Thirty Years Ago This Week
Back home—whether home is the Bronx, Oakland or San Francisco— [children with AIDS] are feared and rejected by other children and adults. One parent told of death threats from neighbors and a threatened lawsuit from a teacher. All reported incidents of taunts, insults and vandalism.
Phyllis Gonzales, 39 years old and AIDS infected, attended Camp Sunburst with her two-year-old daughter who has ARC (AIDS-Related Complex) and her uninfected son. Gonzales has lost friends and family because of fear of AIDS. Her own mother won’t come to see her, and people are afraid to accept a glass of water from her hand, even though no case of AIDS has ever been reported resulting from casual contact.
“People are afraid because it had to do with death,” says Gonzales. “But people just don’t understand. You can’t cut love out. What are you supposed to do with it?”
—Joan Price, Jan. 27–Feb. 2, 1989
Forty Years Ago This Week
[Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare Joseph Califano Jr.] called for a $6 million education campaign, directed at youth and those especially vulnerable to smoking hazards. He said he was asking the Federal Trade Commission to bolster warnings against smoking, the Civil Aeronautics Board to consider banning all airline smoking, and insurance companies to consider non-smoker discounts.
. . . The FTC went along with Califano’s request for stronger warnings on cigarette packs, but Congress declined to approve them. The CAB agreed to snuff out pipes and cigars in commercial airlines, but few expect the agency to ban smoking on airplanes entirely. The Food and Drug Administration rejected a request that it regulate nicotine as a drug, while tobacco lobbyists managed to exempt their products from the 1978 Toxic Substances Act.
—Richard Mahler, Jan. 26–Feb. 1, 1979
Fifty Years Ago This Week
“To-date, we are the only college in the state, to my knowledge, with an Afro-American Studies major, [College of Marin Dean of Instruction Paul] Climer said. “We anticipate this will fit into the state college and university development programs in Afro-American Studies.” The new major will be offered beginning with the fall semester, September 1969.
—Jan. 31–Feb. 6, 1969
