Project #2: The World of the Play

Macro View:

• Ronald Reagan, 73, takes oath for second term as 40th President (Jan. 20).http://www.infoplease.com/year/1985.html

The Republican party, in the meantime, rallied comfortably behind Reagan, who was now at the peak of his popularity. His triumphant campaign that fall scarcely took note of his opponents and spoke instead of what he claimed was the remarkable revival of American fortunes and spirits under his leadership. His campaign emphasized such phrases as "It's Morning in America" and "America Is Back." Reagan's victory in 1984 was decisive. He won approximately 59 percent of the vote and carried every state but Mondale's native Minnesota and the District of Columbia. But Reagan was much stronger than his party. Democrats gained a seat in the Senate and maintained only slightly reduced control of the House of Representatives. Reagan's triumphant reelection proved to be the high-water mark of his presidency. The administration enjoyed some successes in its second term, and Reagan left office with much of his popularity intact. But beginning in 1985, he suffered a series of painful and damaging blows from which his administration was never able fully to recover.
Two dramatic events shaped the second term of Reagan's presidency. One was the beginning of a momentous change in the structure of international relations—a change that the president played little part in creating but that he prudently accepted and encouraged. The other was a domestic political controversy over a secret initiative about which the president claimed—implausibly to some, all too plausibly to others—to have known nothing.
http://www.presidentprofiles.com/Kennedy-Bush/Ronald-Reagan-Reelection-and-second-term.html

• Rock Hudson dies of AIDS at age 59. He's the first major star to fall victim to the diseasehttp://www.infoplease.com/year/1985.html

In July 1985, Hudson joined his old friend Doris Day for the launch of her new TV cable show, Doris Day's Best Friends. His gaunt appearance and nearly incoherent speech were so shocking it was broadcast again all over the national news shows that night and for weeks to come. Day herself stared at him throughout their appearance.
Hudson had been diagnosed with HIV on June 5, 1984, but when the signs of illness became apparent a few months later his publicity staff and doctors told the public he had inoperable liver cancer. During most of 1984 and 1985, Hudson kept his illness a secret while continuing to work and at the same time travel to France and other countries seeking a cure, or at least treatment to slow the progress of the disease. It was not until July 25, 1985, while in Paris for treatment, that Hudson issued a press release announcing that he was dying of AIDS. In another press release a month later, Hudson speculated he might have contracted HIV through transfused blood from an infected donor during the multiple blood transfusions he received during his heart bypass procedure in November 1981. He flew back to Los Angeles on July 31, where he was so physically weak he was taken off by stretcher from the Air France Boeing 747 he had chartered and upon which he and his medical attendants were the only passengers. He was flown by helicopter to Cedars Sinai Hospital, where he spent nearly a month undergoing further treatment. When the doctors told him there was no hope of saving his life, since the disease had progressed into the advanced stages, Hudson returned to his house, "The Castle", in Beverly Hills, where he remained in seclusion until his death on October 2, 1985 at 8:37 a.m. PDT. He was a month and a half away from his 60th birthday.
The disclosure of Hudson's HIV status provoked widespread public discussion of his homosexuality. In its August 15, 1985 issue, People published a story that discussed his disease in the context of his sexuality. The largely sympathetic article featured comments from famous show business colleagues such as Angie Dickinson, Robert Stack and Mamie Van Doren, who acknowledged knowing about Hudson's homosexuality and expressed their support for him. At that time People had a circulation of more than 2.8 million, and as a result of this and other stories Hudson's homosexuality became fully public.
Among activists who were seeking to de-stigmatize AIDS and its victims, Hudson's revelation of his own infection with the disease was viewed as an event that could transform the public perception of AIDS. Shortly after Hudson's press release disclosing his infection, William M. Hoffman, the author of As Is, a play about AIDS that appeared on Broadway in 1985, stated: "If Rock Hudson can have it, nice people can have it. It's just a disease, not a moral affliction."At the same time, Joan Rivers was quoted as saying: "Two years ago, when I hosted a benefit for AIDS, I couldn't get one major star to turn out. ... Rock's admission is a horrendous way to bring AIDS to the attention of the American public, but by doing so, Rock, in his life, has helped millions in the process. What Rock has done takes true courage." As Morgan Fairchild said, "Rock Hudson's death gave AIDS a face". In a telegram Hudson sent to a September 1985 Hollywood AIDS benefit, Commitment to Life, which he was too ill to attend in person, Hudson said: "I am not happy that I am sick. I am not happy that I have AIDS. But if that is helping others, I can at least know that my own misfortune has had some positive worth."
Hudson's revelation had an immediate impact on visibility of AIDS, and on funding of medical research related to the disease. Shortly after his death, People reported: "Since Hudson made his announcement, more than $1.8 million in private contributions (more than double the amount collected in 1984) has been raised to support AIDS research and to care for AIDS victims (5,523 reported in 1985 alone). A few days after Hudson died, at 59, on Oct. 2, 1985, Congress set aside $221 million to develop a cure for AIDS." Organizers of the Hollywood AIDS benefit, Commitment to Life, reported that after Hudson's announcement that he was suffering from the disease, it was necessary to move the event to a larger venue to accommodate the increased attendance.
However, Hudson's revelation did not immediately dispel the stigma of AIDS. Although then-president Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy Reagan were friends of Hudson, Reagan, who was viewed by some as indifferent to the disease and its sufferers, made no public statement concerning Hudson's condition. At the same time, privately, Reagan called Hudson in his Paris hospital room where he was being treated in July 1985, and Nancy Reagan telephoned French President Francois Mitterrand to ensure that Hudson would receive the best possible care. Reagan's first public mention of the disease came in response to questions at a September 15, 1985 press conference, nearly two months after Hudson's announcement. In those remarks, Reagan called medical research on AIDS a "top priority". However, when asked, "If you had younger children, would you send them to a school with a child who had AIDS?," Reagan responded equivocally: "[G]lad I'm not faced with that problem today. ... I can understand both sides of it." Several days later, Reagan sent a telegram to the Commitment to Life AIDS benefit, in which he reiterated his position that his administration would make stopping the spread of AIDS a top priority.Nevertheless, Reagan did not publicly address AIDS at length for another two years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Hudson

