Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 6, 1994 TAG: 9411160040
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: FROM WIRE REPORTS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A: You're partly right. Clinton was in Sacramento, and he did sign an executive order relating to students bringing guns into schools. ``The president had signed a bill several days before going to California that was part of the zero tolerance effort,'' said Jessamyn Sarmiento of the White House Office of Media Affairs.
``If the school involved does not expel the student for a year, as required, the executive order gives the secretary of education the capability to withhold funds from the state. It's sort of like withholding money from a state that doesn't enforce seat belt laws.'' The penalty is expulsion from school for a year, not prison, Sarmiento said.
Q: I've seen ``Phantom of the Opera'' three times now and I'm convinced that part of it is recorded and part is live. Is this right?
A: Your sense of hearing is acute. The single instance occurs during a momentary interlude. Dan Hulbert, Atlanta Journal- Constitution theater critic, said it has never been a secret that recorded singing is used during the descent into the Phantom's lair, when the audience sees doubles for the Phantom and Christine crisscrossing the stage to give a cinematic montage effect - and the real, recorded voices are played over it.
One woman who has seen the production in cities all over the United States claims to have heard the recorded voice of Michael Crawford, the original Phantom in London and on Broadway, when he wasn't even in the cast. But Bill Miller, New York representative for the touring company, said that never happened.
Q: If Diana divorces Prince Charles, will she maintain the title of Princess of Wales or will she go back to being Lady Diana?
A: ``Any question about divorce is hypothetical,'' said a spokeswoman for the British Embassy in Washington. ``Titles clearly are a matter for their royal highnesses to consider, if and when.''
A more practical assessment comes from Robin Prestage, press officer for the British Tourist Authority in New York. His private opinion: ``My thought is that Princess Diana can't retain the title if she is no longer married to Prince Charles. She's only a princess because she is married to a prince, so if she ceases to be married to him, she would cease to be a princess.''
Another factor comes into play, Prestage pointed out. ``If Prince Charles does divorce her, and then marries again, his new wife would be the princess of Wales, and you couldn't have two princesses of Wales, now could you? It's unprecedented. Princess Anne divorced Captain Mark Phillips, but she was a princess in her own right, not by marriage, so she is still called a princess.''
Queen Elizabeth II probably will have the final say on what title Diana may have. . .
Q: What's the significance of wearing colored ribbons to promote awareness of different causes? What do the ribbons represent?
A: The yellow ribbon, worn to signify the hope of a safe return for someone in peril, is believed to be the mother of all awareness ribbons. Red ribbons were adopted several years ago to remind people of the fight against AIDS. Purple ribbons call attention to worldwide famine. Often worn by black celebrities, purple ribbons also have been adopted in an awareness campaign against urban violence. Other colors and causes include blue, for child-abuse awareness; pink, for breast-cancer research; and green, for protection of endangered rain forests.
Q: Cpl. Nachshon Waxman, killed Oct. 14 while being held hostage by Hamas terrorists in the West Bank, held a dual American-Israeli citizenship. Doesn't U.S. law prohibit dual citizenship? My wife had to relinquish her Pakistani citizenship in order to become a U.S. citizen.
A: ``When someone is born into dual citizenship, the dual citizenship is acknowledged by the United States,'' says Elaine Komis, an Immigration and Naturalization Service spokeswoman in Washington. ``But once a person has chosen to become a naturalized U.S. citizen, he or she must renounce his or her previous citizenship.'' Waxman's mother, Esther Waxman, was born in the United States. She immigrated to Israel from New York in the 1970s. Her son, born in Israel, thus had citizenship in both the United States and Israel. Your wife chose U.S. citizenship, thereby giving up Pakistani citizenship.
by CNB