The Need for Conservative & Libertarian Arts Funding
by Thomas M. Sipos, IntellectualConservative.com, 25 June 2003

While conservatives and libertarians have influenced the culture via blogs, talk radio, and opinion journals, they still fall short in the arts, especially in music and film.

If conservatives and libertarians hope to make advances in the culture war, they need to devote more private resources to arts funding; to establish a grant-making infrastructure to fund and connect like-minded writers, actors, musicians, and filmmakers.

Conservatives ignore the arts at their peril. No matter who is elected to steer the ship of state, a captain can only push so far against the cultural currents, which flow in the direction of whoever writes our shared stories. Popular prejudices, shaped by culture, circumscribe an elected official's policies. A politician can only cut taxes so much if the beneficiaries are perceived as snotty bluebloods. Popular entertainment spins our hopes and dreams and nightmares, our heroes and villains. It is the prism through which the populace interprets all it sees.

In 2000, without knowing anything about him, many voters recoiled upon seeing Bush. In their subconscious lurked thousands of film & TV images of drunken fratboy, Southern-accented, Bible-thumping, country-club Republican bigots. Stereotypes as false as any other -- but dry facts and statistics are a poor defense against the vague "gut feelings" created by media stereotypes. (For more on the subject of TV stereotypes, see Ben Stein's excellent 1979 book, The View From Sunset Boulevard.)

Conservatives have long complained about their portrayal in the media and the lack of conservative artists, but their only solution seems to be to initiate boycotts. They don't realize that Hollywood largely regards conservative consumers as a nonviable market, irrelevant to their business plans. (The Dixie Chicks remained unscathed.) Even were it otherwise, Hollywood won't relent to boycotts by "bigots," which is how conservatives are perceived.

Besides which, boycotts are a loser's game. Americans demand entertainment, and you can't fight something with nothing. The best way to get someone to stop buying X is not to boycott X, but to offer a more attractive Y. But how to develop a more attractive Y?

Conservatives and libertarians expect their artists to be supported by the market, but that attitude ill serves the creation of a conservative or libertarian culture. Artists must be nurtured as they master their craft. Supporting artists before they create something marketable isn't necessary, but it helps. Money is the mothers milk of both politics and future artists. Liberals understand this, and have built an arts funding infrastructure composed of private foundations, government arts councils, the small press, and university presses. They provide a safety net to artists via teaching posts, fellowships, and nonprofit foundation jobs.

Conservatives and libertarians have influenced the culture via blogs, talk radio, and opinion journals, but they still fall short in the arts, especially in music and film A privately-financed, arts funding infrastructure would help.

It should have three goals: Identify, Assist, Integrate.

(1) Identify like-minded artists. Seek them via the internet Place notices on film school bulletin boards, music clubs, organizational newsletters.

(2) Assist however possible. Ask every artist: "How can we help?" Networking and promotion is cheap If a foundation can't fund an entire project, it might offer seed money, matching funds, completion funds, something to move projects to "the next level." Maybe a band has recorded a tape, but needs a $1000 to press some CDs. Or a play is set to go, but can use a $100 for advertising.

(3) No artist wants to remain in a political ghetto. The goal should be to integrate these artists into the mainstream (as is done with ethnic minorities), such as by promoting them on TV and radio, and at film festivals, etc. The goal should be to help artists create, build a career, and then, hopefully, they'll "give back" to those who helped.

Such a foundation should not be ideologically narrow (demanding a specific message for its grant money), nor look over the shoulders of artists like a Stalinist commissar. That would stifle individual creativity. Rather, once an artist has been approved for funding, the foundation must let go so that "a 100 flowers may bloom." Some disappointing work will result, but that is the nature of freedom, the nature of art. You must allow for some "bad investments" so the good ones will grow.

The money is there. William Bennett's gambling losses alone could have provided much conservative arts funding. Yes, yes, I agree, Bennett's private property is his to fritter away however he pleases. Even so, what a waste... (Ironically, while wealthier conservative groups largely ignore the arts -- apart from boycotting them -- I know one student filmmaker who received a small completion grant from the libertarian Institute for Humane Studies.)

Regrettably, the idea of offering grant money ("money for nothing") to artists, and afterward to allow artists to follow their own visions (no accountability) goes against the instincts of both conservatives and libertarians. Plus, boycotts, although creating nothing (and you can't fight something with nothing), are more fun for bloggers and webzines, and bring higher ratings for radio and cable TV pundits.

