Union University - Lest We Forget Yearbook (Jackson, TN)

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National News California Scores A 6.1 Garbage Cargo Becomes Joke At 7:42 am. one October morning. California experi- enced an earthquake regis- tering 6.1 on the Richter Scale causing fear in most Southern Californians. Over 100 people were injured and six killed during the earthquake. The quake shattered windows, snapped power lines, broke gas mains, and ignited fires. Centered between Whittier and Pasadena, the earth- quake was just thirty miles from the San Andreas Fault. Eight blocks of Whittier s business district were closed after falling bricks damaged cars and eight buildings were destroyed. The quake, although damaging, was rather minor compared to the 8. 1 quake in Mexico City in 1985. and the 1906 San Francisco ca- tastrophe that measured 8.3 on the Richter scale. Still, the October quake was the worst since 1971 in South- ern California, when the San Fernando Valley was shak- en by a 6.6 quake that left 64 people dead. This quake showed the people of Cali- fornia that they are far from ready for a major earth- quake along the San An- dreas Fault. The barge Mabro 4000 began its fateful journey from a New York City port on March 22. 1987 bound for Jones County. North Carolina. The barge was filled with a very unique cargo of New York ' s finest . . . garbage. But little did the crew know just how long and unusual this trip would be. After being turned away from the original port in North Carolina, Mabro 4000 tried sev- eral other ports. The barge quickly became national news. The barge filled with 3. 128 tons of garbage became a national joke and a symbol of the na- tion ' s worsening prob- lem with solid waste management. The barge, while looking for a place to dump its cargo, was banned by six states and three for- eign countries before an incinerator finally reduced it to ash.

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In the six years since Americans first heard of a mysterious immunity-robbing disease from which no one recovers. AIDS has killed nearly 25.000 Americans. Millions of dollars have poured into medical re- search and President Reagan has pro- claimed the plague Public Health Enemy No. . AIDS: Public Health Enemy No. 1 1987 was only the beginning of a panic over a disease about which little is known and for which there is no known cure. AIDS — acquired immune defi- ciency syndrome — took Ameri- ca by surprise and forced Ameri- cans to seek more knowledge to protect themselves. AIDS statistics are staggering. Only six years after Americans first heard the term AIDS , 2 million people have become in- fected with it. The number of deaths which this will lead to is expected to be larger than the death toll of the Vietnam War and to make the Ethiopian fam- ine look like a picnic. The AIDS virus is also compared to the Black Death that killed a fourth of Europe ' s population in the 14th century. The HIV virus is only the first of many viruses that can infect people and lower their immune system. As many as 10 million people are infected with the HIV virus. Predictions include 500.000-3 million new cases be- tween 1986-1991. and by 1991. 50- 100 million people will be in- fected with the HIV virus. It is also predicted that cancer will be recognized as a complication of the HIV infection. Within the next 5 years. 3 million AIDS vic- tims will be dead or dying, and it is possible that America will be devoting 2% of its GNP to care for AIDs patients. 66% of AIDS cases are found in homosexuals. Behind every AIDS patient, there are about 100 hidden sources with the HIV virus. Within 5 years. 2 major shifts in the AIDS virus are predicted: 80% of all AIDS cases will be found outside New York and California, and it will be trans- mitted more and more by hetero- sexual contact. There is only one way that society will live in peace until a cure or vaccine is found, if ever. That is for each person to decide whether his or her sexual conduct is a danger to the life of another, and then act accordingly.

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a Television evangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker said farewell to the PTL ministry in March. Jim Bakker resigned after confessing to a sexual encounter with a young woman. Tammy Bakker bowed out of the broadcasts to undergo treat- ment for drug dependency. Scandal Forces Bakkers From PTL Is money everything? Well, apparently for Jim and Tammy Bakker it was! Their famous tele- vision ministry. PTL, whose let- ters stand for either Praise the Lord or Pass the Loot, was a booming success. Then, on one fateful day. a church secretary by the name of Jessica Hahn brought an end to the profits. Hahn informed the press of an affair with Jim Bakker and of a payment of $265,000 from min- istry money to keep quiet. On the basis of these charges, the gov- ernment decided to inves tigate the financial practices of the PTL ministry. The impending investigation turned up enough wrong-doing that the Bakkers were forced to step down. Charges of misuse of funds were brought against them and much evidence showed their extravagent spending, with the air-conditioned dog house being the most publicized piece. In a Nightline episode with Ted Koppel. Bakker lashed out and branded Falwell a thief by accusing him of stealing the min- istry from them. Bakker stated that the whole situation was a conspiracy and that Falwell lied to him by suggesting that Jimmy Swaggert was trying to over- throw them and become the new head of PTL. The predicament got even more complex when Falwell claimed that Bakker asked him to take over because Bakker felt that Falwell was ca- pable and trustworthy. Who knows what really occurred be- tween the two. and who was at fault. Since the die-down of the scandal, Jim and Tammy planned a new ministry of their own. Time will tell whether this bird ever gets off the ground or just lays another egg. The prob- lem stated simply is this: millions of people believed Jim and Tammy were sincere people for Christ, but in reality, they were, although dressed in sheepskin, truly wolves at heart.