NAMES IN THE NEWS : Cosby Cut Out for Fund-Raising

A cardboard Bill Cosby is an unofficial member of the staff of San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos but not everyone approves of the way Agnos uses the life-size cutout.

Agnos keeps the cardboard Cosby in an office closet and drags it out for prominent black visitors. The mayor says the idea is to encourage minorities to invest in their communities like Cosby does.

“He’s terrific,” Agnos says of Cosby, who gave $20 million to Spelman College in Atlanta, Ga. “You know why? Because he’s doing what the Greeks are doing, what the Jews are doing, what the Chinese are doing and what everyone else in the world is doing. He says, ‘We successful blacks have to invest in our communities and we haven’t been doing it. And if we don’t do it, we aren’t going to succeed.’ ” Toni Cook, former head of the Bay Area Black United Fund, doesn’t like the tactic. “It floored me,” she said. “I thought it was most inappropriate. As a professional, I found it very insulting to be the brunt of his frustration.”