Years from now, I expect conservatives will still be organizing new boycotts, even as the Dixie Chicks and Susan Sarandon complete new projects.

------------------------------------------------------
Thomas M. Sipos's satirical novels include Manhattan Sharks and Vampire Nation. His website is CommunistVampires.com.

I'm waiting for the conservative rappers to collaborate with the conservative nu-metalers (eww, i cant believe i just said nu-metal!)

let's look at the product that is FOX television, FOX television and news being run by rupert murdoch and FOX NEWS by roger ailes, not liberals by any stretch of the imagination.

FOX's product, besides the occasional quality show like "in living color" or the exploits of agents mulder and scully, is garbage. crap. very male oriented and very juvenile. car chases, mini skirts, sex, explosions, that whole video game lifestyle. at least that's this person's opinion...

so how do men lije rupert and roger reconcile such "un-conservative", anti family values product to their very conservative and right wing beliefs?

they don't. they only care about the business and the money. they love pumping out that shit not because it promotes conservative social values, BUT BECAUSE IT MAKES GOOD MONEY, and making good money and being successful at business is a VERY conservative value.

the point is, right wingers don't have an ounce of artistry in them. they couldn't give a shit. all they care about is the business side, the corporate side, the management side, and what the bottom line says. there IS no right wing art. it's not right wing to be creative, to be artistic, to design or write or direct or paint or sculpt. i'm not saying that they're have never been right wing artists, or artists who vote straight republican, but i am saying that the right wing is not the place you find musicians and poets and painters and creative people in general hanging out.

not when you have the likes of jesse helms attacking artists. not when you have them government going after rappers and rockers. they are social reactionaries. they want to supress and control creative free will. and just like with rupert, the only use they have for creative people and creative activities is to make them money. they look at musicians and they look writers and they look at paintings and sculptures and all they see is how much money these people and their creations will make them. so the idea of right wing artistry and right wing art makes me laugh.

We're not that creative. We're all about logic and cold calculated facts and numbers and stuff. Science and Mathematicians. Engineers. Numbers people.

In fact, I'd love to see a study on this. What the breakdown is, ya know. Occupations in regards to political affiliations.

I bet we'd find that most humanities professors and artists are on the left, and most Technical minded people are on the right.

I'm conservative and I spent the better part of the nineties making records, videos and touring in a band.

And I'm a graphic artist amongst other things.

Wouldn't be the first time...

I think you are most certainly right actually. I think maybe I'm the exception that proves the rule.

i not a artist. bu i no(K) sum ,,i leftw(somewhat)

rwer's b 2 stodgy 2b rtsi

in school at all levels the ones to assume prominence(power) are the rwer's, a necessity i majin, to quell the____??...i mean they direct well and lead poorly, and most have difficulty in accepting new challenges

And yet, somehow, I'm creative.

Poetry, lyrics, music.

Humor requires creativity. The conservatives here have orders of magnitude more humor than the leftists/anarchists.

...crapping in a jar and calling it art.

And look at Mapplethorpe.

I may not know what art is...but I sure as heck know what it ain't.

"The conservatives here have orders of magnitude more humor than the leftists/anarchists."

Unsubstantiated Allegation
For more on logic at your level, try reading "Logic for Dummies."

Sorry about that. I learned how to do this "debate coach" thing from someone else and now I just can't stop. Forgive my stupidity.

That's me. I just love letting everyone know how much faker/KOBE gets under my skin. Forgive my stupidity. I'm a conservative.

http://www.kobehq.com

Oops! I did it again. To learn more about me, go here:

http://www.la.indymedia.org/news/2003/06/67656_comment.php#67752

Oops! I did it again. To learn more about me, go here: (I'm the one who's relegated to pissing into the wind.)

http://www.la.indymedia.org/news/2003/06/67656_comment.php#67752

http://www.kobehq.com

Albert Einstein was an enthusiastic socialist who hated capitalism with a passion. Klaus Fuchs, who gave British nuclear secrets to the Soviets because he believed that this would help prevent a nuclear attack on the USSR, held a doctorate in physics. Harry Gold, an American charged with working with the Rosenbergs in the famous atom spy case in the US, was a chemist.
On the other hand, most Classics departments in universities are filled with conservatives. T.S. Eliot and his fellow poet Ezra Pound were ultra-rightists. Harold Bloom, the US cultural conservative, was a literature professor. Ray Billington, the conservative Librarian of Congress, is a historian by training. Jacques Barzun, one of the most well-known conservative public intellectuals of the 20th/21st centuries, is also a historian. John Irving, the well-known novelist, took a public role in fighting a proposal in New England that would have outlawed the practice of rich school districts lavishing more money on schools than poor ones and replaced it with a state system under which all systems would receive equal funding. Irving attacked the proposal as "Marxist."

