Ellen Cooper

Trapped in the cross-fire between scientists, drug companies and certain AIDS activists, Dr. Ellen Cooper, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's top AIDS drug regulator, has requested a transfer to a less-pressured post within the agency. Cooper refused to comment on the move Friday, but friends, associates and an FDA spokesman confirmed her decision to step down. Many said her departure from her post as director of the FDA's Division of Anti-Viral Drug Products in Bethesda, Md.

Trapped in the cross-fire between scientists, drug companies and certain AIDS activists, Dr. Ellen Cooper, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's top AIDS drug regulator, has requested a transfer to a less-pressured post within the agency. Cooper refused to comment on the move Friday, but friends, associates and an FDA spokesman confirmed her decision to step down. Many said her departure from her post as director of the FDA's Division of Anti-Viral Drug Products in Bethesda, Md.

Storyteller Michael D. McCarty and singer Ellen Cooper will present an evening of stories and music at the Beverly Hills Library, 444 N. Rexford Drive, at 8 p.m. Aug. 16. The charge is $10. Information: (213) 487-6927.

Major league baseball is the most televised professional sport, but when baseball makes its debut as a medal sport during the Summer Olympics, it will be one of the least televised sports. NBC is not scheduled to show any games during its 161 hours of coverage and only three games will be shown on the TripleCast pay package.

*--* SO. CAL. RATING Fiction *--* *--* 1 Angels & Demons by Dan Brown (Pocket Books: $7.99) A Harvard scholar uncovers a vendetta against the Catholic Church. 2 Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (Picador: $15) A Greek family embraces the American dream. 3 The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers (Bantam: $6.99) A deaf-mute becomes the town confidant. 4 The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (Back Bay: $13.95) A murdered girl tells the story of those left behind.

The head table at a banquet here Friday evening featured some of the federal government's top health officials: Dr. Anthony Fauci, AIDS research chief of the National Institutes of Health; Dr. Samuel Broder, director of the National Cancer Institute, and White House physician Dr. Burton Lee. But even more remarkable was the identity of their host: Michael Callen, who has AIDS himself and has been a frequent critic of the pace and priorities of the federal government's AIDS research program.

In 1964, a group of Fullerton residents decided it was time to showcase their local artists and cultural amenities, and for one night, the public was invited free to exhibitions scattered around the city. "A Night in Fullerton" turned out to be more than a one-night stand. It has become firmly rooted as the thing to do on the last Friday of every April, an event that draws between 10,000 and 15,000 people. Tonight will be the 37th edition.

Their aim was as obvious as the red hats planted squarely on their heads: Let the good times roll. The women of the Red Hat Society streamed into Ventura on Saturday by car and by train. They wore berets and bonnets, all of them red. One woman wore a red baseball cap advertising Fresno Livestock, while others labored under lace-laden scarlet chapeaus that looked as if they could have cradled the heads that rolled in the French Revolution.

Dear Fashion Police: The other night on "Friends," Rachel was outfitting Joey for something and, deciding the outfit was incomplete, handed him a woman's black tote bag. He was aghast--until he realized how good he looked. Well, I'm a man, and I'm not about to carry a woman's bag. But sometimes when heading out for an evening with friends I need a handy way to carry my cell phone, checkbook, planner and wallet. I wouldn't be caught dead with a fanny pack, and backpacks seem stale.

In a decision that AIDS activists hope will lead to significantly widened access to experimental AIDS drugs, Bristol-Myers Co. pledged Thursday to provide "compassionate use" of its drug DDI, or dideoxyinosine, to any AIDS patient who cannot participate in formal trials but "for whom the drug is critical." The new program will begin in September and will run parallel to Phase 2 trials designed to test the antiviral drug's effectiveness as an AIDS therapy.

"Look at the light here," Billy Crystal implored, holding his palms aloft and gazing at the skies. "Will ya just look at the light?" It was one of those perfectly clear, cool, autumnal Parisian days, the massive Arc de Triomphe glowing in the pale noonday sun. You'd need a great Impressionist painter to do it justice. "These buildings!" Crystal went on with childlike, genuine enthusiasm. "The Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower. They're monumental.