• British scientists report the opening of an enormous hole in the earth's ozone layer over Antarctica. http://www.infoplease.com/year/1985.html

On June 28, 1974, Sherry Rowland and Mario Molina, chemists at the University of California, Irvine, published the first scientific paper warning that human-generated chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) could cause serious harm to Earth's protective ozone layer (Molina and Rowland, 1974). They calculated that if CFC production continued to increase at the going rate of 10%/year until 1990, then remain steady, CFCs would cause a global 5 to 7 percent ozone loss by 1995 and 30-50% loss by 2050.
They warned that the loss of ozone would significantly increase the amount of skin-damaging ultraviolet UV-B light reaching the surface, greatly increasing skin cancer and cataracts. The loss of stratospheric ozone could also significantly cool the stratosphere, potentially causing destructive climate change. Although no stratospheric ozone loss had been observed yet, CFCs should be banned, they said. At the time, the CFC industry was worth about $8 billion in the U.S., employed over 600,000 people directly, and 1.4 million people indirectly (Roan, 1989).
Critics and skeptics--primarily industry spokespeople and scientists from conservative think tanks--immediately attacked the theory. Despite the fact that Molina and Rowland's theory had wide support in the scientific community, a handful of skeptics, their voices greatly amplified by the public relations machines of powerful corporations and politicians sympathetic to them, succeeded in delaying imposition of controls on CFCs for many years. However, the stunning discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole in 1985 proved the skeptics wrong. Human-generated CFCs were indeed destroying Earth's protective ozone layer. In fact, the ozone depletion was far worse than Molina and Roland had predicted. No one had imagined that ozone depletions like the 50% losses being observed by 1987 over Antarctica were possible so soon. Despite the continued opposition of many of the skeptics, the Montreal Protocol, an international agreement to phase out ozone-destroying chemicals, was hurriedly approved in 1987 to address the threat.
http://www.wunderground.com/resources/climate/ozone_skeptics.asp

