On Assignment; 2012; 1987 Year in Review; AIDS - A Look Back

Broadcast of Onassignment is locally funded by K&ME viewer contributions and by a grant from the Mountain Bell Foundation. Tonight On Assignment As the year draws to a close, pop state journalists take their major of 1987 and its legacy for New Mexico. You have a governor who has said point blank, there will be no more tax increases during my administration. The man's painted himself into a corner I think with that kind of a statement. And a special year's end look at the growing AIDS epidemic here and elsewhere. The majority of those of us sick now are gay men. It isn't going to stay that way. Everybody's at risk. As I said, the virus does not take a survey regarding sexual orientation before biting it.

These stories next, On Assignment with Hal Rogans. Good evening. Tonight a tradition we like to keep. Our annual year's end review of the major New Mexico news stories which have given cast and character to the past 12 months. To that end and in keeping with tradition I am joined by two of New Mexico's most prominent and gifted journalists, colleagues and friends, Tim Gallagher, editor of the Albuquerque Tribune which in the past year under Gallagher's leadership has come to feature one of the most lively no-holes barred editorial pages in the nation. And always good news, freelance journalist Kathy Robbins, who keeps the readers of the New York Times informed about events in New Mexico.

It is a risky business trying to tame an entire year in a mere hour. But if you look at it, some terms seem to apply to 1987 in New Mexico. It was a year of change, it was a year of troubles, of luck, of tragedy. And in some instances, a year of simple political nonsense. Start with trouble, mixed with a little luck. When the stock market took its historic nose dive on October 19, down more than 500 points in just six hours, more than Wall Street shuttered. New Mexico which owns several hundred million dollars in stocks, like other investors, took a bath. The luck was those losses were generally offset by gains in the bond market. So on balance, all that balanced out. But Wall Street is hardly the sole measure of an economy.

And New Mexico's in 1987 was to put the best possible face on it, mixed. On the plus side, a modest improvement in the oil and gas industry. Otherwise things were shaking. Unemployment remained higher than the national average. Major extractive industries, idle, agriculture, depressed. And the giant U.S. West enterprise which business and political leaders hoped to attract to New Mexico said, no thanks, your system of higher education is not up to snuff. Come on now to change. For the first time in 16 years, New Mexico's GOP put one of its own in the office of governor. Ironically, the same election which made Republican Gary Carothers the state's chief executive gave outright control of the state legislature to the Democrats.

We New Mexicans are apt to hedge our bets. In the last, after a rocky beginning, state lawmakers gave Gary Carothers pretty much what he asked for, including one of the largest tax increases in state history. Carothers' first year was not without difficulties, however. Tradition held as tensions surfaced between the governor and the state attorney general. In this instance, Carothers' fellow Republican Hal Stratton, who pulled no punches in his criticisms of the governor's staff operations, violence and allegations of threats and intimidation against the top administrator of the state hospital in Las Vegas forced the governor to take unprecedented security measures for the protection of Dr. Tom Diker. Woes for the governor of the state correction system, one of the nation's most costly, and yet to comply with that federal court order which Carothers has vowed to fight.

In July, the big breakout, as seven inmates pulled off that apparently well orchestrated escape from the state pan. Three months later, though not the effect of that cause we were told, the nationally respected warden of the state prison, George Sullivan, said he'd had enough and headed back to his home state of Oregon. Later in the year, amid controversy over the governor's decision to transfer key staffers of the state's environmental evaluation group to Carlsbad, new questions about the safety of the waste isolation pilot project scheduled to begin receiving nuclear waste in 1988. Meanwhile, 1987 was a turbulent year at Albuquerque City Hall. Local police were rarely out of the headlines. Questionable legislative lobbying practices raised eyebrows.

Investigations into prominent citizens suspected of no wrongdoing raised tempers. And difficult salary negotiations, wild police officers to attempt an unsuccessful effort at defeating that quarter cent sales tax, earmark for quality of life projects in the city. By year's end, despite the earlier glitz of Miss USA, the embattled administration of Albuquerque mayor Ken Schultz tried to put the best face on the bad news. Only 39% of local residents according to one reliable pollster thought Schultz was doing a good job. The remainder either had no opinion or rated his performance only fair to poor. And finally, just last week, unwilling to be ignored in any year's end review, the Albuquerque School Board put itself in contention for 1987's Simple Political Nonsense Award.

Three years after she was hired to knock heads at APS and streamline local school operations, Albuquerque superintendent, Billion Barna, was fired for having done what she was hired to accomplish. And so some of the highlights of 1987 and Tim Gallagher, I want to get back to the business of Barna momentarily, but the economy, the top of our review of 1987, Wall Street crash was perhaps more dramatic. But that US West story, basically they told us our education system, higher education system here in New Mexico, does not meet the standards they expect. Long message, what do you make of that? I read more into it than just New Mexico you have a problem with higher education.

