
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, April 2, 1990                   TAG: 9004020204
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Sue Lindsey Editorial Writer
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

AIDS WILL HARM EVERYONE

THE PANIC has subsided. Shocking news accounts about inhumane treatment of AIDS victims are fewer and farther between. Mr. and Ms. Average American realize they are not at great risk. There's still no cure for AIDS, but it won't affect most people, right? Wrong. Very wrong.

Oh, it may not kill you, or your child, or your neighbor. Many people in the mainstream of American life don't know any AIDS victims, even though in some places the disease has reached epidemic proportions.

But look at the lives AIDS is destroying. Many of the people dying in their prime are among this country's most creative. The obituaries in the most recent issue of Variety listed three AIDS victims. If this nation's creative genius is undermined, the loss for us all will be tragic.

The death of fashion designer Halston last week was an example of such a loss. Halston was the one who put a pillbox hat on Jackie Kennedy's head. By today's fashion standards, a pillbox is pretty tame. Even in the '60s, it wasn't exactly daring. But the hat was just the right touch for a fashionable first lady. It set her apart, but not too far. Innovative, ingenious.

The New York Times ran a depressing story earlier this year about AIDS' debilitating effect on the fashion industry. Bright young designers have died, and the industry's support system is being undermined: Illustrators, visual-display artists, hairdressers, makeup artists all are succumbing to AIDS.

New fashion designers, if they're male, are having difficulty getting financial backing. For instance, a group of Japanese investors asked for the names of designers expected to have a significant impact in the 1990s, then scratched the men off the list. Women are a better risk. What a hollow victory for women's rights.

Many people - maybe most of us - have talents we've never developed. It would be an exciting world if all our creativity could be unlocked. But in truth, few people achieve their artistic potential. AIDS seems to be finding those who come closest.

We've slowed down AIDS a little bit, but we're only fooling ourselves if we think the worst is over. AIDS is the third leading cause of death in New York City, behind heart disease and cancer. New York isn't the power center it once was, but it's still the spark of this nation's imagination.

The Times story describes how the losses in the apparel industry will hurt the economy. Fashion depends on the different, even odd, designs. Sales are stimulated by change. Who needs a new version of last year's wardrobe?

An economic pinch is one way AIDS will be felt by everyone, even in the Roanoke Valley. But the greater loss won't show up on anybody's balance sheet. It will be the loss to the spirit.

by CNB