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

DATE: THURSDAY, September 2, 1993                   TAG: 9309020158
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

POSTMASTER SHOWS AIDS AWARENESS STAMP

In the late 1980s, when postal officials first considered issuing a stamp to call attention to the AIDS epidemic, the head of the committee that recommends stamp designs had an immediate response: "No way."

There was, he reminded the committee, the infamous 1981 stamp that was supposed to combat alcoholism. Blaring the slogan "Alcoholism: You can beat it!" the stamp proved to be a financial disaster, something no one would dare place on a letter. An AIDS stamp was sure of the same fate, the committee was told.

That is, until the issue reached the desk of Postmaster General Marvin Runyon, otherwise known as "Carvin' Marvin" for his penchant for firing government workers and slashing unprofitable operations. When it came to stamps, Runyon had made clear he was eagerly seeking another Elvis Presley stamp, the commemorative that poured $25 million into postal coffers.

Runyon disclosed Wednesday that the degree of opposition to an AIDS stamp amazed him. But he wanted a stamp, and Wednesday, with the help of White House AIDS policy coordinator Kristine Gebbie and others, Runyon unveiled the new design.

"This is a way of saying that [AIDS] is our problem," said Gebbie, applauding Runyon for the stamp. "It's time to fight denial," agreed Richard Wittenberg, president of the American Association for World Health.

"The more you know somebody who is involved in this . . . the more you realize the need to increase awareness," Runyon said.

He said his own initiation to the disease had come when he was chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority. As part of an AIDS awareness project in Memphis, he spent two days learning about the disease, from health clinic tests "all the way to the cemetery." He said he and his wife came to know several people who had AIDS.

"A lot of people are very choosy about the stamp they'll put on a letter. . . . Some will only use flower stamps," Runyon conceded. But he cited 50 stamps dealing with health and social issues that the Postal Service had issued in the past 60 years as laying a foundation for the AIDS stamp.

The new stamp, which features the red ribbon that has come to symbolize the AIDS movement, will be released Dec. 1 in connection with World AIDS Day. Unlike the infamous alcoholism stamp, it carries no slogan, only the words "AIDS awareness."

Runyon said he had ordered 350 million stamps, double the typical number for commemorative stamps. But Runyon said that unlike the Presley, he didn't consider it a commemorative because he hoped it would be used, instead of saved in albums.

The postmaster general said he also had considered adding a 20-cent surcharge to the price of a $5.80 20-stamp booklet and donating the extra funds to AIDS projects. But he said postal officials rejected that idea, fearing it would prompt too many similar requests from charities.

by CNB