• Space shuttle Challenger explodes after launch at Cape Canaveral, Fla., killing all seven aboardhttp://www.infoplease.com/year/1986.html

NASA's Shuttle program was begun in the 1970s, to create reusable craft for transporting cargo into space. Previous space craft could only be used once, then were discarded. The first shuttle, Columbia was launched in 1981. One year later, the Challenger rolled off the assembly line as the second shuttle of the US fleet. They were followed by Discovery in 1983 and Atlantis in 1985.
The Challenger flew nine successful missions before that fateful day of the disaster in 1986.
Shuttle mission 51L was much like most other missions. The Challenger was scheduled to carry some cargo, the Tracking Data Relay Satellite-2 (TDRS-2), as well as fly the Shuttle-Pointed Tool for Astronomy (SPARTAN-203)/Halley's Comet Experiment Deployable, a free-flying module designed to observe tail and coma of Halleys comet with two ultraviolet spectrometers and two cameras.
One thing made this mission unique. It was scheduled to be the first flight of a new program called TISP, the Teacher In Space Program. The Challenger was scheduled to carry Sharon Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher to fly in space.
Selected from among more than 11,000 applicants from the education profession for entrance into the astronaut ranks, McAuliffe was very excited about the opportunity to participate in the space program. "I watched the Space Age being born and I would like to participate."
Besides McAuliffe, the Challenger crew consisted of mission commander Francis R. Scobee; pilot Michael J. Smith; mission specialists Ronald E. McNair, Ellison S. Onizuka, and Judith A. Resnik; and payload specialists Gregory B. Jarvis. Christa was also listed as a payload specialist.
From the beginning, though, Shuttle Mission STS-51L was plagued by problems. Liftoff was initally scheduled from at 3:43 p.m. EST on January 22, 1986. It slipped to Jan. 23, then Jan. 24, due to delays in mission 61-C and finally reset for Jan. 25 because of bad weather at transoceanic abort landing (TAL) site in Dakar, Senegal. The launch was again postponed for one day when launch processing was unable to meet new morning liftoff time. Predicted bad weather at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) caused the launch to be rescheduled for 9:37 a.m. EST, Jan. 27, but it was delayed another 24 hours when ground servicing equipment hatch closing fixture could not be removed from orbiter hatch.
The fixture was sawed off and an attaching bolt drilled out before closeout completed. During this delay, the cross winds exceeded limits at KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility. There as a final delay of two hours when a hardware interface module in the launch processing system, which monitors fire detection system, failed during liquid hydrogen tanking procedures. The Challenger finally lifted off at 11:38:00 a.m. EST.
Seventy three seconds into the mission, the Challenger exploded, killing the entire crew.
http://space.about.com/cs/challenger/a/challenger.htm

• Ryan White barred from school
  14 yr. old Ryan is barred from school in Kokomo, Indiana, because he had AIDS. He was finally allowed to return. http://www.fromthe80s.com/history/events5.php

Ryan Wayne White (December 6, 1971 – April 8, 1990) was an American teenager from Kokomo, Indiana who became a national poster child for HIV/AIDS in the United States, after being expelled from middle school because of his infection. A hemophiliac, he became infected with HIV from a contaminated blood treatment and, when diagnosed in December 1984, was given six months to live. Doctors said he posed no risk to other students, but AIDS was poorly understood at the time, and when White tried to return to school, many parents and teachers in Kokomo rallied against his attendance. A lengthy legal battle with the school system ensued, and media coverage of the case made White into a national celebrity and spokesman for AIDS research and public education. He appeared frequently in the media with celebrities such as Elton John, Michael Jackson and Phil Donahue. Surprising his doctors, White lived five years longer than predicted and died in April 1990, one month prior to his high school graduation.
Before White, AIDS was a disease widely associated with the male gay community, because it was first diagnosed among gay men. That perception shifted as White and other prominent HIV-infected people, such as Magic Johnson, the Ray brothers and Kimberly Bergalis, appeared in the media to advocate for more AIDS research and public education to address the epidemic. The U.S. Congress passed a major piece of AIDS legislation, the Ryan White Care Act, shortly after White's death. The Act was reauthorized in 2006 and again on October 30, 2009; Ryan White Programs are the largest provider of services for people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States.