I think what US West was saying to us is that we have a problem through the primary and the secondary education levels as well, how that we have slipped back to about the middle of the pack in terms of per student spending when you compare us with the other states. And they are telling us that New Mexico is not spending the dollars at the primary levels that it needs to prepare students for higher education. Kathy and looking back, how do you read the story of the economy in 1987, notably this US West story picking up on what Tim had to say? I agree with Tim in terms of the particulars in dollar spending and I think US West has already indicated that they're not just looking at higher education. In fact, higher ed didn't come out too badly for US West. What came out was the entire commitment to education period. And I think New Mexico needs to look not only at education, but even broader issues than I think Tim has mentioned, I think he'll agree with me.

And that is a whole series of quote quality of life issues. We know that many companies, the tax incentives, the infrastructure, the right to work, all of those issues are not as important as where our executives are going to send their children to school. What kinds of performing arts facilities are there for our people? What kinds of continuing education is available? What is the crime rate like? What are neighborhoods like for our people? Those kinds of issues are the kinds of issues that companies really look at very carefully. We know that from the Semitech people and we know that from US West and for Albuquerque as well as for other communities in this state. Those are important issues. I mean, yeah, something to that. I think US West's message to New Mexico also was diversify. One of the things that they were very frightened of was this state's dependence on government and government contract work.

New Mexico has a heck of a lot more to fear from Graham Rudman than it does from Dow Jones. What US West was saying was that if the Graham Rudman cutbacks go into effect, your economy is going to go into another tailspin and we can't afford to be there if that happens. Governor Gary Carruth is first year in office. Got through the legislature one of the largest tax increases in state history. Now in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash and predictions by some economist that the worst could still be yet to come. To raise those kind of taxes, to make those kind of investments, be pretty difficult wouldn't it for Carruthers and the legislature and if so, aren't we basically locked into the status quo for the foreseeable future? You have a governor who has said point blank, there will be no more tax increases during my administration. Mass pain in himself into a corner I think with that kind of a statement. It is interesting that he did get through a very large tax increase. There are those who will tell you that what we have in the governor's mansion is a Democrat

and Republicans clothing. I'm not so sure I buy that. I think this guy is willing. He learned some very hard lessons the first time around how. You got to remember that this man had held elected office since he was elected student body president at Aztec High School in 1957. He had forgotten how to deal with a legislative branch of government. And last time, what did he do? He waited until the last moment and sprung all his legislative proposals on the legislature on January 21st the day before they opened. This time, he's not doing that. This time, he's barnstorming around the state with that wonderful smile and that glad of handshake and saying, this is what we're going to propose to the legislature in January. What do you think of it? So I think he's out there on the learning curve in terms of dealing with politics and politicians, but he's painted himself in a corner in terms of tax increases. And does he need that in order to pursue his program of economic development? Well, if you are going to talk about spending more money on higher education, you're going to have to come from somewhere, isn't it?

And we're not talking about user fees when we talk about higher ed. He did propose a three tiered tuition planet in that last session that got nowhere. And I have been a believer, as less used on a number of other people, that the answer for New Mexico is slimming down this gargantuan university system. We've got too many universities trying to be everything to everybody in this state. And that just doesn't work. Now politically, you can't tell. Politically slimming it down doesn't work, either. Well, that's a nightmare. You've sort of anticipated something I wanted to ask you about, Tim, overall, Karather's first year in office and assessment, taking into account the economy, relations with the attorney, general, the correction system, state hospital, successes with the legislature. How well, how poorly did Karather's do this year? He, I think you have to give him at least a B. I don't think he's been as horrible as those of us who said, here comes James Watray and Carnate anticipated.

However, I really think that the issues to confront him in the next couple of years, certainly are going to be taxes and the economic issues in the state. But what I see coming, the storm clouds that I see gathering are the environmental concerns in the state. You see this to some degree on the game commission with some of the controversies they've gotten themselves into. And who concerns it with? The legacy that Gary Karather's may leave this state is a James Wat style of legacy. If, if, he lives true to what a lot of people are anticipating his form really is, I'm not so sure where he stands on a lot of the environmental concerns in the state. But I think that's, that's going to be the issue for Gary Karather's in 88, 89 and 90. Kathy, you've heard what Tim has had to say, your overview, your assessment. I just, in terms of the environmental issues, Tim, I think if he does that, he's going to be in for a fall because I think Americans generally, and I think that's true of New Mexicans, and we see it in Albuquerque too, on certain specific issues like archeological

preservation, like air quality, and that, again, that quarter cent showed us, New Mexicans are very interested in preserving environmental quality. So if he does try that, I think he's in for a fall. More generally, I'm, I have to remark on some of the positive national press that Karather Karather's had just recently, I guess he just recently had a, a, a, a plus in U.S. news and world report, and the Houston Bureau chief for the Times did a rather glowing story. It's a really thick and, thick and hurt governors in New Mexico, if folks outside there like them. And the Houston Bureau for the Times, at this sort of glowing story on Karather's, during the Republican governor's conference, he's very soothing, you know, we give him a bee because he came after Tony and I, I think that's one of the reasons he's, he looks good. He looks like an American governor from Connecticut, I mean, with his slick down hair and his, you know, his attractive smile.

