American Notes

POLITICS Jack Kemp's Big Catch

Although his nascent presidential campaign lags in the polls, Republican Congressman Jack Kemp has added a big name to his group of advisers. Ed Rollins, political director of Ronald Reagan's 1984 landslide re-election, will sign on as chairman of Kemp's newly formed "exploratory" campaign committee.

The burly Rollins, 43, who in late 1985 quit his job as director of the White House political liaison, is a highly regarded and much sought political operative with ties to G.O.P. centurions around the country. His decision to line up with Kemp may help dispel skepticism that the former pro quarterback can go the distance to the White House. Kemp, however, was Rollins' second choice. Had Paul Laxalt decided to run, Rollins would have gone with his old friend from Nevada.

CULTS Jonestown Justice

When California Congressman Leo Ryan tried to lead a group of Peoples Temple defectors out of the cult's Jonestown, Guyana, headquarters in 1978, Larry Layton joined him at the last minute. Later, when a truckload of Peoples Temple members ambushed and killed the Congressman and four others at a nearby airstrip, Layton pulled a pistol and wounded two would-be defectors. Within hours, Cult Leader Jim Jones led 912 of his followers in a grisly mass murder--suicide.

Last week a federal jury in San Francisco found Layton guilty of conspiracy and aiding and abetting the murder of Ryan. He could face life imprisonment. Said Fred Lewis, who lost 27 members of his family in Jonestown: "It'll make a lot of people who lost relatives feel better that someone got convicted."

PROTEST Fasting To Death?

The unkempt, gray-bearded man might pass for any other homeless inhabitant of Lafayette Square Park, across from the White House. But the leaflets he passes out say otherwise: CHARLES HYDER, PH.D AND FASTING. Hyder, 56, an astrophysicist and former NASA researcher, says he will starve himself to death to dramatize his call for dismantling all nuclear warheads by the year 2000. Once 310 Ibs., Hyder has lost a third of that weight after more than 70 days on salt and water. If the Government does not meet his demands, he insists, "I'll die. I know what moves the system."

Though the Administration has so far ignored Hyder, 24 physicists, including Nobel Laureate Sheldon Glashow, joined in a one-day sympathy fast with him and signed a letter in support of his goals, though not of his tactics. "I hope he decides not to fast to his death," said Glashow, "Maybe then he can live to see his dreams come true."

WASHINGTON Trivia Trove

Ronald Reagan is not the only beleagured President suffering from unwanted public scrutiny. Last week Richard Nixon conceded another round in his twelve-year battle to keep his presidential papers from the public. Following congressional directives, the National Archives released 1.5 million pages, the first of several batches of documents from the former Chief Executive's collection. While the papers, all unrelated to Watergate, provided insight into Nixon's policies on school desegregation and antiwar protests, they were also a trivia trove of the appalling, embarrassing and absurd. For example, the papers include a 1969 note from Aide Patrick Buchanan (now Reagan's Director of Communications) advising Nixon not to meet with the widow of Martin Luther King Jr. in Atlanta because many people "believe Dr. King was ... the devil incarnate."

The Archives will soon announce rules on access to Nixon's Watergate-era files, a move certain to meet opposition from the former President. If the entire collection of 40 million pages is made public, the Nixon presidency will be the best documented in U.S. history. It will take 4,000 hours just to listen to all the President's tapes.

SAN DIEGO Empty Nests

In the heart of San Diego lies Balboa Park, 1,150 acres of trees and historic landmarks where pigeons love to roost. In fact, so many pigeons have made Balboa Park their home that when city officials began renovating older buildings, they discovered more than a foot of droppings in some places. The waste damaged buildings and posed potentially serious health risks for people. Says Park Manager Marcia McLatchy: "We had to do something about the birds, but we didn't want to shoot or strangle them." The solution: twice a year, the city will feed the birds corn spiked with a birth-control compound. In two years, as older birds die and are not replaced by nestlings, the pigeon population is expected to fall by half.