Ucla Aids Institute

Eleven years after a UCLA researcher became the first person to identify the syndrome now known as AIDS, the university is establishing an institute aimed at increasing the public visibility of AIDS research and treatment at the school. The UCLA AIDS Institute, which will coordinate the work of dozens of researchers university-wide, comes in part in response to some scientists' concerns that AIDS efforts were poorly synchronized and that public support for research is dwindling.

The AIDS virus is much more likely to be transmitted through oral sex than researchers had previously believed, according to a new study of monkeys. If confirmed, the results would contradict the conventional wisdom among heterosexuals and homosexuals that this form of sex is safer than anal or vaginal intercourse.

The AIDS virus is much more likely to be transmitted through oral sex than researchers had previously believed, according to a new study of monkeys. If confirmed, the results would contradict the conventional wisdom among heterosexuals and homosexuals that this form of sex is safer than anal or vaginal intercourse.

Eleven years after a UCLA researcher became the first person to identify the syndrome now known as AIDS, the university is establishing an institute aimed at increasing the public visibility of AIDS research and treatment at the school. The UCLA AIDS Institute, which will coordinate the work of dozens of researchers university-wide, comes in part in response to some scientists' concerns that AIDS efforts were poorly synchronized and that public support for research is dwindling.

James Taylor will headline "Songs for a New Resolution," a concert Monday at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre to benefit the UCLA AIDS Institute's vaccine and microbicide program. Arnold McCuller, Brandi Carlile, Deborah Falconer and Brandon Fields will also perform at the show, which will be hosted by actress Anna Maria Horsford. Tickets are available at www.musicaids.org and at the theater: (323) 939-1128.

Benefit Premieres: The world premiere of Warner's new Mel Gibson-Jamie Lee Curtis-Elijah Wood movie "Forever Young," Thursday night at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, will benefit Santa Monica's Ocean Park Community Drop-in Center and Hollywood's Recovery Center. . . .

UCLA has been awarded $4 million from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to study gay and bisexual men infected with HIV or AIDS. The study, called the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study, began in 1984 as part of a national study of the disease. Male participants are given exams twice a year and answer questions about their lifestyle, illness and treatment.

SHOW houses can be experimental affairs, places where interior designers test ideas with wild abandon. The just-opened Metropolitan Home showcase, however, reflects its tony locale in the "bird streets" of the Hollywood Hills: modern, classic and tastefully restrained, with not one eye-roller in sight.

Averaging 80 miles a day, some 1,500 cyclists tackled intense terrain and route conditions along the 510-mile Pallotta TeamWorks Alaska AIDS Vaccine Ride. On Aug. 27, riders from around the globe journeyed from Fairbanks to Anchorage, cycling through Alaska's mountain passes, up and down windy roads and through grueling snowstorms, chilling winds and torrential rain. The six-day journey took riders to elevations of up to 3,300 feet. Riders raised $4.

The UCLA AIDS Institute and Drew University in Los Angeles will share a $100,000 grant to study ways to help poor and minority HIV-infected people benefit from new care for the disease. "Historically, these populations have had limited access to health care, limited economic and employment opportunities and limited mental health services," said Dr. Ronald Mitsuyasu of UCLA.

Gays and lesbians who want to come out of the closet on Friday--National Coming Out Day--can place a free phone call anywhere in the country, courtesy of the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center. The hours for the "Call Out" are 4-7 p.m. at the center, 1625 N. Schrader Blvd., Los Angeles, says Mike Ausiello, a spokesman. (No reservations are needed; for more information call [213] 993-7640.) National Coming Out Day began in 1988, but this is the first "Call Out."

Gays and lesbians who want to come out of the closet on Friday--National Coming Out Day--can call an Orange County talk line: (714) 975-0866 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The line is sponsored by Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), Detail Public Relations and ECCO. Ongoing-support lines include the Orange County Federation, (714) 450-3113; Casa Delhi Entre Hombres, (714) 568-0496; Gay Vietnamese Alliance, (714) 449-8027; and PFLAG, (714) 997-8047.