But let's look a little more carefully. Not only was his last elected office an Aztec High, here's a man who talks about privatization, I don't think he's ever worked for the private sector. He's worked as a state employee, as a federal employee, and he wants to know about, you know, he wants to do all this privatizing of the Las Vegas Medical Center or whatever. I think one of the more telling comments he made early in the year, he said something he had just learned, something about a black hole in the New Mexico economy, which was that business people, if they want to borrow more than a half a million dollars, can't go to local banks, they have to go to venture capital, and he just learned this, well, this is something the business community is known for a long time that New Mexico banks do not lend more than, you know, half a million dollars you've got to go out, outside the state in many cases. So I think he's, in a sense, he's a lot like Reagan, he's not particularly well equipped in some ways to be governor, even though he gives us all this rhetoric like privatization

and, and, and I'm not sure how well he's going to be able to follow through on some of this. We'll find out maybe next year. Let's stick with another sticky political issue, Albuquerque City Hall, American Shows, police involvement in politics, police at odds with the mayor, very police who just two years ago endorsed the mayor, very shaky situation down there. What's this done to the mayor, what's this done to the police, what's this done to the city of Albuquerque? The police issue is very complicated because the police have been very highly favorite in this town over the years, they've gotten their salary increases, et cetera. They really got a big slap this year when their effort to spearhead the referendum on the quarter set failed utterly.

They also got a slap when the stories were revealed about investigations of private citizens. And yet this is the same organization that endorsed the mayor. They made a big mistake in playing politics on this mayor election for the first time. Schultz's problems, though, I think extend well beyond the police issue. And I think Tom Hoover, and I'm going to cite one of your programs, that interview you did with Tom a few weeks ago, I guess it was. And he asked him to compare the different mayors that he had served with. And he made, I think he really summarized Ken Schultz very well, that Ken is basically a man who's interested in Ken Schultz. And that's the way he has operated city government. And that's why I think Tim, your newspaper among others, has looked at the cronism situation. The cronism situation, it's so apparent, or it seems apparent, to people in Albuquerque that that's it.

Tim, your paper has been at the cutting edge of that story. Put it in focus for us if you can. Kathy, to follow on what you said, the problem is much larger than cronism or black roses or police unions. The problem is vision, as I said. Someone in the planning department said to me recently that the way most planning departments work with their mayors is the mayors says, here is my vision for the city. Now you give me the documents that will get us there. Well, what this person said to me was, this mayors says, give me a vision and give me the documents because he doesn't have it. Obviously, this person wants to remain anonymous or they'd be on the unemployment line. Maybe I could get them on a show. Maybe so. One of those black hoods over face. But I think Ken's problem is that he has lots of neat little components that fit in and in and of themselves aren't bad things like these grand pre-raceway and beauty passions, whatever you think of them. But I don't see the master plan. I don't see, here's how I plan to put Albuquerque on that. That recent poll I mentioned at the beginning of the program, the fellow you once described

is the ubiquitous Brian Sandler. Who was incidentally, Schultz Polster, during his campaign, surveyed, found out 30 percent of the people of this community, Albuquerque thinks he's doing a good job. The rest either have no opinion, think he's only doing a fair job or a poor job. Now I'm told folks inside the Schultz administration, consider that a vote of confidence, should they? Well, what do you have to compare it to, I mean, who has he fouled as mayor, Harry Kinney, who's a very nice man, and I'm not sure Harry's vision of Albuquerque was any better. Or Dave Rusk, who had a lot of vision, but very little political savvy, in my opinion, very little ability to get things through. So it's all relative, how? 30 percent may be great if the previous guys were getting 22. My suspicion, though, is if you were running for reelection with only 30 percent of the

people feeling he's doing a good job, he'd be in big trouble. Because those fair to pours are vulnerable to other candidates. Well, that depends on how many people are running against them, if you've got a field of four or five other people, 30 percent isn't bad. It can't be. The firing of Lillian Barna, a couple of weeks ago by the Albuquerque School Board, would you buy the proposition I articulated at the beginning of the program that this puts the APS board in contention for 1987's Simple Political Nonsense Award? God, there are so many candidates for that award. I didn't say make it a winner, I just put them in contention. That's up there at the top. That has to be up there at the top. In that situation, by the way, with Lillian Barna, I think gets to the root of a problem that cuts across many issues in New Mexico.