• FDA approved first enzyme linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) test kit to screen for antibodies to HIV. http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ByAudience/ForPatientAdvocates/HIVandAIDSActivities/ucm151074.htm

WASHINGTON, March 2— Federal health officials say that a blood test to screen for acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS, licensed today for commercial production, will be widely available in the United States in two to six weeks.
Margaret M. Heckler, Secretary of Health and Human Services, announced approval of the test at a news conference here. She said that if the test indicated a person had antibodies to the virus suspected of causing the disorder he would not be allowed to donate blood.
Health officials said that thus far 113 cases of AIDS had been linked to blood or blood products. As of Feb. 18, the Centers for Disease Control reported the United States had 8,495 cases of AIDS, an illness that breaks down the body's ability to fight off disorder.
More than 4,000 AIDS victims, most of them homosexual men, drug abusers or hemophiliacs, have died. The illness seems to be transmitted mainly through sexual contact or through blood from a person who has the disorder.
The Food and Drug Administration licensed Abbott Laboratories of North Chicago to make and distribute the test kits to 2,300 blood banks, plasma centers and laboratories. Four other companies have applied for licenses. Mrs. Heckler said she believed they would be approved soon.
In announcing approval of the test today, the Secretary said: ''This test will simply reveal the presence in the blood of antibodies to the virus that causes AIDS. A positive result, in and of itself, does not mean that a person has AIDS. ''The Government will provide the funding for those who wish to take the test and are not able to pay for the test themselves,'' Mrs. Heckler said, adding that up to $12 million in Federal funds would be available. The antibody test may alleviate shortages of blood in some parts of the country that began in 1983, when concern and misunderstanding of the AIDS problem led many people to stop donating blood. The Government said it was important for physicians and laboratory personnel to maintain the confidentiality of test results indicating that a person had antibodies to the HTLV-III virus identified as the cause of AIDS.

http://www.nytimes.com/1985/03/03/us/aids-blood-test-to-be-available-in-2-to-6-weeks.html

• A massive car bomb in Beirut, Lebanon leaves 175 injured and 45 people dead.  http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1985.html

A car bomb killed about 60 people and injured more than 200 at dusk yesterday near the home of a prominent Shi'ite clergyman in a southern Beirut suburb. The booby-trapped vehicle exploded 10 yards from the home of Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah. It pulled down the outer walls of an apartment block which is being built, set fire to cars and gouged a crater in the road. Beirut radio said Fadlallah was unharmed. Security sources estimated that the blast was the equivalent of 440lbs of dynamite.
After the explosion, gunmen of the Muslim fundamentalist Hezbollah (Party of God) and the Shi'ite Amal movement fired automatic weapons into the air to clear roads for ambulances taking the victims to hospitals in mainly-Muslim West Beirut .
The blast was the worst such explosion in Beirut since the truck bombing of American and French peacekeeping headquarters here in October, 1983, which killed 241 US servicemen and 55 French soldiers. http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/1985/mar/09/fromthearchive

• Live Aid pop concerts in Philadelphia and London raise over 50 million for famine relief in Ethiopia. http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1985.html

For one day — July 13, 1985 — an estimated 1.4 billion of the planet's five billion people stopped and watched Geldof's "global jukebox," and were treated to one of the biggest, most ambitious concerts ever staged. At one point, according to a stage announcement, 95 percent of the world's television sets were tuned in to Live Aid — an even more incredible statistic when you consider that it happened before the Internet, cell phones, e-mail, text messaging, instant messaging and blogging. Through music and an eminently worthy cause, much of the world actually felt connected — even at the height of the eminently selfish "Me Decade."
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1504968/live-aid-look-back.jhtml

• A joint American-French expedition locates the wreck of the RMS Titanic. http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1985.html