Daveman, I know you are still living in 1952 and love it back there, but just to show you how truly reactionary you are I would like to point out to you that the local authorites could not even win their case against the Mapplethorpe exhibit with a Cincinnati jury, despite that town's reputation of being the most conservative big city in the United States. Maybe you should try to get a transfer to nearby Wright-Patterson Air Force Base outside Dayton. That way you can not only try to get a glimpse of the space aliens locked up in a hanger there but can travel down to Cincinnati on weekends and give public lectures at downtown's Fountain Square on the danger of commies taking over the Cincinnati legal profession.

The Librarian of Congress is James Billington. I mistakingly typed Ray Billington, who was also a well-known historian but is now dead.

"We're not that creative. We're all about logic and cold calculated facts and numbers and stuff. Science and Mathematicians."

....and fooling people into the sexual dark ages with phony sydromes like 'AID$' based on junk science.

SCIENCE FICTIONS

by John Crewdson
http://www.sciencefictions.net/

‘ The tale of Dr. Robert Gallo’s role in the discovery of the virus that (he claims) causes AIDS is one of those stories that wouldn’t be believable as fiction...Science Fictions is bursting with allegations leveled at Dr. Gallo, his associates, rivals and enemies, that include deception, misconduct, incompetence, fraud, sabotage, back-stabbing, double-dealing, overstatements, half-truths, outright lies, a clandestine affair with a co-worker, a bribery attempt, denials, evasions, coverups and serial rewritings of history.’
— New York Times

‘ Scrupulously researched and sweeping... Science Fictions documents enough treachery, negligence and megalomania to make even the most trusting of readers skeptical of the scientific establishment.’

--Washingtom Post



Not fine art but the art of manipulation in the fine fascist tradition.


"The people need wholesome fear; they want to fear something. They want someone to frighten them and make them shudderingly
submissive."
- Ernst Roehm, gay leader of the Nazi SA Brownshirts

"We have created our myth. The myth is a faith, a passion. It is not necessary for it to be a reality."
- Benito Mussolini, The Naples Speech, 1922

"The power of such a method to force changes in cultural values is based on careful manipulation of fear. Ideally, health promotion
messages should heighten an individual's perceptions of threat and his or her capacity to respond to that threat, thus modulating the level of
fear...What is not yet known is how to introduce fear in the right way in a particular message intended for a particular audience. Acquiring
that knowledge will require planned variations of AIDS education programs that are carefully executed and then carefully evaluated".

Pages 267-8 and 373.- 1989 National Research Council/CDC Internal Report

It's not proper to quote a source and change the text to meet your agenda.

The NY Times quote really says: "The tale of Dr. Robert Gallo’s role in the discovery of the virus that causes AIDS ..."

Adding the '(he claims)' modifier makes it appear like the NY Times endorses your quackery.

As HIV has NEVER been isolated the hypothesis is only a claim and is hotly disputed by leading scientists. I added 'he claims' in brackets as it was my comment not in the review.

"If there is evidence that HIV causes AIDS, there should be scientific documents which
either singly or collectively demonstrate that fact, at least with a high probability. There
is no such document."

Dr. Kary Mullis, Biochemist, 1993 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.


"Up to today there is actually no single scientifically really convincing evidence for the
existence of HIV. Not even once such a retrovirus has been isolated and purified by the
methods of classical virology."

Dr. Heinz Ludwig Sänger, Emeritus Professor of Molecular Biology and Virology,
Max-Planck-Institutes for Biochemy, München.

Every epidemic disease is now renamed 'AIDS' under the Bangui Definition.

Mortalities (non natural) in S.A. remain at the same 2.2% P.A. that they were BEFORE AIDS. Either every other disease in the region vanished overnight or 'AIDS' is simply the old diseases with a new name. You decide.

