1、Listen21 A committee of scientists is calling on President Reagan to launch a billion-dollar information campaign to keep the AIDS epidemic from spreading to catastrophic proportions. The National Academy of Sciences convened the panel which says education efforts must be used because effective trea
2、tment and a vaccine appear to be years away. The report urges the establishment of a new federal office to head a nationwide education effort as well as an advisory commission for research and education. The scientists say the White House should lead an action campaign the way it has led a new crack
3、down on illegal drugs. Gunmen kidnapped a French television photographer today as he drove from the Christian east to the Muslim western sector of Beirut. Jean Marc Srucie is the 9th French National missing and presumed abducted in Beirut. Two women were in the car with him but were released. No one
4、 has claimed responsibility. An Israeli court has indicted a retired auto worker, alleging he was a Nazi death camp worker known as Ivan the Terrible. Jam Demjanjuk is in jail in Israel after being extradited and maintains his is a case of mistaken identity. The BBCs Paul Reynolds has more in this r
5、eport from Jerusalem. The indictment charges Demjanjuk with crimes against the Jewish people, against humanity, and with war crimes. Hes said to have been responsible for herding Jews into the gas chambers and often stabbed or whipped flesh from them as they went in. Its said that he personally turn
6、ed on the motors to discharge the poison gas. The state of Israel will be calling eight former Treblinka inmates and an SS guard who will identify Demjanjuk as Ivan the Terrible. Demjanjuks defense, though, will be quite simple. Hell say hes somebody else. His American lawyer has been seeking out ot
7、her camp survivors who cant support the identification, and the whole trial will resolve around this question. Demjanjuks trial is expected to begin at the end of the year and could take as long as six months. Today, a panel of the nations leading scientists and physicians issued a major review of t
8、he governments response to the AIDS epidemic. The panel was convened by the National Academy of Sciences. The scientists called for massive increases in funding for AIDS research and education. They also urged President Reagan to lead the fight against disease. NPRs Richard Harris has the story: Six
9、 months ago, the Academy decided that AIDS was so serious a problem that they needed to review that nations fight against the disease. They chose Nobel laureate, David Baltimore to head their panel and enlisted the cooperative of leading health researchers. The Academy has no control over the federa
10、l budget, but they have considerable prestige. And they banked on that prestige today when they called for a billion dollars a year for AIDS research by 1990. That translates into a four-fold increase in funding over the next three years. Today, Chairman David Baltimore said the country should spend
11、 another billion dollars a year for AIDS education. We are saying that a program that is at all responsive to the needs of the situation will cost billion dollars. And we are not specifying where that billion dollars should come from because its made up of whole lot of little pieces, pieces that sho
12、uld be shared by local government and private industry. The panel said education efforts so far have been, as they put it, woefully inadequate, inadequate because officials have spent 1/8 as much money as they should have, and inadequate, they said, because health officials have been too squeamish t
13、o talk about sex or to promote the use of condoms. Baltimore said these attitudes must change now, because the AIDS epidemic is at critical point. The virus has now spread widely as far as we know outside of the high-risk groups. We are afraid, in fact there is perfectly good evidence, that such spr
14、ead is possible, and are calling for people to take precautions in situations where they may not have though they were at risk. Baltimore said that anyone who has sexual relations with more than one partner should take precautions against exposure to the AIDS virus. The panel said condoms are one wa
15、y to avoid infection. The report does not predict that AIDS will spread rapidly by heterosexual contact in the next five years, but recurring theme in the report is that now is the time to prevent the epidemic from becoming even worse. Already more than 25,000 Americans have been diagnosed with AIDS
16、. Baltimore called on President Reagan to declare war on AIDS the way he declared war on illegal drugs. We are talking about President taking that form of leadership, and its clear that when the President speaks out on an issue in such forceful terms, that the whole nation sees it in the different w
