Bill Takes Note of Herman Plight

His plight shocked the many who revere Woody Herman as one of the greats on the American jazz scene. When it was reported that the ailing former bandleader and clarinetist was to be evicted from his Hollywood Hills home for nonpayment of rent, offers of help from celebrities and fans came pouring in. Now a U.S. representative, Democrat John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, is planning to introduce a bill in Congress next week that would wipe out Herman’s $1.6-million tax debt. Herman’s case, Conyers said, “is important because it symbolizes the tawdry treatment given to jazz musicians in this country. This legislation will correct an injustice and help to ensure that Woody Herman lives his remaining years with dignity and respect.” Herman, who is bedridden with emphysema and heart problems, is “a little bit tired but feeling very happy and encouraged by what’s going on,” said his daughter, Ingrid Herman Reese. “It’s the best I’ve seen him feel in weeks.”

--It’s high technology at its most academic. Starting in the spring, Tufts University in Massachusetts will be offering a class called “The United States, the Soviet Union and the Nuclear Arms Race in Historical Perspective.” So will Moscow State University. And, using a satellite hookup, the two schools will conduct two-hour discussion sessions with each other weekly via live TV--with simultaneous English-Russian translations. In addition to the live broadcasts, dubbed “glasnosTV,” separate class sessions also will be held during the week at both campuses. “This kind of experience for our young people, which modern technology makes possible, is too important to forgo,” Tufts President Jean Mayer said in a letter early this year to Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev, requesting the joint curriculum. “There is no more important question today than the nuclear arms race and no better setting for a joint examination of its intellectual, cultural and historical roots than the university environment,” he wrote.

--GlasnosTV will also be reaching into the ranks of preschoolers as America’s famous neighborhood good guy, Mr. Rogers, leaves Sept. 13 for 12 days in Moscow, where he will talk to the little Soviet boys and girls as the guest host of “Good Night, Little Ones.” Meanwhile, the Soviet show’s host, Tatiana Vedeneeva, is tentatively scheduled to be in Pittsburgh, Pa., Nov. 15-21 to tape a one-day show on “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.” “Children all over the world need to know they can be loved just as they are,” Rogers said in Pittsburgh, where his daily program is entering its 20th season on the Public Broadcasting System.