-------------

In Africa, the continent supposedly being decimated by
HIV, HIV tests are rarely ever done, so there the idea
that all patients with AIDS are infected with HIV is
based entirely on supposition.

At a WHO conference in the Central African Republic in 1985, U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) introduced the "Bangui Definition" of AIDS in Africa.

The CDC officials later explained, "The definition was reached by consensus, based mostly on the delegates' experience in treating AIDS patients. It has proven a useful tool in determining the
extent of the AIDS epidemic in Africa, especially in areas where no testing is available.

It's major components were prolonged fevers (for a month or more), weight loss of 10% or greater, and prolonged diarrhea..."(McCormick, 1996). Where AIDS is diagnosed clinically, large numbers of AIDS patients test negative for HIV. As no HIV testing is required in Africa we have no idea how many AIDS cases there are HIV positive (De ####, 1991; Gilks, 1991; Widy-Wirski, 1988).

_______

Other conditions common in underprivileged and
impoverished communities that are known to cause false
positive results are tuberculosis, malaria, hepatitis and leprosy (Burke, 1993; Challakeree, 1993; Johnson, 1998; Kashala, 1994; MacKenzie,1992; Meyer, 1987). In fact, these are the primary health threats in Africa; several million cases of tuberculosis and malaria are reported in Africa each year - more than all the AIDS cases reported in Africa since 1982 (WHO, 1998)*.

Right wing artists?

That would mean funding the arts and as we all know, the Right hates having to pay for anything.

When it comes to the humanities, the Right is nothing more than a SCROOGE!!!

Kary Mullis has his moments of brilliance. PCR rocks. But I believe the more than 5,000 physicians and academic scientists, including 11 other Nobel laureates, who signed a declaration a few years ago saying unambiguously that HIV does cause AIDS.

And you are saying that South Africa doesn't have an AIDS problem?! I suppose that reading sources from the late 80s and early 90s could give you that impression. But things have changed dramatically in the past decade.

Finally, please tell me: why is there this subculture of lay people (not scientists -- as scientists who do not believe that HIV causes AIDS is a miniscule minority) who want to believe that mankind hasn't yet determined the cause of AIDS? I can understand how the conspiracy crowd can get into the alternate 9/11 story, but what's the deal with HIV?

I cannot agree with you about AIDS but respect your views. The Dissident position on AIDS is not a conspiricy theory any more than any past debate on a medical issue was. Yes, AIDS is used to serve political, social, religious and above all economic interests but that does not make it a conspiricy in the classic sense.

The data from Africa that AIDS is not an std is far stronger today than it was ten years ago.

The 'miniscule' number of scientists who belong to the Dissident position numbers over a thousand and includes: -

AIDS DISSIDENTS include two Nobel Prize winners, one nominee for the Nobel Prize, one member of The National Academy of Sciences to
name a few.


