Philadelphians

First Union Corp. is changing its name to Wachovia following the latest bank merger. This can only make F.U. Center officials happy, for the obvious reasons. Still, how long will it take before Philadelphians - who love their nicknames - to rename the stadium the Wacko? Not long at all.

City officials yesterday dedicate 2,000-bed Curran-Fromhold Corectional Facility in the Northeast, named for Holmesburg Warden Patrick Curran (Patrick Jr. and his son Patrick are at right) and Deputy Warden Robert Fromhold, slain by two inmates in 1973. Facility figures into Philadelphians' top election issue: crime and punishment.

While war raged the Mideast, for many Philadelphians it was business as usual yesterday. Robert Cocchimiglio, 25, (top) waited for a fare in front of Independence Hall, and Oliver Johnson whipped up a batch of dough at Cinnabon, 34th and Market. At the Italian Market (bottom), shoppers browsed among the produce.

Mayor Rendell (inset) and a host of other Philadelphians showed travel agents at a convention in Lisbon, Portugal, how to party Philly-style last Friday. The American Society of Travel Agents enjoyed Philly favorites, including plenty of cheesesteaks. State Sen. Vince Fumo also attended the convention. The group is scheduled to meet here next year.

As Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once wrote, "Into each life, some rain must fall. " Well, it sure did yesterday in the lives of Philadelphians. But the wet weather hardly disrupted this man's life as he went his way on Broad Street near Girard Avenue.

Hundreds gathered at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Penn's Landing on Saturday for an emotional ceremony in which the names of 11 men were added to the 630 Philadelphians killed in the Vietnam War. The 11 had been omitted for various reasons when the original monument was dedicated a year ago.

I do not think it right that the Philadelphia Board of Pensions and Retirement should invest funds in a foreign country. These funds were earned from Philadelphia taxpayers and should be invested here where plenty of Philadelphians need jobs, homes, etc. Don't throw the ball out of bounds. Phyllis M. Carpenter Philadelphia.

The mother of an AIDS victim, Ruth Gland (right) is comforted by Bob Stump at a ceremony at Moore College of Art and Design. Students there, in conjunction with the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, have been creating panels to commemorate Philadelphians who have died of AIDS. Helping hold the banner were Jay Bonner (from left) and Lora Speiser.

There are 59,000 physically disabled Philadelphians who need accessible, affordable housing, according to Bruce Connus, chief executive officer of Liberty Housing Development Corp. LHDC has a waiting list of 100 people "trapped in a nursing home because of the lack of accessible, affordable housing in Philadelphia," he said. For information, call LHDC: 215-634-2000.

Sheldon Bonovitz is a board member of the Free Library of Philadelphia If a resident of Philadelphia were asked what services the Free Library provides, the likely answer would be, "Books and other reading materials. " That's true, in part. But the Free Library does so much more. In fact, one can say the Free Library of Philadelphia has morphed into a community service organization, with 54 locations throughout the city and a staff that speaks more than 30 languages. Let's look at the city's demographics.