Once again, I'm going to go back to one of your programs with Mr. Sullivan from the Corrections, making the same point, what is it about this state that makes it shoot itself in the foot politically over and over and over again? He's gone. The same thing has happened in human services across the state. The same thing happened when Paul Joe Robotel was brought in to do the same kinds of things that Lillian Barna was asked to do. Joe Robotel was a former superintendent of the Public Security. What happens at APS is another example of why the U.S. West's say no to Albuquerque. That kind of political interference and politicization of what should be a very professional, professionally run organization. I checked this morning in the yellow pages. I do this about every two years to check how many private schools there are in Albuquerque. There are 45 private schools in a community and a metropolitan area of less than a half

a million. That is a remarkable figure to me. Why is that happening? And I think part of it is the instability and education that is caused by the politicization of the educational system. And I think it might be because education is such a big employer. There are lots of jobs, lots of patronage, that is what it is about. That is what it is about. What you are saying is that education in New Mexico is running education. What you are saying is what you are arguing I guess is that education in New Mexico, APS and Albuquerque is a kind of pork barrel. Oh absolutely. And when you have got a paw like Ira Robinson running that school board, you are going to see that kind of politicization. Your paper has been very, very critical of the APS board for its actions in reference to Lillian Barna. I know this is public television but I am going to have to watch my language. I am furious about the way that board acted, but you know how you get what you pay for.

What we elected was a board that preceded from an ideological perspective. We are going to get that woman. And it took them eight months, it took them eight months of doing nothing back, nothing but that. There are no goals in that district. There is no plan. We are talking about busing kids from the west side down to Valley High School because we haven't planned for the growth on the west side. What we are talking about is a board that has been nothing but the past eight months twiddling its thumbs and figuring out how it is going to fire that woman. Now she may not be the best school administrator in the world. I don't know that. But I know she came in with a mandate to do certain things from the legislature and she did them. She accomplished them. She had no control over who was elected to the school board and because of that she is out on her ear. Come June 1st or July 1st. I am furious about the situation. Kathy is exactly right. It is to the detriment of this community to treat professional administrators that way. Folks, let's catch our breath here for a moment.

Take a break. When we come back, we will take a look at one of the most important stories of 1987 and conceivably for many years to come. The AIDS Health Crisis continues. Continuing now are 1987 year-end review with Kathy Robbins and Tim Gallagher. One of the most disquieting stories of 1987 has been this nation's mushrooming AIDS health crisis. If we have learned nothing else this year, New Mexico is not and never has been a safe haven as this awesome worldwide epidemic continues its inexorable course. Worldwide it is estimated perhaps as many as 1 billion people may be infected with the

suspected AIDS virus. In this country alone, in excess of 50,000 cases of the disease have been reported and experts acknowledge many AIDS cases have gone undetected and unreported over the years. When 1987 dawned in New Mexico, there were 50 known cases. By year's end, that number approaches 100. One of those stricken with the disease this year is a nationally recognized leader in the fight against AIDS and a well-known figure in New Mexico. The recently retired executive director of New Mexico AIDS Services, Don Schmidt. This footage was shot at the University of New Mexico Hospital three weeks ago. With Schmidt's consent, we attempted an on-camera conversation. That was not possible.

He was too ill to sustain an interview. Earlier this week, however, now released from the hospital, Schmidt joined me on assignment to talk about AIDS New Mexico in 1987. Don Schmidt-Appropo this past year, last January, the state legislature took a number of actions designed to respond to this growing AIDS epidemic here in New Mexico, including the creation of an interim committee designed to define some kind of a response on the part of the legislature and the state. At years in now, can you give me some sense of your assessment of the work of that committee? What has accomplished and what you make of it? I think that committee is one of the most important things that has happened in terms of moving this state forward in a response to AIDS to date. I think it's real important that this committee made up of Democrats and Republicans, House members, Senate members, have taken an in-depth study look at AIDS itself and what's going

on in this state in terms of care, treatment, holding down costs, quality of care, educational programs. I think that's very, very good. It was clear that this legislature here has been the first class, if you will, to be educated by those of us with New Mexico AIDS services. In each and every legislator here has shaken the hands of someone with AIDS or someone with ARC and gotten to know those of us who have been trying to educate them regarding this epidemic. This committee, however, is them taking on the responsibility on themselves in terms of trying to put a package together that will best respond to the epidemic and it was a very, very good thing, very important thing. And one of the very few states who have done this, the president of the United States, of course, never used the word AIDS until June of this year, six years into the epidemic. And it's been since that point that he established an AIDS committee to advise nationally what the nation should be doing.

