University of Tampa - Moroccan Yearbook (Tampa, FL)

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AIDS Claims Rock Hudson Rock Hudson, 58 Millionairess Martha “Sunny” Von Bulow lay in an irreversible coma while a jury reversed an earlier decision and found her second hus- band, Claus, not guilty of attempting her murder. A $75 million estate and a mud- slinging public trial divided the couple’s three children with each playing Pick-A-Par- ent and fighting over their share of the estate. Flamboyant broadcaster Ted Turner attempted to buy CBS — the first time any individual had ever offered to buy an entire national net- work. He proposed to pay a major portion of the takeover price by, in effect, borrowing the money from CBS share- holders. He would then reduce the enormous debt by selling off some prized CBS property as well as some of his own. The world mourned the loss of United States film and television star Rock Hudson. 58-year-old Hudson was a victim of the deadly AIDS disease. Hudson’s condition became public in July when he flew to Paris to be treated with an experimental AIDS drug not then available in the United States. Unfortunately, his case had progressed beyond the capabilities of the drug. He returned to Los Angeles several days later on a stretcher. The news that Hudson had AIDS came as an explana- tion to his fans of Hudson’s deteriorating appearance during his one-season run on the prime-time soap Dynasty. Rumors had circulated for years about Hudson’s sexual preference, and the news came as little surprise to much of the entertainment industry. He had, for many years, made no secret of his homosexuality among his close friends. In his final months, Hudson was alternately forsaken by his fans for not being the embodiment of his manly Hollywood persona and praised by mem- bers of the gay community for his courageous announcement that he had the disease. His public struggle was seen as a step forward in the fight for awareness of the disease. Hudson was too ill to attend an AIDS benefit coordinated by Doris Day in September, but he sent his commen- dations to the enormous group of celebri- ties from across the country. Hudson died in early October, 1985. The week of his death, congress vastly increased appropriations for AIDS re- search. An explosive devico dropped by police destroyed a two- block section of Philadelphia. Censorship was all the rage in Washing- ton. A group organized by Senator’s wives and billing themselves as the Parents’ Music Resource Center led an assault on Rock music, calling it “pornography”, and demanding that album jackets carry ratings labels and com- plete lyrics. Rock stars and members of PMRC turned a Senate hearing into an emotional shouting match, but no legislation was ever introduced. An urban siege in Philadel- phia left two city blocks and 61 homes charred to the ground. The battle began when police attempted to raid the brown- stone home of MOVE, a cult that preaches a mix of primi- tivism and anarchy. An incen- diary device dropped by the police created a fire that spread to the adjacent homes. Philadelphia Mayor W. Wil- son Goode accepted “full re- sponsibility” for the disaster, and said he was “devastated.” Certainly the residents of what had been Osage Avenue could identify with that. FEATURES 23

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NATIONAL NEWS Thomas Jefferson call- ed the lottery “a wonder- ful thing: it lays taxation only on the willing.” As people lined up across New York to buy chances on a $41 million lottery prize, the largest jackpot in North American histo- ry, new concerns were raised that the games prey on the poor. “Sure, I’m poor,” said one man, “but I figure one day they’ll make a mistake and I’ll win.” Challenger, January 28, 1986 The Space Shuttle Challenger ex- ploded into a fireball over the Atlantic Ocean during its ascent into space on Tuesday, January 28, 1986. All seven people aboard, including teacher Christa McAuliffe, were killed instantly. It was the worst accident in the history of space exploration and the first fatal accident in 56 American manned space flights. McAuliffe, 37, was a high school social studies teacher from Concord, New Hampshire. She was the first private citizen to fly on the space shuttle. McAuliffe’s husband Steven, their two children—Scott, 9 and Caroline, 6— as well as her parents witnessed the horrifying explosion from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral where thousands of people had gathered to watch the start of what was to have been a showcase mission. The painstaking search for the remains of Challenger continued for weeks after the fiery incident occurred. Unfortunately, the debris that was col- lected yielded few clues about what occurred. NASA officials speculated that the explosion was caused by a leak in the right solid rocket booster of the shuttle. Shuttle Explodes New and Improved? The message came from Atlanta and was applauded across the nation. The Coca-Cola Company was reinstating the original flavor of their soft drink in the face of overwhelming consumer protest. On April 23, 1985, Coca-Cola an- nounced it would be changing the formu- la of Coke to “something even better.” Better turned out to be sweeter, and more suited to direct competition with Pepsi-Cola, the number two cola in the country. During the weeks that new Coke was the flagship product of the company, the national headquarters received an aver- age of 1500 complaints daily. Appar- ently, they had over estimated just how many marketing ploys people would put up with. After Coke Classic (as it was now called) was back on the shelf, rumors of conspiracy spread quickly. Had Coke launched their new product with plans to pull it when consumer outrage peak- ed? A Coca-Cola executive addressed the question: “Some people think we made a marketing error. Others think we planned the whole thing. The truth is, we’re not that dumb, and we’re not that smart.” 22 FEATURES

