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by Andy
Evangelista First
appeared 11 February 1999
Name Games, Bus Rides and Medical Advice
Okay, when we started this column last May, we hinted that it would appear weekly. Other
writing assignments, as well as filling in for the flu-stricken and jury-duty-called, have
kept the Eye too busy to do his campus watch. But it looks like he'll be regular again
soon.
Some Stryking Differences
Jeff Stryker is not Jeff Stryker. Well, he is not that Jeff Stryker -- the porn star and
model who's been getting a lot of local press because his play, "Jeff Stryker Does
Hard Time," opens this week in SF. So, will the real Jeff Stryker please stand up?
 UCSF's Jeff Stryker, a health policy expert based at the Center for
AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS), has a whole different set of assets. The UCSF Stryker is a
researcher who holds a number of positions. The other guy -- nah, we won't go there. The
UCSF Jeff is well published -- he's authored journal articles on AIDS policy and medical
ethics, he is senior editor of the website HIV InSite, and he is a freelance writer and
commentator whose columns have appeared in the New York Times and the San Francisco
Examiner. The other Jeff is well videotaped with some 25 highly acclaimed movies to his
credit.
When the better-known Stryker ends up on the front of Tuesday's SF Chronicle arts section,
there's bound to be some raised eyebrows and name confusion, so the Eye put in a call to
the UCSF Stryker, who happens to be a good sport, as well as a good scientist and writer.
He said people at CAPS already are expecting to field a more-than-usual number of phone
calls for "Jeff Stryker," and at home, he'll probably get some of those calls
when all you hear is heavy breathing.
Stryker, however, is accustomed to the attention, and even has written a clever article
about "the ups and downs of sharing this famous name." (It appears on his website.) He's had to deal with it since
around 1986, when the other Jeff started to get exposure.
"At conferences, people will see my name tag and start giggling," said Stryker.
But there's an occasional fringe benefit, such as the time he got a first-class upgrade
after an airline ticket agent recognized the name on the passenger list and wanted to meet
"him." And the name confusion once backfired on the other Stryker. "As a
public health policy wonk, I inhabit a far different world than my porn star double.
Sometimes, though, worlds collide," he wrote. "A while back, a wire-service news
story quoted me as saying that the AIDS risk to heterosexuals in the United States is
sometimes exaggerated. This prompted an online flaming -- a burst of chatter on the
Internet with nasty attacks on my namesake and indignant questions about why a porn star
was suddenly an expert on epidemiology."
The UCSF Jeff Stryker has not met the other one. But they have communicated by email, says
Stryker. Their Internet addresses, which include their identical names, differ by only one
space or punctuation mark, and it seems like the other Jeff was exerting his domain
dominance (this is Internet talk only) and threatening the UCSF Jeff to change the web
name. The film star Jeff may win that one, the UCSF Jeff concedes. But although the actor
-- who's adopted "Jeff Stryker" as a stage name -- may boast the real thing in
his ads, the UCSF Jeff Stryker, who was born with his name, can call himself the real Jeff
Stryker.
Your Rolling Business Card
 If Muni can be painted like a Pepsi can, the UCSF shuttle buses can
have a new look, too. So, if you're at one of the UCSF stops and see a shuttle with its
new teal-on-white design, don't be afraid to jump on, or else wait 20 minutes for the next
one and be late for your important meeting. The new UCSF design -- which you'll read about
in our sister publications in the near future -- has been rolled out on three shuttle
buses. In addition to the new color, it has part of the UC seal (no, we did not get a new,
aquatic mascot -- we're talking emblem here), which includes the motto "Let There Be
Light." When new vehicles are delivered to replace the older ones, they will have the
new design, which will look familiar to those who have recently ordered new business cards
from Reprographics.
The new designs are fresh and attractive to some, while others prefer not to have their
eye-catching habits changed at all. They are becoming a welcome site for UCSF riders, who
are braving the season's chilly weather and whose motto is "Let There Be a
Shuttle."
Got Blisters?
Some handy -- and footy -- advice by a UCSF physician noted in the February issue of
Prevention magazine: Kathy Fields, a clinical instructor in dermatology who works at the
Student Health Service, advises that milk can soothe irritating, painful and itchy
blisters, which surface most often on the feet. Soaking a washcloth or cotton ball with
milk and applying it over the blister for 15 minutes, as often as needed, can reduce
inflammation. Any cold milk -- whole, reduced fat, nonfat, but probably not chocolate --
can do the trick.
And Wear Your Seat Belt on the Ride Back Home
More medical advice: Orthopaedic surgeon Stephen Gunther, who is also a sports medicine
expert, has been interviewed by newspapers and radio about winter season safety tips for
skiers and snowboarders. In addition to urging people to learn how to fall properly to
prevent injury, wear the correct equipment and to do conditioning to strengthen leg
muscles, the list also includes: "Do not jump off cliffs; do not jump where there are
rocks below." Believe it or not, he says, people need to be reminded.
A Nice Touch
At the UCSF Martin Luther King Jr. Awards Ceremony a few weeks ago, after the scheduled
honorees were recognized, the UCSF Council of Minority Organizations (COMO) presented an
award to Vice Chancellor Dorothy Bainton. It goes annually to a member of the campus
executive leadership. "This COMO award recipient is a silent marcher who demonstrated
a commitment in promoting diversity and advancing social justice at UCSF," said Jimmy
Choy, who presented the award.
Readers: If you have any items or suggestions for this
column, send us an email: andye@itsa.ucsf.edu. |
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