Charles A. Thomas, Jr. Ph.D. (Mol. Biologist, Pres. Helicon Fnd., San Diego, CA)
Harvey Bialy, Ph.D. (Editor Bio/Technology, New York, NY)
Harry Rubin, D.V.M. (Prof. Cell Biology, Univ. Cal. Berkeley, CA)
Richard C. Strohman, Ph.D. (Prof. Cell Biology, Univ. Cal. Berkeley, CA)
Phillip E. Johnson (Prof. Law, Univ. Cal. Berkeley, CA)
Gordon J. Edlin, Ph.D. (Prof. Biochem. &q Physics, Univ. Hawaii, HI)
Beverly E. Griffin, Ph.D. (Dir. Dept. Virology, Royal Postgrad. Med. School, London, UK)
Robert S. Root-Bernstein (Prof. Physiology, Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI)
Gordon Stewart, M.D. (Emeritus Prof. Public Health, Epidemiologist, Isle of Wight, UK)
Carlos Sonnenschein, M.D. (Tufts Univ., Medicine, Boston, MA)
Richard L. Pitter, Ph.D. (Dessert Research Inst., Univ. Nevada System, Reno NV)
Nathaniel S. Lehrman, M.D. (Psychiatrist, Roslyn, NY)
John Lauritsen (Author 'Poison by Prescription', New York, NY)
William Holub, Ph.D. (Biochemist, Live Sciences Inst. New York, NY)
Claudia Holub, Ph.D. (Biochemist, Live Sciences Inst. New York, NY)
Frank R. Buianouckas Ph.D. (Prof. Mathematics, Cuny, Bronx, NY)
Philip Rosen, Ph.D. (Prof. Physics, Univ. Mass. Amherst, MA)
Steven Jonas, M.D. (Prof. Preventive Medicine, Suny Stony Brook, NY)
Bernard K. Forscher, Ph.D (Ret. Editor Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., Santa Fe, NM)
Kary B. Mullis, Ph.D. (Biochemist, PCR inventor, Consultant, La Jolla, CA.)
Jeffrey A. Fisher, M.D. (Pathologist, Mendham, NJ)
Hansueli Albonico, M.D. (General Practitioner, Langnau, Switzerland)
Robert Hoffman, Ph.D. (Prof. Dept. Pediatrics Univ. Cal. Med. School, San Diego, CA)
Timothy H. Hand, Ph.D. (Dept. Psychology, Oglethorpe Univ. Atlanta, GA)
Eleni Eleopulos, M.D. (Royal Perth Hospital, Perth, West Australia)
Robert W. Maver, F.S.A., M.A.A. (Dir. Research, Mutual Benefit Life, Kansas City, MO)
Ken N. Matsumura, M.D. (Chairman Alin Foundation &q Research Inst., Berkeley, CA.)
David T. Berner, M.D. (Condon, MT)
Theodor Wieland, Ph.D. (Max Planck Institut, Heidelberg, Germany)
Joan Shenton, M.A. (Meditel, London, UK)
John Anthony Morris, Ph.D. (Biochemist, Bell of Atari College Park, MD)
Sungchul Ji, Ph.D. (Prof. Pharmacology &q Toxicology, Rutgers Univ., Piscataway, NJ)

In addition there were 14 others who have added their signatures in July 1991.

By March 1993 the following persons had added their signatories:

Vahagn Agbabian, D.O. (Pontiac, MI)
Barry R. Alexavich (Cell Biologist, Bristol, CT)
David T. Berner, M.D. (Condon, MT)
Shelly B. Blam, Ph.D. (Alameda, CA)
Lawrence Bradford, Ph.D. (Benedictine College, Atchison, KS)
Carl Bradford, J.D. (San Diego, CA)
Michael Callen (Author 'Surviving AIDS', Hollywood, CA)
Melinda Calleira (Pres. Amer. Ass. Science &q Public Policy, Los Angeles, CA)
Hiram Caton, Ph.D. (Prof. App. Ethics, Griffith Univ., Brisbane, Australia)
Dennis Chaney, Ph.D. (Chaney Scientific Inc. Burlingame, CA)
Michelle Cochrane (Emeryville, CA)
Hywel Davies, M.D. (Cardiologist, Pueblo West, CO)
Marlowe Dittlebrandt, M.D. (Portland, OR)
Peter H. Duesberg, Ph.D. (Prof. Mol. Biology, Univ. Cal. Berkeley, CA)
Bryan J. Ellison (Author, Berkeley, CA)
Michael Ellner (HEAL, New York, NY)
Fabio Franchi, M.D. (Trieste, Italy)
Trish Fahey (New York, NY)
Celia Farber (Writer, New York, NY)
Lawrence A. Falk, Jr., Ph.D. (Virologist Abott Labs, Consultant NCI, Chicago, IL)
James A. Fimea, Ph.D. (Laguna Beach, CA)
Harry Flynn, (Author, Hollywood, CA)
William L. Gardner, Ph.D. (Wellesley, MA)
Arnold W. Giddens (Shingle Springs, CA)
Robert Grabowski (Birminghan, MI)
Martin Haas, Ph.D. (Dept. Biology Cancer Center, Univ. Cal., San Diego, CA)
Alfred Haessig, M.D. (Emeritus Prof. Immunolgy Univ. Bern, Switzerland)
Urs Haldimann (Editor, Swiss Ass. Science Writers, Arisdorf, Switzerland)
Neville Hodgkinson (Science Correspondent The Sunday Times, London, UK)
John Holmdahl, Ph.D. (Los Angeles, CA)
Ross Horne (Montville, Queensland, Austalia)
Heinrich Kremer, M.D. (Mueckenburg, Germany)
Hans J. Kugler, Ph.D. (Editor Prev. Med. Update, Redondo Beach, CA)
Robert Laarhoven (S.A.A.O., Hilversum, The Netherlands)
Paul Lineback, M.S. (Eastern Oregon State College)
Henk Loman, Ph.D. (Prof. Biophysics, Free Univ. Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Judith Lopez (San Francisco, CA)
Maurizio Luca-Moretti, Ph.D. (InterAmerican Medical Health Ass., Boca Raton, FL)
William H. McIlhany, I.R.F. (Beverly Hills, CA)
Peter McKeever, L.L.B. (London, UK)
Michael D. Mellgard (Los Angeles, CA)
David Mertz (Dept. Philosophy, Univ. Massachusetts, Amherst)
Richard Mitchell, Ph.D. (Assoc. Prof. Sociology, Oregon State Univ, Corvalus, OR)
Joseph E. Morrow, Ph.D. (Cal. State Univ. Sacramento, CA)
Cindy Orser (Ast. Prof. Bacteriology, Univ. Idaho, Moscow, ID)
Hannes G. Pauli, M.D. (Former Director Bern Univ. Med. Faculty, Bern, Switzerland)
Paul Rabinow, Ph.D. (Prof. Dept. Anthropology Univ. Cal., Berkeley, CA)
Jon Rappoport (Author 'AIDS Inc.')
Dennis D. Rathman (Staff Member Lincoln Labs, Lexington, MA)
Rodney M. Richards, Ph.D. (Amgen Inc., Thousand Oaks, CA)
Judith Riesman, Ph.D. (Author, Arlington, VA)
Michael Ristow, Ph.D. (Bochum, Germany)
Mel T. Roach (Avatar Research, Tuscon, AZ)
Gary Robertson (Broadbeach Waters, Queensland, Australia)
Frank Rothschild (Project Dir., Berkeley Project on Bioscience &q Society, CA)
David F. Salehi, Ph.D. (Lake Dallas, TX)
Caspar Schmidt, M.D. (Psychiatrist, New York)
Russell Schoch (Editor California Monthly, Berkeley, CA)
Frederic I. Scott, Jr. (Editor American Clinical Laboratory, Baltimore, MD)
Udo Schuklenk (Dept. Ethics, Monash Univ., Melbourne, Australia)
Jeremy F. Selvey (Los Angeles, CA)
David Shugar, Ph.D. (Prof. Biophysics, Univ. Warsaw, Editor Pharmacol. Therap., Poland)
Sonja Silva (Los Lunas, NM)
Ernest G. Silver, Ph.D. (Radiation Biologist, Oak Ridge, TN)
Lockie M. Swengel (Del Mar, CA)
Frederick Tobin, Ph.D. (Gorke, Australia)
Jack True (Clayton, GA)
La Trombetta (Burzynski Research Inst., Houston, TX)
Friedrich Ulmer, Ph.D. (Prof. Math. &q Stat., Bergische Univ., Wuppertal, Germany)
Michael Verney-Elliot (Meditel, London, UK)
Darrell G. Wells, Ph.D. (Emeritus Prof. Plant Sciences, Brookings, SD)
Wai Yeung, M.D. (Orinda, CA)

By September 1993 the following persons had added their signatories:

Jeanette S. Abel M.D. (Portland, OR)
Jad Adams, M.A. (Author 'AIDS; The HIV Myth,' London, UK)
Patricia Akeman, R.N. (Goleta, CA)
John B. Andelin, M.D. (Mercy Hospital, Williston, ND)
Mark Anderson, D.C. (Orlando, FL)
James C. Baker, Ph.D. (Santa Rosa, CA)
Andrew A. Benson, Ph.D. (La Jolla, CA)
Richard M.A. Berger, DDS (Berkeley, CA)
Robert W. Birge, Ph.D. (Berkeley, CA)
John S. Blankfort, DDS (San Francisco, CA)
Dorothy L. Bosworth, Ph.D. (Carlsbad, CA)
Tucker Brawner, DPM (Savannah, GA)
Brian E. Briggs, M.D. (Minot, ND)
Douglas W. Brown, M.D. (Portland, ME)
John B. Burgin, DDS (Crowley, LA)
Susan E. Caliri, DDS (Berkeley, CA)
Ivor Catt, M.A. (St. Albans, UK)
Asit K. Chakraborty, Ph.D. (Omaha, NE)
Jack G. Chamberlain, Ph.D. (Berkeley, CA)
Colleen Cook, R.N. (Wilmington, DE)
Daniel J. Corson, MFA (Seattle, WA)
J. Mark Cox, DDS (Midland, TX)
Etienne De Harven, M.D. (St. Cezaire sur Siagne, France)
Richard W. DeLisle D.C. (Leominster, MA)
James DeMeo Ph.D. (El Cerrito, CA)
Thomas A. Dorman, M.D. (San Luis Obispo, CA)
Mohammad Entezampour, Ph.D. (Dept. Biology Univ. North Texas, Denton, TX)
Rafael Escribano, Ph.D. (Dept. Span.&q Port. Univ. Cal. Riverside, TX)
Sami E. Fathalla, M.D., Ph.D. (Damman, Saudi Arabia)
Richard A. Fisher (Inter. Acad. Oral Med. &q Toxicol., Annandale, VA)
Scott D. Flamm, M.D. (San Francisco, CA)
Michael R. Fox Ph.D. (Richland, WA)
Donato Fumarola, M.D. (Inst. Microbiolia Medica, Bari, Italy)
Charles L. Geshekter, Ph.D. (Dept. History, Cal. State Univ, Chico, CA)
Todd Gestaldo, D.C. (Sunnyvale, CA)
Edward S. Golub, Ph.D. (Pacific Center for Ethics &q App. Biol., Solana Beach, CA)
John Hardie, BDS (Dept. Dentistry Vancouver General Hospital, British Columbia, Canada)
Robert J. Henderson, D.C. (Locust Valley, NY)
Charles A. Hill, M.D. (Houston, TX)
Charles Hoff, Ph.D. (Univ. South. Alabama, AL)
Mark E. Jarmel, D.C. (Santa Monica, CA)
Anne Marie Jeay, Ph.D. (Univ. Nancy II, France)
Jens Jerndal M.D. (Lanzarote, Spain)
Donald J. Johnson, DDS (Coeur d'Alene, ID)
William H. Jordan Jr, Ph.D. (Culver City, CA)
Dennis G. Kinnane, DOM (Torrence, CA)
Claus Kohnlein, M.D. (Kiel, Germany)
Stefan T.J. Lanka, Ph.D. (Radolfzell, Germany)
Barry A. Liebling, Ph.D. (New York, NY)
Michel Lobrot, Ph.D. (Univ. Paris VIII, Les Lilas, France)
Howard C. Mel, Ph.D. (Berkeley, CA)
Th. H.L. Michiels, M.D. (Vinkeveen, The Netherlands)
James W. Miller, M.D. (San Leandro, CA)
R. Munck, M.D. (Ceret, France)
Cindy Nelson, M.A. (San Francisco, CA)
Raymond W. Novaco, M.D. (Prof. Psychology &q Soc. Behavior, Univ. Cal., Irvine, CA)
Sam Okware, M.D. (Ministry of Health, Entebbe, Uganda)
David J. Orman, M.Sc. (San Diego, CA)
George N. Pasto, M.D. (Portland, OR)
M. Dennis Paul, MscM (Amherst, NH)
Jack Perrine, Ph.D. (Pasadena, CA)
John L. Philp, M.D., MPH (Stockton, CA)
Peter W. Plumley, FSA (Chicago, IL)
Ronald F. Price, Ph.D. (La Trobe Univ., Bundoora, Victoria, Australia)
David W. Rasnick, Ph.D. (Alameda, CA)
Richard A. Ratner, M.D. (Bethesda, MD)
Rogers Reddings, Ph.D. (Univ. North Texas, Denton, TX)
Stephen J. Repitor, DPM (Oak Park, MI)
Douglas Roise, M.D. (St. Joseph's Hospital, Dickenson, ND)
Steven Roman, Ph.D. (San Diego, CA)
Cristobal A.P. Sandoval, M.D. (Cuba)
Alex Santoro, M.A. (Kansas City, MO)
George Sarant, M.D. (Bronx, NY)
David R. Schryer, Ph.D. (Hampton, VA)
C. Grier Sellers, C.A. (Seattle, WA)
James T. Shepherd, M.D. (Port Arthur, TX)
John G. Shiber, Ph.D. (Univ. Kentucky, Prestonberg, KY)
Irving P. Silberman, O.D. (Hyde Park, NY)
Tony Smith, CAGS (New York, NY)
James P. Snyder, Ph.D. (Glenview, IL)
James K. Stack, LLD (San Francisco, CA)
Mark S. Stanley, Ph.D. (Dept. Biol. Sciences, Univ. North Texas, Denton, TX)
Ralph R. Stephens, LMT (Cedar Rapids, IA)
Joe Thomas, Ph.D. (ICMR-WHO Proj. on AIDS, Calcutta, India)
Richard A. Tuscher, D.O. (Portland, OR)
Jean van Camp, M.A. (New Martinsville, WV)
Raul Vergini, M.D. (Predappio, Italy)
James H. Warner, LLD (Rohersville, MD)
Edward J. Wawszkiewicz, Ph.D. (Chicago, IL)
Johathan C. Wells, Ph.D. (Fairfield, CA)
Adrian M. Wenner, Ph.D. (Dept. Biol. Sciences, Univ. Cal., Santa Barbara, CA)
Manfred Wetter, Ph.D. (Copperbelt Univ., Kitwe, Zambia)
Derek A. Wolfe, DBM (North Devon, UK)
L.B. Work, M.D. (Monterey, CA)
Hung-His Wu, Ph.D. (Dept. Math. Univ. Cal., Berkeley, CA)
James Wu, M.D. (Foster City, CA)
Stanley J. Zyskowski, Ph.D. (Farmington Hills, MI)
Chr. Anti-Com. Crusade (Long Beach, CA)
Mark Alampi (Project AIDS Inter., Los Angeles, CA)
W.H. Beauman (Chicago, IL)