17、ay. The National Academy report, like the Surgeon Generals recommendations last week, gives the president a convenient way to take on AIDS as an issue. Both reports stress that AIDS is not just a disease that can infect gay men and drug abusers. They say now AIDS is a sexually transmitted disease th
18、at can affect anyone. In Washington this is Richard Harris. Hard Choices is a low-budget film that has been well received by many critics this past summer, but that does not make it a runaway hit. In fact, its thirty-four-year-old producer, Robert Michaelson, has been found at the films openings pas
19、sing out fliers in front of the theaters. Critic Bob Mondello says he shouldnt have to do that. In a perfect world, little movies about Tennessee kids who get caught on the wrong side of the law would get the publicity they need, and film companies would stop hyping pre-sold blockbusters about psych
20、otic cops. This is not, however, a perfect world. And I dont want to imply that Hard Choices is a perfect movie, either. But its so much more involving and suspenseful and just plain interesting than most of the junk Hollywood putsout that it makes you want to do hand flips. Its the story of a rural
21、 sixteen-year-old, named Bobby, played winningly by new comer Gary McCleary, who goes along for the ride one evening with his hell-raising older brothers. When they decide to rob a local pharmacy, Bobby stays out in the truck, and thats where he is when one of his brothers panics and kills a policem
22、an. Bobbys soon on the run with his brothers, and soon in jail. Now, up to this point, this could be any of a dozen rebel-rousing teen movies, but Bobbys not your average teen protagonist. Hes a sweet kid, so innocent in fact, that he cant even lie to his mother, whos a bit innocent herself. Bobby,
23、how come everybody says you boys took drugs? I know you wasnt sick. Cause its true. We did. Now, talking about the innocence of a kid who takes drugs may seem a little odd, but what made Hard Choices such a compelling movie is that it doesnt settle for easy answers. Having Bobby sit in jail is clear
24、ly not in anyones best interests. So when his case is taken by Laura, a young social worker played by Margaret Clenk, youre mightily relieved. Unfortunately this kid isnt very lucky in the folks who take a shine to him. Clenk, whos probably best known as Edwena Louis in the soap opera One Life to Li
25、ve, makes Laura a tired activist whos so won over by Bobbys lopsided grin and optimism, shes soon doing something supremely dumb: pointing pistol at the Sheriff. Woman: Do you have a gun, Bobby? Bobby: Its on the wall. Woman: Go get it. Bobby: Wait a minute. Woman: Go get the gun! Man: Bobby, dont d
26、o it. Youre making a big mistake. Im going to have to come and get you. Woman: Dont you want to be free? Since hes being tried as an adult, that is a hard choice. Now, this may remind you of a real life story recently in which a lawyer in Tennessee fell in love with her client and helped him escape,
27、 or it may just generally remind you of real life. One of the best things about Hard Choices is that everything in it seems so utterly natural. The supporting cast, for instance, which includes Secaucus Seven director, John Sales. Its generally terrific, which you could also say about Rick Kings cas
28、ually suspenseful direction. He keeps you just a little off balance, which is wonderful. Unfortunately, his movie seems to have its Hollywoods sponsors a little off balance, too. Despite reviews that called the sleeper of the summer, Lorimar Pictures cant seem to get handle on how to sell it. And fr
29、ankly, with major media advertising costing what it does, if a film cant be described in a phrase of six words or less, like crime is the disease, cobras the cure. Tuisel Town often has to throw up its hands. The thing is that Hard Choices is just what Hollywood needs right now. With idiotic fantasi
30、es about talking ducks costing as much as $40,000,000, this is practically the definitive small movie, made for what most Hollywood epics spend on catering. I dont want to oversell it. Its certainly not perfect. But it sure makes the adrenaline flow. And when you take its budget into account, its no
31、thing less than amazing. If the studios cant figure out how to make a picture like this work, they deserve disasters like Howard the Duck . The problem is, if you want to see it, you may have to search for Hard Choices because its not being released all at once. There are only a few prints. But its
32、worth asking your local theater owner to book. With summer hold-overs as the alternative, it makes your September movie going an easy choice. Hard Choices opens tomorrow in Chicago and Minneapolis. Next weekend in San Francisco and at the Boston Film Festival. Bob Mondello was the film critic for All Things Considered.