A new era in underwater exploration and scientific research began on September 1, 1985 with the discovery of the sunken luxury liner R.M.S. Titanic by investigators and crew aboard the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) Research Vessel Knorr. Titanic, found in more than 12,400 feet of water, was first photographed by the new deep-towed sonar and video camera system Argo, under development in the Institution's Deep Submergence Laboratory (DSL). Additional 35-mm photographs were taken by ANGUS (Acoustically Navigated Geological Underwater Survey), another towed vehicle developed at the Institution and used on a number of major science programs since the mid-1970s.
The discovery of Titanic was a joint French-American effort begun earlier in the summer of 1985 with a cruise aboard the French research vessel Le Suroit to test France's new sonar system, SAR (System Acoustique Remorquè). Dr. Robert D. Ballard, leader of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Deep Submergence Laboratory and another WHOI colleague, participated in that cruise, which ended in early August. Three scientists from Institut Français De Recherche Pour L'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER) joined the American cruise aboard Woods Hole’s Knorr August 15 in Ponta Delgada, Azores, for the trip across the Atlantic to the vessel's home port at Woods Hole, Massachusetts.Using sonar imagery in the hunt for Titanic, the earlier French cruise had ruled out large sections in a 150-square-mile search area, allowing the Knorr cruise to concentrate on the remaining areas under a different search strategy. The first visual contact of Titanic was made about 230 miles south of Nova Scotia. Debris including one of the ship's boilers and was made by Argo just after 1:00 a.m. EST September 1, 1985. The seven-member scientific watch that saw the first images included four Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution personnel, two French scientists, and a U.S. Navy officer and was led by Jean-Louis Michel (IFREMER), co-chief scientist with Dr. Ballard of the expedition. Video filming from Argo and 35-mm filming from ANGUS were conducted throughout the remaining four days of the voyage. http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=7539

• John L. Sorenson publishes An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_L._Sorenson

John L. Sorenson (born 1924) is an emeritus professor of anthropology at Brigham Young University (BYU) and the author of An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon as well as many other books and articles on the Book of Mormon and archaeology.
Sorenson first did archaeological work in Meso-America while pursuing a masters degree at BYU. From January until June 1953 he was involved in the New World Archaeological Foundation's initial fieldwork (under the direction of Pedro Armillas) in the state of Tabasco in Mexico.
Sorenson holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles. He began teaching at BYU in 1963, and he later established the BYU's anthropology department. He also served as head of Social Sciences for General Research Corporation based in Santa Barbara, California, and was the founder of Bonneville Research Corporation.
For a time he served as editor of the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies.
Sorenson has authored or co-authored some 200 books and articles including An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon (1985), Transoceanic Culture Contacts between the Old and New Worlds in Pre-Columbian Times: A Comprehensive Annotated Bibliography (with Martin Raish, 1988), Images of Ancient America: Visualizing Book of Mormon Life (1998), Mormon’s Map (2000), and World Trade and Biological Exchanges before 1492 (with Carl L. Johannessen, 2004).
While being a proponent of the historicity of the Book of Mormon, Sorenson has also attacked the shoddy scholarship that some have used in defending the Book of Mormon.
Sorenson is the father of 18 children and has 58 grandchildren. He has served as bishop of the BYU 99th Ward.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_L._Sorenson


Micro View:


Crime:
Just 20 years ago, New York City was racked with crime: murders, burglaries, drug deals, car thefts, thefts from cars. (Remember the signs in car windows advising no radio?) Unlike many cities’ crime problems, New York’s were not limited to a few inner-city neighborhoods that could be avoided. Bryant Park, in the heart of midtown and adjacent to the New York Public Library, was an open-air drug market; Grand Central Terminal, a gigantic flophouse; the Port Authority Bus Terminal, “a grim gauntlet for bus passengers dodging beggars, drunks, thieves, and destitute drug addicts,” as the New York Times put it in 1992. In July 1985, the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City published a study showing widespread fear of theft and assault in downtown Brooklyn, Fordham Road in the Bronx, and Jamaica Center in Queens. Riders abandoned the subway in droves, fearing assault from lunatics and gangs.
http://www.city-journal.org/2009/nytom_ny-crime-decline.html


Drugs:
By early 1986, crack had a stranglehold on the ghettos of New York City and was dominated by traffickers and dealers from the Dominican Republic. Crack distribution and abuse exploded in 1986, and by year-end was available in 28 states and the District of Columbia. According to the 1985-1986 National Narcotics Intelligence Consumers Committee Report, crack was available in Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Kansas City, Miami, New York City, Newark, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Dallas, Denver, Minneapolis, and Phoenix.
http://www.justice.gov/dea/pubs/history/1985-1990.html