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ENTERTAINMENT § SPORTS Rioting left 38 dead and 437 injured after English hooligans attacked panic-stricken Italian fans at the European Cup soccer championship game in Brussels. The events of what came to be called “Black Wednesday’’ led to angry recrimina- tions and deep expressions of shame by Britons. Already strong measures against hooliganism were re-examined by FIFA, the international ruling body of soccer, and several British teams were banned from play in other European countries. Interna- tionally, soccer became the most closely scrutinized sport since several deaths put professional boxing in the spotlight. Well over a year after their collision in the Los Angeles Olympics, Mary Decker Slaney settled her score with South African track star Zola Budd, by winning a 3000 meter race at London’s Crystal Palace. During the first 2000 meters, Budd was close on the heels (ouch!) of Slaney, but the American left Budd far behind during the final kilometer. When a reporter asked Budd what it felt like to he “thwarted” by an “arch- enemy like Slaney,” Budd replied the only time I ever feel thwarted is when reporters give more attention to an unfortu- nate accident than to my, and {Slaney’s}, ability on the track.” As for her feelings toward Slaney, Budd said. “She’s a nice woman, but clumsy.” MTV Cops MTV met Hawaii Five-0 in an explosion of NBC pride as the Miami Vice wave of enthusiasm spread to fashion, advertising, and popular music, not to mention other networks. The second year drama gave NBC great visibility in addition to solidifying its position as the new number one network. The show’s concept was born when an NBC executive scribbled a memo reading “MTV cops” to his writers. The format called for popular tunes to be employed as incidental music through- out the one-hour segments. Don Johnson was cast as the hard-boiled, ex-Gator Sonny Crockett, and Phillip Michael Thomas became Rico Rubbs, Crockett’s partner, a man cool under pressure and well versed in Jamaican dialects. These two hotdogs answer to the silent Castillo, their captain. For Johnson the role came as a boost to a once-promising, but lately faltering, career. After appearing in the cult classic A Boy And His Dog, he was largely invisible until the offer came from Miami Vice. Seventeen - year- old Boris Becker of West Germany be- came the youngest Wimbledon champ ever by defeating Kevin Curren. Ear- lier, Curren had eliminated the top two men’s seeds in the tournament, Jimmy Conners and John McEnroe. Becker was heard to comment, “Mit.” Martina Navrati- lova won the Wom- en’sSingles champi- onship. Of course. Phyllis George: Truly Tasteless Tastelessness reached new heights during a televised interview with Cathleen Cromwell Webb and Gary Dotson. Earlier Webb had come forward saying she had lied to a judge and jury members in 1975, telling them that Dotson had raped her. The lie resulted in Dotson’s ten-year impris- onment. During the interview (which did not answer the central question — Who was really lying about the rape case?) CBS’s Phyllis George chirped brightly, “How about you two shaking hands at the end of a long day?” Webb and Dotson awkwardly but politely complied. George continued, “How about a hug?” Mercifully the two de- clined — suggesting that bad taste does have its limits. For everyone but Phyllis, that is. Just a couple of months later, in an interview with Billy Crystal, famous for his “Mah-ve-lous” imitation of the de- ceased Fernando Lamas, George blun- dered again. She asked Crystal if he had ever discussed the imitation with Lamas. The embarassed Crystal had to tell George, and the 30 million Americans that were watching, that Lamas was dead. CBS asked George to resign later that week. 24 FEATURES