I think it's real appropriate and real good that right here in New Mexico we have our state lawmakers working together to put together a package early on. Well, national AIDS authorities, to whom I have spoken, who are familiar with the situation here in New Mexico, have for the most part given our state legislature pretty high marks for its response to AIDS, certainly in comparison to the legislatures of many, many, many other states, those same authorities at the same time are frequently quite critical of the state health and human services departments, bureaucracies criticizing them for their failure to carry through, to carry out in some instances legislative intent. Let's start with health and environment, bureaucracies, your own assessment of the situation there. Since I started working on the AIDS issue here in New Mexico, what have we gone through health? Six, seven, secretaries of health, most of whom have been playing political games

and trying to stay in their hot seat. And clearly not addressing the number one health priority. They have left it to other bureaucrats within the department, the state epidemiologist. They then developed a special position of AIDS coordinator, I believe her position is called. These people have seen as their job the role of building a bureaucracy, building a empire if you will. Many things that could be better carried out and better done by contracting dollars out to the Red Cross, to New Mexico AIDS services, to volunteer based organizations throughout this state. Instead, the health and environment department has chosen to say that they themselves will do those, take, carry out those responsibilities. Among those is general public education. And I ask you and I ask them often, how many PSAs, public service announcements do you see produced by this state in terms of education regarding risk reduction, regarding AIDS? How many billboards do you see?

How many interviews do you see in the newspaper? The reality how is the rate of adolescent pregnancy is going up, the rate of other sexually transmitted diseases is going up among heterosexuals in this state. And the belief among heterosexuals is this is a gay problem, not a problem straight people need to worry about. And the people who are supposed to be addressing that and making a difference in terms of education to hold down the number of AIDS cases are the staff members of the health and environment department and they have failed in a big way to do their job. And because they failed, many more people are going to get sick. All right, then let's turn to the human services department. At its last session in January, the state legislature, as I recall, appropriated about a quarter of a million dollars. Now that money was to match three-quarters of a million dollars in federal money, the so-called Medicaid waiver program designed to keep hospital costs down where AIDS is concerned, keep people with AIDS and ARC in their homes on an outpatient basis. How's that working?

Hard to say, it's too early to tell in many ways. That program was funded to start July 1st, we're not even six months into that program yet. Many history, of course, has been starting human services in a health education programs over many years. And the first six months are tough. It's hard to get a new system in place. Given how short the program has been operating, I think it's operating quite well. I think the program is designed appropriately to help people stay at home instead of in hospitals as much as possible. In my own case, as a person with AIDS, I was able, because of home care, to leave the hospital earlier than I otherwise would have been able to. However, there are some real problems within the bureaucracy in terms of getting people approved for reimbursement under this program. What should take 10 or 15 days has been running about two months. I am very hopeful that the state people at the Human Services Department will be able to rectify that through working with their various case workers throughout the state. There's another problem too. Those people who have AIDS who went to receive the services of this Medicaid waiver home care

program must apply for that program in their county of residents at the Human Services Office there. If a person is from a very small, densely populated county, for example, going and applying for those services as a person with AIDS to that kind of office, maybe the same as putting an ad in the front page of the newspaper in that county saying, I have AIDS, in terms of that word getting around. They have been resistant to allowing everyone to be able to apply in Albuquerque or some other place to protect their confidentiality. I believe that must be addressed. Other than that, so far so good, how? You were one of the first New Mexicans to warn that the only prevention for AIDS was education and that that education had to reach out to all groups, gay people, intravenous drug users, the general population, now two and a half, whatever it is, three years later. Your assessment, education for the purpose of prevention.

What makes people change their behavior is not only education, it's also support for modifying behavior so people are not at risk to get this virus. You know how those of us who are ill now got this virus five, seven and more years ago. Before we knew it was a virus before we knew how it was spread and we now have an option for no more people to get this virus. We know it is a virus, we know how it is spread and through education we can keep people from getting sick. General public education, poor, poor marks, D's if not enough in terms of this state, in terms of outreach to general public, educating them to their risk and helping them modify their behavior. Let me interrupt you here. You're picking up, apparently, on something you've said before, why, though, in your opinion has general AIDS education been poor, D minus? We've not been utilizing all of the tools we have to educate. We have not been utilizing our churches.

We have not been utilizing volunteer organizations. We have not been getting those dollars needed to produce information, educational materials, et cetera, into the hands of people and groups that utilize broad-based volunteers. Those volunteers get educated, they educate others, and you have a real pyramid effect. In terms of general public education, we have not done that. In terms of education to the gay men's community, which are still to date, is the highest number of our AIDS cases are still among gay men. This virus doesn't take a survey. Are you gay? Are you straight? But it did come into this country through the gay men's community. Therefore, it's those of us who got this virus many years ago who are now getting sick. In the gay men's community, we have utilized volunteers in a big way. The dollars to reach this community have been contracted from the health and environment department to New Mexico AIDS services. These are funds, by the way, from the Centers for Disease Control, and New Mexico AIDS Services utilizes volunteers to do outreach. We've done a great job in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, which is more, most of our cases are happening.