Central Park:

Strawberry Fields, a 2.5 acre section of Central Park in Manhattan, New York City dedicated to John Lennon, was officially opened on this day. 9 October 1985 would have been Lennon's 45th birthday. His widow Yoko Ono had donated more than $1 million towards the project and had conceived the idea. She attended the opening ceremony with her son Sean, whose 10th birthday also fell on this day. Named after The Beatles' song Strawberry Fields Forever, the entrance to the memorial was located on Central Park West at West 72nd Street, directly opposite the Dakota building. A triangular piece of land, Strawberry Fields had as its main focal point a circular mosaic featuring the word Imagine. The memorial was designed by Bruce Kelly, the chief landscape architect for the Central Park Conservancy. Strawberry Fields has since become a destination for Lennon fans wishing to mark the anniversary of his birth and death. Flowers, candles and other tributes are often left at the site, with floral arrangements often made in the shape of a CND symbol.

http://www.beatlesbible.com/1985/10/09/strawberry-fields-opened-central-park-new-york-city/

Gay Bathhouses:
From the mid-1980s onward there was lobbying against gay bathhouses blaming them for the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), in particular HIV, and this forced their closure in some jurisdictions. Sociologist Stephen O. Murray, writes that, "there was never any evidence presented that going to bathhouses was a risk-factor for contracting AIDS." There are conflicting views on this topic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_bathhouse

Political Corruption:
Datacom Systems Corp., the collections company in line for a second Chicago contract, "stands at the heart" of widespread corruption in the New York City Parking Violations Bureau and benefited from years of payoffs to New York officials, according to a federal prosecutor.
Although Datacom has not been charged, an affidavit filed by a prosecutor said bribes were paid to New York officials on behalf of Datacom for six years in exchange for help in obtaining city contracts to collect parking fines.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1986-06-21/news/8602140319_1_datacom-parking-fines-parking-violations-bureau

Standard of Living:
How Much things cost in 1985
Yearly Inflation Rate USA 3.55%
Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average 1546
Interest Rates Year End Federal Reserve 10.75%
Average Cost of new house $89,330.00
Average Income per year $22,100.00
Average Monthly Rent $375.00
Average Price for new car$9,005.00
1 gallon of gas $1.09
Movie Ticket $2.75
US Postage Stamp 22 cents
Bacon per pound $1.65 http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1985.html

AIDS in NYC:
Richard Dunne, director of the Gay Men's Health Crisis, said that the group would not object to the wider availability of the procedure provided that certain safeguards were assured: informed consent, good counselling and confidentiality, 'which means anonymity,' he said. He stressed that the city must prevent insurance companies, employers, schools and others from gaining access to test results.-The New York Times
http://www.avert.org/aids-history-86.htm

Health Care:
In November 1985, New York City began what state officials called the nation's most comprehensive mandatory effort to help single mothers get off welfare and into private jobs. Seventeen months later, the program is still in its infancy. But it is clear that the task is awesome and that the results have been mixed at best, according to dozens of interviews with city and state officials, welfare recipients and others who monitor the program.
http://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/23/nyregion/in-new-york-workfare-gets-mixed-results.html

Roy M. Cohn:
 In the early 1980’s Roy Cohn learned that he had AIDS. He fought the disease for about 6 years but then on August 2nd 1986 he died.
http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/redscare/cohn.html

Subway/Transit :
The 1980s could be summarized as the "Jekyll and Hyde" period of the New York Subway System. As the decade began, it had the filthiest trains, the craziest graffiti, the noisiest wheels, and the weirdest passengers. By the end of the decade, it had cleaner trains, no graffiti, quieter wheels -- and the weirdest passengers.
http://www.nycsubway.org/articles/history-nycta1980s.html



Images and sounds:

A look into the Bronx Burrough of New York 1985
http://sustainablecities.dk/files/imagecache/case/cases/Water_towers_New_York_City_September_29_2007_by_TheBigSpot_MK_B.jpg

