August 31, 1987

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COVER/SPECIAL REPORT

AIDS AND SEX

The unsigned letter, from a divorced 37-year-old woman, appeared in The Vancouver Sun on Aug. 8 in response to a series of articles that the newspaper had published in June on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). The woman said that she had a strong sex drive but had become too frightened to engage in intercourse.

SPECIAL REPORT

Two Women Battle AIDS

Candice Mossop, 36, lies in a darkened apartment in the Toronto suburb of Downsview, battling for life—and sometimes wishing for death. Traffic noises filter through the drawn red velour curtains, but Mossop rarely goes to the window to watch the activity outside.

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Banking on new business

Banking, says Robert MacIntosh, president of the Toronto-based Canadian Bankers’ Association, used to be a simple business. Fifty years ago the chartered banks basically offered the public only three services: savings accounts, chequing accounts and demand loans. By D’ARCY JENISH6 min

SPECIAL REPORT

A Plague In The Tropics

At Nyamapanda, a forlorn strip of flyblown shops and sun-bleached houses on Zimbabwe’s border with Mozambique, the economy revolves around truckers, beer and sex. Between 50 and 100 trucks pass through the town every day, and most drivers pause for a drink in one of Nyamapanda’s saloons.

CANADA

Turning up the heat

Politics has not been kind to Larry Grossman. Less than three years ago the 44-year-old Toronto lawyer came within 77 delegate votes of succeeding Progressive Conservative leader William Davis as premier of Ontario. Had he won that January, 1985, leadership convention, many observers think he might still be premier. By SHERRI AIKENHEAD6 min

WORLD

Powder-keg politics

The Iranian helicopter swept out of the north over the calm, blue-green waters of the Gulf of Oman, 12 miles east of the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah. Dropping to an altitude of 300 feet, it skimmed over the sea within easy sight of the U.S. guided-missile frigate Flatley, one of 28 warships sent by the Reagan administration to protect shipping lanes in and near the Persian Gulf. By ROSS LAVER5 min

AN AMERICAN VIEW

A best-seller’s puzzling sizzle

Allan Bloom, a college professor, finds himself with a best-seller, and well we might take a moment to ponder what summons such fame and fortune. Did the good fellow discourse on undergraduate ingenuity in the age of sexual apocalypse? Did he explicate the significance of Elvis Presley, Oliver North, Gary Hart, Japanese management techniques or the decline of the .300 batting average? By Fred Bruning5 min

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Picking up the pieces

The end came swiftly for Western Canada’s last remaining major financial institution. Last week the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench ordered liquidators to begin selling off the remaining assets of Edmontonbased Principal Savings and Trust Co., the flagship of bankrupt Principal Group Ltd., by Sept. 1. By JOHN HOWSE5 min

GUEST COLUMN

New money, old refrains

You can’t blame Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and his colossal cabinet for the shortcomings of previous Liberal governments—although the Prime Minister himself loves to point them out—but neither can you blame Atlantic and western Canadians if they seem just a touch cautious these days. By Stewart MacLeod4 min

CANADA

Turner strikes back

Immediate action was imperative. Ever since he won a vote of confidence from his party at a convention last November, Liberal Leader John Turner had been besieged by problems. Aides were leaving, grassroots Liberals were grumbling and Turner’s standing in public opinion polls was chronically unfavorable.

August 241987