It's hard to do that kind of education to closet gay men in the rural parts of this state, but that's beginning to happen as well. I think the other thing that you have happening, Hal, is the real motivator for people to modify behavior and to respond to this epidemic and the ways we must respond to this epidemic is when you have friends who become ill and when you have friends who die, that's a real motivator to realize that, oh, you are at risk. And here in this state, we've only seen a few women, non-gay people, be diagnosed with this illness to date, and what people don't realize is those getting the virus now aren't going to be sick for three, four, five, seven, eight, ten years from now. And so we have a rough, it's a rough education project to educate the general population and what we've been doing so far through our health and environment department in my mind is wrong. It's not the best way to go. We've all seen the news reports, some say the risk of coming in contact with this virus to the general population has been much exaggerated. Your own assessment of that.

Yes, and no. I mean, clearly, people are not going to get this virus by setting on the same television set with me or writing on the same bus with me or whatever. And I think there's been misapprehension on the part of the general public that by going to school with someone with the virus or working with someone with the virus, they might get it. That is clearly not the case. We'll get this virus through intimate sexual contact, people get this virus through sharing needles in shooting of any kind of drugs. We have the misconception that junkies are the only people at risk. That lawyer and doctor and whoever who might have shot cocaine once, it was good up their nose, they'd shoot it in their arms once in the last seven years, is also at risk. As is each and every one of his sexual partners or her sexual partners over the years, I think there's a real misconception that, unless you're gay, you're not going to get it, which is just not the case. And the people have that misconception because the majority of those of us sick now are gay men. It isn't going to stay that way. Everybody's at risk.

As I said, the virus does not take a survey regarding sexual orientation before biting it. It just doesn't work that way. Going back to your criticism of the general AIDS education effort here in New Mexico. I think it was a couple of years ago. The legislature appropriated money for purposes of education. At that time, prior to that time, New Mexico AIDS services of which you were at that time executive director had been doing general education. The health bureaucracy, however, I am told, decided to keep that general education money within its own operation because, quote, unquote, New Mexico AIDS services, and I had one member of that staff tell me, is a gay organization incapable of reaching the general population in its educational efforts. Do you want to talk about that with me here? Well, that's Diddly Squat, the shortest response.

Yes, a majority of the volunteers and staff at AIDS services have been gay people. I think those of us within the gay community have lost friends, have become ill ourselves, and therefore our understanding of how important this work, this education work is. So we have been a majority of the people coming forward as volunteers in particular. But about 40% of the volunteers at New Mexico AIDS services now are not gay people. And I think what's important is everybody who has the energy to come forward and work on this is needed in this state. I think that the state health and environment staff were trying to create a self-fulfilling prophecy. I think they were a little uncomfortable dealing with people who were comfortable with their own sexuality when they were gay people, and they were fearful themselves of working with gay people. And they wanted to build their own bureaucracy, and they wanted to go up the ladders, and they wanted to make more money as civil servants within the state health and environment department, and they said, oh, we can do this, but they haven't come through how.

You can't one paid staff person or two or three or four cannot do the same work as hundreds of volunteers being taught how to do that work. How do the non-gay people who are involved in the work of New Mexico AIDS services take to this characterization of New Mexico AIDS services as a gay organization? They're not thrilled. I mean, I think every, none of the people at AIDS services be they gay or non-gay are thrilled about that characterization. People are not there because of who they happen to love in their sexual orientation. They're there to stop the number one health crisis in this nation in a huge epidemic, and they're real tired of hearing the state bureaucrats say it's some kind of a game. You're a gay organization, so you can only do this, gee, you don't do that. I mean, they're taking it on as a way to build their careers, and that is not what the volunteers and staff and board of New Mexico AIDS services in my mind are all about. They're there to try to make sure that this virus that has gotten some of us doesn't

get anybody else, and they're there to try to provide appropriate and caring and loving support for those who are dying from a horrible disease. One of the most compelling books I have read in quite some time written by San Francisco Chronicle reporter Randy Schultz, and the band played on as its title, brings this whole story of AIDS into a remarkable historic focus, but Schultz has been highly critical, is highly critical in that book, about the manner in which the story of AIDS historically has been covered in this country, the lack of aggressiveness on the part of the news media themselves, and digging beneath the superficial going beyond the press release of official them and the like. Your own assessment, here in New Mexico, how well have we and the news media covered

the AIDS story? Another D minus or F in my opinion, how you have done regular stories and you have brought to the viewers of public television a fairly in-depth review of AIDS in all of its aspects every six months or so since the beginning of this story here. That's not been the case with most of our other media coverage people are newspapers. They're just beginning to cover the story now. I ask you, how, if this epidemic, if the first cases of people getting AIDS in the state and throughout this country had been women of childbearing age, and we had the same information about the fact that it's going to spread, multiply in geometric progression and be the worst, is recognized as the worst health crisis in the history of people as far as we know, do you think the story might get a little more play than if the story has gotten so far with looking at gay men and IV drug users as some of the first people getting the disease?