This is not the full list


Best wishes,


Paul

Sex And HIV: Behaviour-Change Trial Shows No Link
The East African (Nairobi)
March 17, 2003
Posted to the web March 19, 2003
By Paul Redfern, Special Correspondent
Nairobi

A UK funded trial aimed at reducing the spread of Aids in Uganda by
modifying sexual behaviour appears to have had little discernible
effect.

The trial, carried out on around 15,000 people in the Masaka region,
involved distributing condoms, treating around 12,000 victims of
sexually transmitted diseases and counselling.

However, while the trial led to a marked change in sexual behavioural
patterns, with the proportion reporting causal sexual partners falling
from around 35 per cent to 15 per cent, there was no noticeable fall
in the number of new cases of HIV infection, although there was a
significant reduction in sexually transmitted diseases such as
syphilis and gonorrhoea.

The trial results, which were reported in the British medical journal
The Lancet, have already aroused some controversy.

The team leader of the trial, Dr Anatoli Kamalai, acknowledged that
there was "no measurable reduction" in HIV incidence with "no hint of
even a small effect."

But the research team's view is that the spread of HIV was already
declining in the area and the trial might not have been big enough to
detect any additional change.

There is, however, another view which has recently been put forward
which claims that inadequately sterilised needles across Africa have
led to a greater rate of HIV infection than sexual contact.

It is a view put forward by a mainly American group of scientists,
including Dr David Gisselquist, who told the Times of London that
"Results from the Masaka study add to the already long list of
findings from other studies that don't fit the hypothesis that most
HIV in African adults is from sexual transmission.

"These results from Masaka are similar to results published earlier
from a similar study in Rakai, Uganda, where interventions that
reduced STD prevalence had no impact on HIV incidence." However, such
a view is by no means mainstream in the latest thinking on the spread
of HIV in Africa.

Most scientific research still believes that HIV is mainly spread by
sexual transmission and that people suffering from STDs are
particularly prone.

The trial was the first systematic attempt on a large scale to assess
whether modifying sexual behaviour and better management of other
sexual diseases could cut the transmission of HIV in Africa.

In a commentary in The Lancet, Judith Stephenson and Frances Cowan of
the Royal Free and University College Medical School in London
acknowledged that "many people will be disappointed by the lack of
reduction in HIV incidence, despite an apparently appropriate
intervention that reduced other STDs and was implemented on a huge
scale with great care and commitment."


Copyright © 2003 The East African. All rights reserved. Distributed
by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).
http://allafrica.com/stories/200303190482.html
http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200303190482.html