EX-SURGEON GENERAL SPEAKS ON LIFE, WORK

Former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders spoke about her life and her
work in public health to a full house at Kresge Auditorium last night in
the first Aurora Forum of the quarter.

The talk, entitled "Jocelyn Elders: From Sharecropper's Daughter to Surgeon
General," was an interview-style discussion between Elders and LaDoris
Cordell, vice provost for campus relations and special counselor to the
president.

Cordell described Elders as "the rare public figure that has had, and
continues to have, the courage of [her] convictions 24 / 7, 365 days a year."

Elders criticized the U.S. health care system during the discussion, citing
the lack of universal access to health care and to comprehensive health
education.

"We do not have a health-care system," Elders said. "We have a very
expensive sick-care system. The sicker you are the better we doctor you.
The only people in America with universal access to health care are
criminals in the criminal justice system and I think it makes no sense.

"We also do not educate our people to be healthy," Elders said. "We are a
health-illiterate society."

Elders, born in Arkansas in 1933, grew up in a shack as part of a large
sharecropping family. At the age of 15, she entered Philander Smith College
in Little Rock Arkansas. After time in the army, she earned her medical
degree and later her master's in biochemistry from the University of Arkansas.

Elders was appointed the director of public health by former Arkansas
Governor Bill Clinton and for six years was a "lightning rod for public
health," as described by Cordell.

In 1993, Clinton nominated Elders for the position of surgeon general, and
she became the first African-American U.S. surgeon general. During her
time, she gave 302 speeches. One mishap she mentioned was when she lost the
speech she was planning to give at a Harvard commencement and had to
scribble out some notes for a new one on a scrap of toilet paper in the
bathroom.

One of her more controversial remarks was at the National Press Club when
she made a statement about the legalization of drugs.

"There have been multiple studies that have shown that the legalization of
drugs would lower the crime rate, but I do not know all the implications of
this," Elders said when recounting the incident at the forum. "I feel it
should be studied."

After 15 months she was forced to resign amidst controversy stemming from a
remark she made at an AIDS conference that allegedly endorsed courses to
teach how to masturbate. She specifically said masturbation "is part of
human sexuality and it's a part of something that perhaps should be
taught." Elders maintained that she meant that children should be taught
about masturbation in sex education courses.

She spoke about the incident with a sense of humor. "[Masturbation] never
got anybody pregnant," she said, "and you know you're always having sex
with somebody you love."

Elders said that she had no regrets about her time as surgeon general.

"I would do it again," she said. "In fact, I absolutely did this job as I
felt it should be done. If I had to do it all over again, I'd do it exactly
the same way.

"I want you to know that I always did the very best that I could do as your
surgeon general," she added.

Despite the fact that Clinton called for her resignation, Elders said that
she harbors no harsh feelings for him.

"I think Bill Clinton is probably the smartest person that I've met, and I
feel certain that he's the best politician this country has seen in a long
time."

After her resignation, Elders returned to the College of Public Health of
the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences as a professor of pediatrics.

The Aurora Forum is a series of "public conversations bringing together
academics writers, artists, socially engaged intellectuals and the
concerned public," according to its Web site. It brings panels together to
discuss the past, present and future of American ideals and aspirations.