I believe the story would have much more play. I believe that by this time in New Mexico, each and every person, young and old, would know what they need to do, which is practice safer sex, abstain from sexual contact, limit number of sexual partners, not share needles. People would have that message loud and clear from the third grade on up if, in fact, the news media cared about this story. Rock Hudson's death was in October of 1985, and I was at that point, the executive director of AIDS Services, and the phone rang off the hook, what do you think about Rock Hudson dying? And I give him a response, it's like, well, I think it's just as sad as anybody else dying from this horrible disease. And that was not what they were looking for, it wasn't enough of a story, I guess. People have been trying to contact me since my retirement from AIDS Services in November, for my diagnosis with AIDS, instead of doing wanting to do stories that were educational, that got the system to move, that got information and education out there to reduce the spread

of the disease, they've wanted to do real personal interest stories. And I made it real clear, I don't want to be the AIDS poster boy in New Mexico, I want them to do their job and educate. And so many of these folks, instead of doing an educational story, have chosen not to do a story at all. Thinking up on that, I remember two and a half, three years ago, traveling one beautiful warm afternoon up into North of New Mexico, at the first organizational meeting of what became New Mexico AIDS Services, I wanted to cover that story from the beginning. At that meeting, I sat next outdoors there to then Governor Anaya's chief of staff, former health secretary Bob McDee on the course of that long session as y'all were struggling with how to put an organization together. McNeil leaned over to me and whisper, do you really think this is going to be the disaster that these folks seem to think? Now looking back on that, hearing what you have to say, knowing what we know about what the future could hold, it occurs to me that perhaps, though difficult, what has happened

so far may well be the easy part, that the future could be much more difficult, am I wrong? No, you're not wrong, how? That was two and a half years ago, there were four people in this state diagnosed with AIDS, now the number is 80, some are 90, two and a half years later, and we're looking at geometric progression. If we're going to see that kind of progression for each of those 80 or 90 cases over the next few years, there's going to be many, many, many sick people, they're going to take expensive, expensive care and treatment to take care of them, and again, these are people who've been infected five, six, seven, eight years ago, so the scope of this epidemic is going to be huge. The only option we have as a society now is not to stop this epidemic, we're not going to do that, we have an option of trying to limit the eventual scope of this horrendous large epidemic, and people don't want to believe that, people like Bob McNeil at that meeting two and a half years ago, want to say no, it can't really be that bad, it's going to

be that bad. He was there, he was subsequently became very concerned and he was there. He was there, and he has been helpful throughout the years as many of the Anaya administration, and some now of the new administration, representative Lynn Titler, I mean this is not a partisan issue, Republican Democrat, it's an education issue, we need to educate those with the power, with the influence, with the money, with the political clout to make a difference and make sure that New Mexico stays on the cutting edge of the fight against AIDS and does everything that it can to stop this horrible pandemic. Don Schmidt, let us hope that happens, and let us also hope that you are able to sustain good health for the remainder of the new year. Thank you very much for being with us. Thank you. Don Schmidt, until recently when he took ill with AIDS, executive director of New Mexico AIDS Services, an interview shot earlier this week. And Tim Gallagher, we need to pick up on some of the comments Don shared with me earlier

last week. But in 1987, you yourself provided leadership in the AIDS in the workplace, workshop, cases doubled in New Mexico this year, we know it could be even worse next year, the economic impact of AIDS in the workplace and other impacts in the workplace, based upon what you have experienced. Can you give me an assessment? Well, no firsthand experience yet, but in terms of the reading I have been able to do about it, the effects on us in terms of health care costs, insurance, liability questions can be tremendous in the future. And this was the reason we put on the workshop, but I have to comment about something else Don says that I think if he charges the news media with first-degree negligence and reporting this story, I plead guilty to a lesser charge, maybe fourth-degree negligence. I think we have tried to cover this story, it is a terribly complex story.

