ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, November 10, 1996 TAG: 9611120139
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: 6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: COX NEWS SERVICE
Q. What has become of Marcia Clark? Other celebrities from the first O.J. Simpson trial remain in the news, but she hasn't.
A. She's on leave from the Los Angeles district attorney's office to write a book and to lecture. At a recent speech at a Woman to Woman conference in Orlando, she spoke at length about how she was treated differently from men involved in the Simpson trial, asking, for example, why her skirt length, hairdo and personal life ``were the subject of national comment and debate, the 11 o'clock news, TV talk shows, magazines and tabloid rags.'' She said she hasn't decided if she'll return to the district attorney's office. In her personal life, she said that after her divorce, she has found a balance between her career and her relationship with a Santa Barbara, Calif., musician.
Q. I have not yet received an increase in my minimum wage. How can I report this?
A. The increase in the minimum wage to $4.75 an hour went into effect Oct. 1 and applies to most, but not all, businesses, said Leif Jorgenson of the U.S. Labor Department. To find out if your employer is exempt, call your state Labor Department's wage and hour office, and describe your employment situation.
Q. We pay for our private telephone line and consider telephone solicitations an invasion of privacy. Is there any way to stop them?
A. Although you probably can't stop them, you may be able to reduce telephone calls from national companies by writing: Telephone Preference Service, Direct Marketing Association, P.O. Box 9014, Farmingdale, N.Y. 11735-9014.
Q: What's the professional background of Dr. Laura, of radio talk show fame? I've heard that she is not a doctor.
A: Laura Schlessinger, the radio psychologist who likes to call herself Dr. Laura, earned her doctorate in physiology - hence the ``Dr.'' - at Columbia University before heading for Los Angeles, where she evolved from a talk-show caller to a host. She has done postgraduate work in psychology and has a license to practice marital and family therapy.
Q: Who does the music in ``EZ Streets,'' the hot new CBS television program?
A: A number of artists are contributing, including Mark Isham, Loreena McKennitt, Caroline LaVelle and Maura Brennan, a CBS spokeswoman said. Some of them have CDs, including Isham's ``Blue Sun,'' McKennitt's ``The Visit'' and ``The Mask and Mirror,'' and LaVelle's ``Spirit,'' she said.
Q: Flag etiquette states that flags can be flown 24 hours a day if well lighted at night. Do I need permission to fly my flag after dark?
A: No. Flag etiquette is a list of suggestions, but no one polices it, at least for such things as night lighting or taking a flag indoors during rain. On several occasions when people have been arrested for violations of federal or state laws prohibiting flag desecration (such as burning or defacing it), the Supreme Court has declared the laws invalid, having the effect of declaring the statutes unconstitutional in cases of peaceful political expression.
Q: Certain foods in grocery stores have labels saying ``sell by'' a certain date. What consumers really need to know is a ``use by'' date. Is there a formula to determine when something should be consumed?
A: Unfortunately, no. Nutrition expert Connie Crawley at the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service said foods such as meat or poultry should be used within two or three days after the sell-by date. For canned goods, the issue concerns quality more than safety, she said. For example, in diet soda, the aspertane loses its sweetness over time, because it's unstable when it dissolves in the liquid. So the taste is subject to change. In any case, an old saying is worth repeating: If in doubt, throw it out.
Q: Why does a surgeon general wear a military uniform? A photo of former surgeon general Jocelyn Elders showed her in uniform with various medallions and medals. What are they for?
A: The surgeon general has a rank equivalent to that of vice admiral in the Navy. While she was surgeon general, Elders held the three-star rank and wore a Public Health Service surgeon general's badge. In addition, she was authorized to wear five ribbons, including the National Defense Service Ribbon, which she received for serving in the Army from 1953 to 1956, and one for her appointment as a regular corps officer of the PHS commissioned corps. The other three denoted membership in the Commissioned Officers Association of the PHS, the Reserve Officers Association, and the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States.
Q: Since President Clinton is so young, is it possible that, if he completes a second term, he could then run with Al Gore in the reverse order - and then run again for president at some future date?
A: The operative word is elected. No person can be elected president for more than two four-year terms, so when a president wins re-election, he couldn't run for president again - ever. As to running on a ticket with Gore as president, it's theoretically possible that Clinton could become vice president, because the vice presidency isn't technically an elected office, said Meredith Munger at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. ``But I doubt that it would happen,'' she added, for obvious second-fiddle reasons. Before 1951, when the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, presidents were able to run for re-election as often as they liked. The Constitution doesn't address a person's becoming a vice president after having been president.
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