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She wasn't kidding, and the answer wasn't a joke. There are two kinds of presidential cigars, according to Shannon Pattison, assistant manager at the downtown store. One is a category of cigar-- a size designation, really. "Presidentes" are larger than most. The other is the brand that Clinton actually smokes--or, uh, uses. As far as Pattison knows, it is Hoyo de Monterrey Excalibur No. 1, from Honduras, the largest cigar in that product line. As for the scandal's effect on sales, Pattison says there have been more lame jokes than presidential cigars crossing the counter at Rich's. A quick search on the Internet for "presidential cigars" pulled up several Web sites for cigar aficionados and one unfortunate site where one can purchase a "Monica Smoothinsky." (Not surprisingly, this one has a link to Rush Limbaugh's home page.) Also online is www.Bluehavana. com, which is selling special-edition "Lewinsky Presidential Cigars" that can be dipped in either amaretto or rum for $10 each. Bluehavana has been designated on of the top 100 Monica sites by Gomonica.com, a site dedicated solely to promoting the Lewinsky in all of us. --Patty Wentz All I Want for
Christmas is a Raise The district has offered a half a percent increase in the first year of a new five-year contract, which would increase to two percent annually thereafter. The offer makes no concession for teachers who increase seniority or training in the meantime. The teachers' initial proposal requested annual increases of one percent plus the Portland Consumer Price Index (currently running 2.2 percent). "Definitely we're still far apart," says Nancy Arlington, a representative of the Portland Association of Teachers. The district's recent performance audit did little to further negotiations, as it showed there is little money available to the board and relatively little fat still untrimmed. "All the straw men are gone," says district spokesman Lew Frederick. School board members are anxious to put the best face on the slow-moving negotiations. "We have two parties of extreme good will trying to find a common ground," says board vice-chairman Marc Abrams. Or maybe it's one side of extreme good will. Arlington says the teachers, who already gave the district $7 million from reserve funds, are fed up. "My sense is our members, our teachers, are really angry," she says. As local talks have stalled, a number of other Oregon districts have already settled teacher contracts, giving annual raises of two to three percent. According to PAT figures, Portland teachers were already among the lowest paid among 14 metro-area districts; the current offer from the district would worsen that position. Nobody's publicly talking strike yet, but given the district's empty pockets and the teachers' rank at the bottom of the pay scale, whispers are beginning. According to the contract, the two sides must negotiate until Thanksgiving before calling in a mediator. If, after 30 days of mediation, nothing is settled, students might get an indefinite holiday break. --Nigel Jaquiss Unsafe
at Any Speed It has long been suspected that Joyner used steroids to achieve her recording-setting performances in the 1988 Olympics. She denied using drugs, and it's unclear whether they had anything to do with her death. Slugger Mark McGwire, on the other hand, makes no secret of his use of androstenedione, a legal performance-enhancer. This fact hasn't quelled the excitement surrounding his home-run record. To Dr. Linn Goldberg, head of sports medicine at Oregon Health Sciences University, the glorification of supplement-using athletes sets a dangerous example. "Kids learn from the media," he says. "That's why advertisers pay them a lot of money." There are hundreds of legal supplements, including "andro" and the wildly popular creatine. Over the past five years, supplement sales have doubled, growing from $6 billion to $12 billion annually. In two studies of scholastic athletes, Goldberg found that the risks haven't stopped kids from using supplements. He likens performance enhancers to cigarettes. "Kids'll take them anyway," Goldberg says. "They think they're immune." Currently, says Greg Ross, athletic director of the Portland Interscholastic League, high-school athletes aren't tested for drugs. "We certainly don't advocate the use of any supplements," Ross says. Goldberg suspects that creatine--probably the most popular supplement among high-school athletes--may cause kidney problems. The OHSU professor plans a clinical study, which will be among the first independent evaluations of creatine's safety. --Nigel Jaquiss FOLLOW
UP The Naito family feud ("Naito Divided," Sept. 29, 1998) got messier this week when Anne Naito Campbell, daughter of the late Bill Naito, and her husband, Doug Campbell, filed suit against Bill's brother Sam. The move is significant because Anne declined to join her mother, Micki, and two brothers, Bob and Steve, when they sued Sam in May. Their lawsuit sought the breakup of the Naito empire, one of Portland's largest family businesses. The new suit goes farther than the original and claims that Sam bought company stock from Anne below fair value. That transaction allegedly arose after Sam declined to sell the Galleria, having previously instructed Doug to find buyers for the facility. When they decided not to sell--resulting in Doug's loss of a finder's fee--Anne asked Sam for a loan from the company. Sam allegedly refused, at which point his son, Verne, allegedly offered Anne a loan at what the suit calls "onerous and unfair loan terms." Anne then sold 100 shares of company stock to Sam for $100,000, a sum she now considers unfair. The suit contains highly personal allegations, primarily about Verne's conduct. His decisions, the suit alleges, were "motivated, in part, by a long-standing and personal dislike for his cousins Bob Naito and Steve Naito." With Anne's decision to contest Sam's management, only Bill's youngest son, Kenneth, remains apart from legal proceedings. A hearing of the original suit is scheduled for mid-October. --Nigel Jaquiss corrections We also reported that Damis represents real-estate agencies. He does not. In a recent art review ("Full Circle," Sept. 9, 1998) we incorrectly reported two dates. Expanding the Circle, the exhibition catalog of Robert Davidson's current exhibition at Reed College, was available by Sept. 16. And Breaking the Totem Barrier was installed in front of Eliot Hall by the opening of the show on Aug. 24. WW regrets the errors.
originally published September 23 , 1998 |
