Study to Eye Tammy’s Mascara

Tammy Faye Bakker’s eyelashes may raise still more eyebrows when a South Carolina educator finishes a new academic study. Prof. Gary Tidwell of the College of Charleston has received a grant to study how much was spent by evangelist Jim Bakker and his wife for various alleged extravagances, including mascara and other types of makeup, when they headed the PTL television ministry. Tidwell plans to teach a course next year on Ethics in Evangelism and said he wants to closely study the business dealings and spending of the Bakkers and other evangelists. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Columbia, S. C., has already given Tidwell permission to review thousands of pages of PTL documents. Tidwell said he would also like to interview the Bakkers and the Rev. Jerry Falwell, who succeeded them at PTL. The Bakkers have a new ministry based in Orlando, Fla.

--And, in Texas, another famous name is being portrayed in a less than flattering light. William Barret Travis, a hero credited with drawing a famous line in the dirt during the siege of the Alamo in 1836, was apparently a slave owner and abandoned his wife and child. In Bryan, Tex., school trustees voted to name a new school after black educator Mary Branch, the first woman college president in Texas, rather than after Travis, as had earlier been planned. Numerous schools and streets in Texas are named after Travis. But, noted Bob Calvert of the Texas State Historical Society, Travis was a “ne’er-do-well who in two weeks’ time happened to do something wonderful.” According to the legend, Travis drew a line during the siege and asked those willing to die for freedom to cross it with him.

--It may take a little longer than usual for a flight of American warplanes to warm up before taking off for a trip home from Greenland. The planes--two B-17 bombers and six P-38 fighters, have been in deep-freeze since July 15, 1942, after they took off for Europe. When they ran low on fuel, the fliers changed course and landed in Greenland, where the planes have remained, slowly accumulating 80 yards of ice. The wartime crew, uninjured, was sent on to other things, and officials have never explained why the planes were not refueled and sent back into the war effort. “Apart from dents and bends on the propellers, the aircraft will be in mint condition,” said Richard Taylor, a member of a U.S. expedition that found the aircraft in 1987.