPHR is putting out now. V."

Cleaning Out Closets

Public defender Jeff Brown has gone public with a new information campaign, that is.

Sponsored by Brown, the campaign, "Operation Clean Slate", aims to inform the public about something that has actually been available for years: the ability to put past criminal records behind oneself.

Brown's new program aims to inform San Franciscans specifically as to their rights to expunge convictions, or to seal or erase misdemeanor arrest and court records. Such protocol is available to people who have been involved with the courts in any number of stages of the prosecution process.

Current laws require that, through a simple ten-minute procedure yes a person must go to the court in person the courts clear a person of past records, including marijuana and lewd conduct cases, on request.

Brown said that at least 93 % of persons eligible to clear their records never do so, mostly because of fear of the court system.

Center, and Georgetown University's Gay and Lesbian Rights Coalition, Hockenberry most recently served on a U.S. Congressional taskforce negotiating statehood for the District of Columbia.

He holds a juris doctor from Georgetown University, a master of divinity from Earlham College and a bachelor of arts from St. Olaf College.

"The GGBA Foundation," Hockenberry said, "has an unparalled record of funding Bay Area groups, and with our accelerated fundraising plans, the GGBA Foundation will award more than $35,000 this year to local health and human. service projects. It is exciting for me to work with such dedi-

cated and energetic people

UC Funded For Newer Research

University of California researchers, searching for a cure for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), have been awarded almost $4.7 million in state funds to continue studying the disease.

The money is part of approximately $5 million allocated to the University for AIDS research during fiscal 1985-86, according to Dr. Merle Sande, professor and vice chairman, Department of Medicine at UC San Francisco. Sande, chief of medical services at San Francisco General Hospital, is chairman of a UC task force charged with allocating the state funds.

He said most of the money will be used to fund projects spanning the entire range of AIDS research, from the basic science of how the virus works to the cost of caring for an AIDS patient.

For the first time since the state began funding AIDS research at UC in 1983, a portion of the money will be used to fund two research projects outside the University, he said.

A total of 122 research proposals were submitted, including 10 from four outside institutions. Sixty proposals were funded. They include 25 proposals from UC San Francisco for a total of $1.8 million and 17 projects from UCLA for a total of $976,000.

Ecumenical Healing

The AIDS InterFaith Network, in cooperation with Lutherans Concerned and Grace Cathedral, announces the fifth in a series of Ecumenical AIDS Healing Services to be held at Grace Cathedral on Monday, August 5, 1985 at 6:30 pm.

As part of the ongoing ministry and mission of the AIDS InterFaith Network these services are planned for the first Monday of each month except September when the service will be on September 9, 1985. For further information please contact the AIDS InterFaith Network at: 928-HOPE.