Stigma

If John Modugno feels good, he reminds himself that it won't last long. But he doesn't curse his condition. He has lived with grand mal epilepsy since age 4, and he is used to the routines of living in a body that at least once a week deprives him of control. He walks from his Burlington City home to the grocery store several times a week because he can carry only a few days' worth of food. The pain shooting through his feet slows him, and it takes half an hour to walk the few short blocks.

In more than 20 years as an organizer and an advocate, I've repeatedly noticed that when the federal government doesn't want to spend money or, more particularly, raise taxes, it issues reports. I remember a time about 10 years ago when homelessness was seen as a crisis in our country. I went to literally dozens of meetings in Washington in which various government agencies competed in issuing reports that described the problems of the homeless in great detail, showed real understanding about the issues and articulated wonderful solutions.

Three experts hired by a former Philadelphia-area defense contractor, a native of Egypt, told a federal judge yesterday that putting the man in jail could doom his four daughters to spinsterhood. That's because of the "stigma" that Egyptians of the Muslim faith attach to fatherless households, the experts opined. But U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno was unmoved by the argument. He said he couldn't show leniency to the defendant, Kamal Kaga, because Kaga had sold to the U.S. military many defective parts that could have injured U.S. soldiers.

David Satcher hasn't been surgeon general since February, but he still sounded like one yesterday as he extolled better treatment and insurance for the mentally ill at the annual meeting of the Pennsylvania chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. Satcher, who was the first surgeon general to write a report specifically about mental health, said improving treatment for those with mental illnesses needs to be a national priority....

In the 19th century, a crusading journalist and native Pennsylvanian named Nellie Bly exposed the degrading conditions endured by patients in a New York mental hospital: primitive treatment methods; poor food; physical restraint; and isolation. Her writings shocked the nation and helped change the way we treat mental illness. As a society, we can be proud of the progress we've made. The discovery of effective, long-term treatment options, and better services for patients and families have helped many reclaim their freedom and their lives.

Alan Goodman will be the first to tell you he's successful. But 20 years ago, his Broomall neighbors wondered why his car sat in the driveway so much. And they were curious about his comings and goings, always with a briefcase. Their conclusion: He must be a bookie, or at the very least doing something mildly illegal. Hardly. Alan Goodman owns shopping centers and office buildings, has an insurance business and tracks his sizable investments. But he works from home. Years ago when he started, Goodman felt that the commercial world viewed him as not quite professional.

President Clinton, although greedy for laurels as government's reinventor, is parsimonious with proposals offensive to the inventors of modern government - liberals, the faction of "compassion. " So while making a monomania of his radical response to the spurious crisis in health care, he now produces a mild response to the lethal crisis in welfare. The crux of his welfare plan is its cosmetic conservatism, the supposed two-year limit on benefits, after which recipients must find work or take subsidized private- or public-sector jobs.

Joe "Joey Pants" Pantoliano, who won an Emmy for his portrayal of Ralphie on The Sopranos, spoke at a congressional briefing on the stigma of mental illness yesterday. So did the actress Marcia Gay Harden. And Minnesota Rep. Jim Ramstad. But it was 18-year-old Jordan Burnham, sitting in his wheelchair and brushing back his tears, who received the only standing ovation for his remarks. It has been eight months since Burnham jumped from the ninth floor of his King of Prussia apartment building in a suicide attempt he miraculously survived.

DEAR ABBY: What's the best thing to do when someone insults me for being myself? My hair has been bright blue for the past two semesters of college. I like it. I'm young, and my family is letting me express my "wild" side while I'm in school. Six months ago I went to meet my ex-boyfriend's mother, and the first thing she said to me was, "You're one of my son's phases, right? Boys don't actually bring girls with blue hair home to Mama. " Abby, it was with my ex's encouragement that I dyed my hair this bright color.

DEAR ABBY: What's the best thing to do when someone insults me for being myself? My hair has been bright blue for the past two semesters of college. I like it. I'm young, and my family is letting me express my "wild" side while I'm in school. Six months ago I went to meet my ex-boyfriend's mother, and the first thing she said to me was, "You're one of my son's phases, right? Boys don't actually bring girls with blue hair home to Mama. " Abby, it was with my ex's encouragement that I dyed my hair this bright color.