One of the many graphittied trains of the city
http://westonefc.com/TRAINS_files/WESTO%20(1%20line%201985).jpg

A popular look of the modern homosexual male
http://cdn1.iofferphoto.com/img/item/198/116/486/nik-kershaw-live-1985-04-13-new-york-city-6115d.jpg

A poster advertisement commonly found in bathhouses across New York City
http://www.msmasia.org/tl_files/news/sex-positive--122485616359048300.jpg

 

Map of ozone hole brought to light by researchers in 1985
http://ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov/ozone_maps/images/climate/OZONE_D1985-10_G%5E348X348.LSH.JPG

President Ronald Reagan
http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/photographs/large/c30228.jpg



Lesions caused by KS
http://www.edhivtestguide.org/uploads/hretHIV-kaposiLesions.jpg



                                                 Jewish Cantor Levin reciting Psalm 16
                                       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_STmAInMXM

Mormon Tabernacle Choir

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAlgauEijV0

The steps of the courthouse where Joe and Louis eat their lunch and converse secretly.
http://www.randomthinking.info/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/NYC-Courthouse-300x199.jpg

Statement:

Tony Kushner’s epic work, Angels In America: Millennium Approaches creates a world of frenetic revelations for its characters.  The world of 1985 is a changing, challenging and breathing animal. There is a pendulum swinging over our head that points to progression and then back to regression.  Even though we as humans have inhabited this Earth for, arguably, 10,000-20,000 years, it seems as if we are just now understanding the world for the first time.  We are beginning to not only respect the Earth for what it can give to us, we are beginning to see our effects on the delicate balance of the eco-system. With the revelation of a hole in our ozone and the realization that we are to blame, the world must accept the responsibility of the footprints we leave. Medicine and disease have threatened people during every decade but, instead of continuing to fear the disease, people are taking active steps to prevent and understand its origins.  As quickly as we as a civilization make strides in science it seems as if we are thrown a proverbial curve ball, such as the catastrophe of the Challenger. People that we know as a certain identity (i.e. the perfect straight male leading man) we find that they are no what they have put forth.  In a time sandwiched between wars, the world is trying to find some sort of stability, something to cling to.  Someone that they can trust, a steady stream of positivity with an attitude that can point us in a different direction then where we have been.  Enter Ronald Regan, the bright faced hero of many Hollywood films, who speaks strongly of bringing back Americas power using catchy phrases such as “It’s Morning in America”. He put forth that the dark times were over and institutes a positive and empowering vibe for America. But away from the lecterns, people are struggling with more and with deeper loses then we have for many years. The new plague AIDS has hit and has claimed lives, relationships and families with it. Crime in pivotal cities such as New York City has increased and become violent even during the day.  The culture clash between the homosexual and heterosexual groups will begin as we see “normal”, everyday people that we work with or ride on the subway next to will choose to be involved in an “abnormal” relationship. The sexual revolution of the sixties and opulent drug use of the seventies has left the people with questions, addictions and a disconcerting feeling of not fitting into anyone’s labeled groupings. Corruption, an element of history that dates back to the first governments, will begin to trickle down into even the smallest of jobs, finding its way into the lives of those who choose to pay their parking tickets.  Terrorism will begin to have a face, a voice and images that we can watch on T.V. What we are searching for is a savior, a way out, a voice in the dark to tell us our next move. People cling to the president to provide a moral compass for what cannot be evaluated in right and wrong.  Heterosexual couples will cling to a belief in what they should do, how they should act and what status they should propound to the society around them. Heterosexual couples will crumble in the wake of the new disease that will claim numerous lives and will fight to have a voice in the community for rights.  People of faith will continue to pray for the souls of the lost, overlooking themselves in that plea for guidance. The world is treading the water of past decisions with the worry of future ones. Tony Kushner uses the characters to show us the irony of what we wish for. What if the people you trust are the first to disappoint? What if the medicine you take as a cure is the poison that fills your mind? What if love is not dependent on the genetalia of the partner you choose? What if our prophet was a victim and a savior at the same time? What if the most unlikely person is going to help us see the light? What if…this has all been done before?