European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 31, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday May 31, 19b7 the stars and stripes Page 9 october named aids prevention month Baltimore a october has been declared National aids prevention month and the government May mail in formation about the disease to House holds across he country As part of a $20 million education program a Federal health official said. The program will be designed to Leach youngsters that if the disorder in t a problem now ii will become one in the future or. Waller a. Dowdle Deputy director for aids at the centers for Dis ease control told participant thursday at an aids prevention symposium in wait More the program is the government s first major prevention project for acquired immune deficiency syndrome he said. Several european governments have already mounted aids education efforts he said and a feds push would help provide impetus for state and local governments and private organizations 10 continue their own education efforts although the recognition of aids is enormous with 95 percent of the Public having hard of it beyond that knowl Edge is not As High As you might think Dowdle said. Aids is caused by a virus that attacks she body s immune system leaving Vic Tims susceptible to infection. It is most often transmitted through sexual Contact As Well As through blood products and Needles shared by drug abusers. Dowdle1 said Britain s $48 million education project Send the message Don t die of ignorance while France has opened its television advertising to condoms. Most . Broadcasters have declined to air such advertisements. Paula Van Ness director of the National aids information and education program Al the Atlanta based cd will coordinate the education Effort. She said aids prevention month will be used to provide preventive inform Ion with the goals of allaying fears and giving facts about changing  direct mailings to households might be used and the cd is developing a $1 million National Media Campaign she said. Van Ness did not say what the mailings might consist of but several such mailings have already taken place. The National leadership coalition on aids formed last week is seeking to get other groups involved she said about 60 organizations including the enc inc a Casaia Uon i ignorance Whill ranch Quimi uni i l a other groups involved she of condoms Abou Massachusetts rep. Barney Frank fes newspaper he is homosexual Boston a my a published reports that rep. Barney Frank d i i a Btij a Hub might have contracted to Myca. The Urban league the National Council of churches and businesses such As general motors already have joined. The coalition will be chaired by Edward n. Brandt jr., Chancellor of the univer sity of Maryland at Baltimore. Surgeon general a Everett keep opened the aids symposium which Drew 450 participants from 34 Stales a will As Senegal and the Philippines with a videotaped message saying education is the nation s single defense against aids. Koop said education must be directed at heterosexuals and youth and that Spe Cial efforts must be made to reach Black and hispanic popu a lion which have a disproportionate number of aids cases. As of May is 35,980 aids eases had been reported in the United states and 20,798 patients had died. Rep. Mass., has become the second current member of Congress to acknowledge he is homosexual revelation he says was prompted in part by the Media scrutiny of former Colorado sen. Gary Hart s private life. If you ask the direct question Are you Gay the answer is yes. So what " Frank said in an interview published i saturday s Boston Globe. I be said All along that if i was asked by a reporter and i did t re Spond it would look like had something to hide and i Don t think i have anything to  in 1983, rep. Gerry e. Ludds also a Massachusetts Democrat acknowledged that he is Gay Fol lowing revelations he had a sexual relationship with a teen age House Page. That relationship led to formal Cen sure from the House. Studds has been returned to office twice since then. Frank a 47-year-old four term congressman from Newlon said scrutiny of the private lives of Han and the late rep. Stewart b. Mckinney r-conn., prompted him to make the acknowledgement. Mckinney died of aids on May 7, and there were i f rep. Bartifay Frank published reports that he might the disease through homosexual encounters. I Don t think my sex life ii relevant to my Job said Frank who is not  on the other hand i Don t want to leave the impression that i m embarrassed about my  several of Frank s associates said they were not surprised by the revelation. This enhances his image As a forthright Hon est representative who Swilling to say he has Noth ing to hide said rep. Ban j. Donnelly a Masi. Arthur Osborn presi Dent of the Massachusetts Al Cio Council predicted Little negative re action among labor groups. Hell lose a few votes Osborn said. Height be the victim of a few jokes. But i Don t think anyone will say let s get rid of him he s a pretty Well liked Guy not abrasive. It won t of acct  Marion just a political science professor Al Wellesley College said Frank s political strength in his District might be strengthened As a result of his acknowledgement. People will think he is very Brave to do this the professor said. " but i think it will put the Seal on his running for higher  reports of president s refusal to appoint Gay to panel assailed Washington a rep. Gerry e. Studds an avowed homosexual says refusing to appoint an openly Gay person to the presidential commission to study aids is like having a holocaust memorial without a  it s just beyond belief the Massachusetts demo crat said Friday in reaction to reports that president Reagan will not appoint a homosexual to the panel. I m out of  the most charitable characterization of it would be insensitivity the eight term congressman said. Reagan who announced plans May 4 to form special presidential commission to study aids has yet 10 appoint panel members. But while House officials have said they would oppose any appointment that is based primarily on sex Ual  recommendation has been that the commission should not be a group of individuals representing Spe Cial interests said Gary Bauer head of the president s office of policy development who is recommending nominees to Reagan. This administration has consistently opposed appointing people on the basis of race and sex. It would seem bizarre to me to appoint them on the basis of sexual preference Bauer said. Ludds in an interview Friday said he was trying to control his anger Over the while House position. A presidential commission on aids without a Gay person on it that s what we re dealing Wilh. That s very much like u holocaust memorial without a jew on a he said. Several experts on the deadly acquired immune deficiency syndrome have written to Reagan attacking the while House position on the panel. Some have said they would not participate on the commission unless it included Gay members. Studds a Liberal Democrat representing Cape cod and parts of Southeastern Massachusetts was an Earty proponent of aids research and education. Last week the congressman sent an aids Booklet prepared by the surgeon general to 268,000 households in his District and urged his colleagues to do he  is trying to Force the administration to mail the pamphlets to households nationwide Studds said several dozen colleagues have indicated an interest in sending out the booklets and that the . Public health service already has had to limit the number each congressional office can receive. Charles Ludlam Avant Garde actor Charles Ludlam Dies of pneumonia new York a Charles Ludlam the co founder of the ridiculous theatrical company one of off Broadway s most innovative theater troupes has died of pneumonia As a complication of aids. He was 44. Ludlam died thursday and had known thai he was suffering from aids for just two or three months according to friends. We lost an extraordinary artist who was just on his Way to a tremendous breakthrough in theater and opera said producer Joseph Papp. Ludlam had a major role in the big easy feature film set to be released this summer. He also was working on a stage project. Since 1967, the ridiculous theatrical company located in a basement theater in Greenwich Village has presented More than 24 productions most of them written and directed by Lud Lam. He also starred in most of them. Among Ludlam s Best known work were the mystery of Irma sep a Quick change melodrama set on the English moors Camink in which he played Marguerite Gaulier and last season s satire of film Noire. The artificial  As a child Ludlam was obsessed with puppets and marionettes. At the age of 17, he founded his own theater in Northport n.y., producing plays by such authors As Eugene o Neill and August siring Borg. He Majorca in dramatic literature at hosta University. Ludlam and is other Acton formed the ridiculous theatrical company. It quickly became known for its ensemble acting outrageous wit flamboyant style and biting satire. Among the other shows the company produced were con quest of the universe or when Queens collide 1967. Bluebeard 1970the enchanted pig 1979 and galas 1983. The company has won nine obie awards As Well As a drama desk award for outstanding achievement in the theater. It has toured Exten sively in the United states and Europe. Ludlam Al of played the title role in Hedda Gablor at the american Ibsen theater in Pitts Burgh. He directed several opens including Henze s the English cat and die Fleder maus Al the opera House in Santa be n. M