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

DATE: TUESDAY, November 2, 1993                   TAG: 9311020005
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

PEOPLE COLUMN

A few years ago, when the Senate held a workshop to teach aides how to defend themselves against sexual assault, the man who showed up to play the role of the offender was Bob Packwood, R-Ore., this year's sexual harassment poster boy.

According to the latest issue of Newsweek, the 24 aides who attended the workshop were shocked at Packwood's participation. "We knew his reputation," one of the attendees told the magazine. The role called for the senator to grab his victims from behind and engage in mock assaults. "We joked later that he had had a lot of experience for the role," recalled the woman.

Big Bird, Bert and Ernie and the rest of the "Sesame Street" gang are making way for a new co-star: 9-year-old Tarah Schaeffer will be the first regularly appearing character in a wheelchair.

Tarah has a disease called osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as "brittle bones." Her first show will be broadcast Nov. 22.

by CNB