With his 46-year-old schizophrenic son in jail, Sam Ruggieri wasn't thrilled about the lack of psychiatric care available behind bars. But he couldn't help looking at recent headlines involving mental illness and wondering about the alternative. In March, a 23-year-old Upper Merion man fatally stabbed his parents and twin brother after years of struggling with what relatives had decided was schizophrenia. Then, last month, a Hatfield police lieutenant shot and killed his 17-year-old son while fending off an attack from the teen a day after a mental-health clinic had released him. "How can you not hear stories like that and think about your own situation?"

In past contract negotiations at the Philadelphia Orchestra, it has been musicians who have quietly held, or explicitly exercised, the threat of damaging action: a strike. But in current talks, it is management tolling unprecedented and severe consequences: bankruptcy. Management has intermittently used the prospect of Chapter 11 in talks during the last few months in its drive to reduce labor costs, people familiar with the talks say. Players - who could see a 20 percent cut in base pay and the loss of 10 positions - are taking the threat seriously.

On their first date, Mike Englisch and Kelly Magnin started with a classic icebreaker - where do you live? Englisch, 24, wondered if Magnin, 23, would find his answer a turnoff. It turned out that Magnin was worried about exactly the same thing. "One of us said, 'I live at home with my parents,' " says Englisch, "and there was that awkward moment of silence before the other one was like, 'Oh, I do, too.' " It may not be the most glamorous of digs, but more twentysomethings may look to Mom and Dad for shelter during the recession.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's decision to end a food program for Philadelphia schoolchildren smacks of the kind of "compassionate" conservatism we have had to contend with for eight years. More than 120,000 children count on the 17-year-old Universal Feeding Program, which provides free meals to every student in some schools, instead of requiring applications. In case USDA officials are ignorant of the successes of school feeding programs, I invite them to read one Philadelphia story: mine.

God messages I find it interesting to see people spending thousands of dollars to argue whether or not there is a God. ("Reverent rebuttal on a billboard," Aug. 7). If I had a dollar for every person who claims there is a God but could care less about living up to God's ethical and moral code, especially as it applies to friends, family, neighbors and strangers in our midst, I'd be a rich man. If there is a God, I would think that he would prefer that we spend our time doing good works rather than claiming to speak for God. Ian Wachstein Collingswood Learn the anthem During the Olympics, a few U.S. athletes will earn the honor of standing on the top step at award ceremonies, wearing the gold, as our country's flag waves in China and the band plays our national anthem.

Joe "Joey Pants" Pantoliano, who won an Emmy for his portrayal of Ralphie on The Sopranos, spoke at a congressional briefing on the stigma of mental illness yesterday. So did the actress Marcia Gay Harden. And Minnesota Rep. Jim Ramstad. But it was 18-year-old Jordan Burnham, sitting in his wheelchair and brushing back his tears, who received the only standing ovation for his remarks. It has been eight months since Burnham jumped from the ninth floor of his King of Prussia apartment building in a suicide attempt he miraculously survived.

Debra Jackson tried desperately to get the words out yesterday. "My son was . . . my son was . . . murdered recently," the 49-year-old Harrisburg woman said, weeping and gasping for air. "I am still grieving. " Those who stood behind Jackson to take their turn at the microphone during the Breaking the Silence conference at the Convention Center quickly moved in to embrace her and help prop her up. That willingness to show support was the theme throughout the two-day summit that addressed an often-hidden and still-taboo topic within the African American community: mental illness and the dangers of not treating it. Jackson, a minister and mental-health advocate, said she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder - a mental illness characterized by severe mood swings - six years ago. She has attempted suicide three times, she said.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Overweight children are stigmatized by their peers as early as age 3 and even face bias from their parents and teachers, giving them a quality of life comparable to people with cancer, a new analysis concludes. Youngsters who report teasing, rejection, bullying and other types of abuse because of their weight are two to three times more likely to report suicidal thoughts as well as to suffer from health issues such as high blood pressure and eating disorders, researchers said.

DON'T CALL Bootsie Barnes a "local" musician. Despite being a proud lifetime Philadelphian, the tenor sax giant recognizes the stigma sometimes attached to that term. "Most of us have traveled all over," he said, pointing to his worldwide engagements during the past decade with fellow Philly native (and childhood friend) Bill Cosby. This weekend, Barnes will perform with a quintet featuring trumpeter Duane Eubanks and a new rhythm section. "If you don't move to New York, then people just label you local.