There is new research coming out on a weekly, if not a daily basis. And Don and some folks I have known actively involved in the cause tend to gloss over this as a terribly, terribly moral issue. People view this thing, there are far too many people in my opinion who view this thing as they're getting what they deserve, Patrick Buchanan's written National Columns along this line. When I wrote about it, my newspaper, I received three or four letters the next week from people who said, well, you must be gay too and you must have this disease and you're not telling us all about it. It is a horribly, horribly moral and complicated issue on the moral grounds and on the technical medical grounds too, it is not an easy story to tell. The Schmidt in that interview defines a very disquieting, I mean, stories taking place in New Mexico, which, if true, with a little investigative reporting, it seems to me ought indeed be focused by the news media.

Tonight's the first time I've heard those stories though. If what Don is saying is true, then why haven't they been brought to reporters' attentions in the past? Don is trying to suggest that reporters are afraid to interview gay men or needle users that I think he's being terribly naive. The news media is terribly interested in this story and in telling it in a very educational manner, I believe. Kathy, your assessment. To me, since we were on this, let's stick with the criticisms of the news media. Bunglein, empire building in the bureaucracy, as he describes it. How well these stories have been told as you know them? I think nationally, they've probably been told a little better, and it's not even so much bungling of the bureaucracy as I just recently read a story in the Times on what will be a general breakdown in children's services as the AIDS and Modepic spreads among children in the New York area.

That's going to happen here because our children's services are already in such a shambles. I think what our news media has not done has not taken a kind of lead in terms of doing what Don says, looking at what is going to happen in five years or six years or seven years, our children's services ready, our public health facility is ready. Looking at it from that point of view, but I think that relates to something else. I think the AIDS crisis as a health crisis and as a crisis in the health bureaucracy is the extreme of a general breakdown of health services, not only in New Mexico, but in this country, there is no safety net, whether we're talking about corrections, whether social services, whether we're talking about corrections, whether we're talking about health care for children in the homeless, whether we're talking about AIDS, any of those. I want to tell you one anecdote about a week ago, I watched David Broder absolutely crucify George Bush. He asked him three questions.

How many people have health insurance when they're out of a job? How many, what percentage of Americans are covered by unemployment insurance? What is the chance of a child being born in a poverty in this country? Bush could not answer a single question Broder gave him the percentages. There's no safety net because they don't want a safety net. And I think the AIDS situation is a wonderful example. Well, I've always said as a journalist, for me, the AIDS stories like being at a bank which you can find anything on the buffet you look for as a journalist, great stories. We're going to be up time in a moment, but Tim last Sunday, your competitor, the Albuquerque general was a Sunday before last, I can't recall, had a feature article on Don Schmidt. Describe to his I recall, pushy political effective. He has been, as I've covered this story, one of the most continuously effective links throughout this and is recognized nationally as one of the best in the business, right

down to kicking the butts of bureaucrats when they start empire building. He's sick now. He will no longer, he is no longer a director of AIDS services in New Mexico. AIDS services in New Mexico, that systems often characterized as the very model of its kind for sparsely populated rural states. Without that private effort, it seems to me we could be in trouble. Should we be worried, losing the leadership of Don Schmidt? Well, the other folks that I know in the New Mexico AIDS services, I think it would be a mistake to characterize New Mexico AIDS services as Don Schmidt and Don Schmidt alone. Dennis Dunham, for instance, is the other fellow in AIDS, New Mexico AIDS services, who might know very intelligent, very articulate, perhaps not as abrasive as Don can be, but I think that is, and that's the Don's credit, I think he's got a lot of money on that. You met abrasive in a complimentary way.

But I think there are lots of good people in that organization, and Don is right about the sensitivity of certain people in state government to this issue. He mentioned terribly, terribly sensitive, and aware of the problem, and aware of what her role is, and perhaps he has reason to be unduly harsh against the state agencies, but the folks I know in the state agencies may perhaps not the people with the titles, but the people that I know who were involved at the grassroots level, the education level, Pat Hayes, and people like that for work for the state are very, very good and very, very committed, and I think it's a mistake to broad brush the New Mexico state government's approach to this as bumbling and ineffectual. Kathy, you got a 15 second answer. I'm a little worried that the Archdiocese of Santa Fe has rejected the U.S. bishops' approval of education, of the use of condoms as a health measure, because the church in this state is very powerful, and I'm concerned that that's going to spread into the general education

effort. That just happened recently. Folks, Kathy Robbins, Tim Gallagher, you're both just great. I'm Fred, I'm out of time. Thank you for being with us for this year's interview. Coming up next week, look at Parade Magazine. The publishers of Albuquerque Living are invading the Sunday Supplement Business. It is called New Mexico Monthly, and the curious tale of Albuquerque School Superintendent, Lillian Barnett. Was she fired for having done the job she was hired to accomplish? So until next week then, I'm Hal Rhodes on assignment. Thank you for joining us, and happy New Year. Broadcast of on assignment is locally funded by K&ME viewer contributions, and by a grant

from the Mountain Bell Foundation.