Meet New Dr. J--as in Johnson

Los Angeles Lakers superstar Magic Johnson is about to score some recognition for his feats off the court. Rust College will confer an honorary doctor of philosophy degree in humanities on Johnson next month. President W.A. McMillan said the degree will be presented Sept. 7 during the small Holly Springs, Miss., college’s opening convocation. “Johnson earned the degree in recognition of his dedication and commitment to the United Negro College Fund and the nation’s 42 historically black member colleges and universities,” McMillan said. Since 1986, McMillan said, Johnson has sponsored annual all-star basketball and black-tie dinner dances, raising more than $1.5 million for the fund. The Lakers have won five NBA titles with Johnson.

--In a transparent display of mock anger, President Bush pronounced himself furious with senior White House aides for posing for a gag photo, based on the Doonesbury comic strip, depicting the President as an invisible leader. The photo’s inscription read: “To President Skippy. From the gang that sees through you.” Jokingly waving the picture around during a brief appearance in the White House press room, Bush said it should have read: “The gang that used to work here.” The picture showed Chief of Staff John H. Sununu, National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft, Deputy National Security Adviser Robert M. Gates, and a fourth, unidentified person sitting around Bush’s desk in the Oval Office, staring at an empty chair. Bush is a frequent target of criticism of Doonesbury’s creator, Garry Trudeau, who pictures the President as being invisible and portrays his imaginary, evil twin brother, known as “Skippy.”

--An exhibit of Hedda Nussbaum’s photographs, scheduled to open Aug. 19, has been canceled after a Sag Harbor, N.Y., gallery received threatening calls, New York Newsday reported. Romany Kramoris, owner of the Kramoris Gallery, said callers had threatened to damage her property if the Nussbaum exhibit was held, the paper said. The dozen black-and-white nature photographs were taken during Nussbaum’s 18 months of rehabilitation at Four Winds Hospital in Westchester. Nussbaum was the battered live-in companion of Joel Steinberg, who was imprisoned for the beating death of 6-year-old Lisa Steinberg. The couple illegally adopted the girl. Some callers accused Kramoris of trying to cash in on the case’s notoriety, while one reportedly complained the exhibit would glorify Nussbaum.