BC-People, 1st Ld-Writethru,1475

People in the News

Eds: Updates with items on Bill Clinton, Pat Benatar, Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Khvorostovsky, and John Jay Iselin. Also contains items on Jake Gyllenhaal, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Bill Richardson and Harlan McKosato.

AP Photos BF101 of Clinton; NY110 of Benatar; MOSB103 of Putin; NYR101 of Iselin; NY107 of Gyllenhaal; NY108 of Crosby, Stills & Nash; MBTOZ201 of Richardson

ITHACA, N.Y. (AP) – Former President Bill Clinton challenged graduating Cornell University students Saturday to pursue “the eternal mission of American democracy” and find solutions to problems through cooperation not conflict.

“If you live in a world where you cannot kill, occupy or imprison all your actual or potential adversaries … you have to try to build a world with more friends and fewer terrorists,” Clinton told more than 21,000 people.

“That is the purpose of politics, to bring people together when they cannot control each other and they must work together,” Clinton said in a 30-minute speech interrupted by frequent applause.

The former president’s remarks appeared aimed at the Bush administration, which ordered the U.S. invasion of Iraq last year without United Nations backing, though Clinton never mentioned Bush.

He also said the country was at another turning point as Americans grapple over how the United States should use its present moment of unrivaled military, economic and political superiority.

“The great power of the United States through history has not been in our weapons but in the power of our example, and the hope we have held out to others,” he said.

Clinton’s address was delivered during Senior Convocation. Cornell’s commencement address traditionally is delivered by the university president. Cornell students graduate Sunday.

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ST. LOUIS (AP) – Energizer Holdings Inc. is appealing to the rock ‘n’ roll sensibilities of baby boomers by enlisting 1980s rocker Pat Benatar to boost sales of hearing-aid batteries.

“Our generation has helped shape American culture, especially since we’re the first to be raised on rock ‘n’ roll,” Benatar says in a brochure for Energizer’s new marketing campaign, “It’s Hip to Hear.”

“From Aerosmith to the Rolling Stones, our music defines us, but all those years of rockin’ are beginning to take a toll,” she says.

Mini-batteries used in hearing aids are just 8 percent of Energizer’s total sales, but the St. Louis-based company sees a potentially huge growth market, said Ernie Petrus, director of sales and marketing for Energizer Miniature Batteries.

Benatar, 51, does not need a hearing aid, but Energizer is betting that she will break the stereotype associated with wearing one, Petrus told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in Friday’s editions.

Matt Thornhill, founder of the Boomer Project, a Richmond, Va.-based consulting firm that helps companies reach the over-50 market, said Energizer’s choice of Benatar is “fabulous.”

“Boomers buy eyeglasses by the tens of thousands,” Thornhill said. “As they start to lose their hearing, I don’t think they’ll have a reluctance to (buy) hearing aids.”

Benatar is known for such hits as “Love Is a Battlefield,” “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” and “Invincible.”

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NOVO-OGARYOVO, Russia (AP) – President Vladimir Putin on Saturday thanked Russia’s most famous baritone, Dmitry Khvorostovsky, for his performance on Red Square.

Putin attended part of Khvorostovsky’s Friday night concert with his guest, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

“I think your numerous admirers in Russia will join in the words of my gratitude,” Putin said Saturday during a meeting with Khvorostovsky at Novo-Ogaryovo, the presidential residence outside Moscow.

Khvorostovsky called the concert “one of the biggest achievements” of his life.

“I’m thankful to you that my dream has come true,” he told Putin. “The impression from singing at such stage was striking.”

The opera singer was born in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk. He got the nickname “Siberian Express” for quickly winning the admiration of audiences worldwide.

In 1989, Khvorostovsky, a soloist of the Krasnoyarsk opera theater, won “The World’s Best Baritone” title at the World’s Best Singer BBC contest in Cardiff, Britain. He has performed in Milan’s La Scala, London’s Covent Garden, and theaters in Chicago and San Francisco.

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NEW YORK (AP) – John Jay Iselin, former president of WNET and president of the Marconi fellowship foundation at Columbia University, has been recognized by Queen Elizabeth II for his contribution to British television in the United States.

Sir Thomas Harris, the British consul general, said Friday that the queen made the announcement on Thursday and that Iselin would receive the honorary CBE in Washington on June 9.

CBE stands for Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, an order founded in 1917 by King George V to recognize service by civilians in World War I. The order now honors civilians and military personnel.

Iselin brought BBC programs like “Monty Python’s Flying Circus,” “Upstairs, Downstairs” and “Pride and Prejudice” to WNET while its president from 1972 to 1987 and teamed with British production units to launch the “Nature” series.

Iselin called the honor “a tribute to broadcasting of a high order that is truly the work of many hands in a collaborative effort.”

Iselin is president of the Guglielmo Marconi International Fellowship Foundation at Columbia and served for 20 years on the board of the American Friends of Cambridge University, where he was a Marshall scholar. He is an adjunct professor in Columbia’s School of Journalism.

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NEW YORK (AP) – When he was a teen, Jake Gyllenhaal juggled summer jobs on Martha’s Vineyard as a lifeguard and a busboy.

“I would lifeguard from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., then go to the restaurant from 5 p.m. to midnight,” said the 23-year-old star of “The Day After Tomorrow,” Roland Emmerich’s new film on global warming.

“I don’t know why now, but I thought that was fun,” Gyllenhaal told People in its June 7 issue.

There wasn’t too much excitement on the beach, he said.

“Occasionally, I’d pick up the lifeguard buoy and run down the beach “Baywatch’-style, like something was actually happening,” he told the magazine.

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NEW YORK (AP) – Crosby, Stills & Nash will launch their three-month summer tour in Prior Lake, Minn., on July 1.

“The evening will showcase songs from Stephen Stills’ new solo CD and the soon to be released Crosby & Nash CD as well as gems from the group’s amazing catalog of hits,” manager Gerry Tolman said in a statement Thursday.

Graham Nash will promote his first photography book, “Eye to Eye,” throughout the tour, which will include stops in Boston, Atlanta, Denver, Las Vegas and Los Angeles, with the final show set for Sept. 22 in Woodinvale, Wash.

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On the Net:

http://www.crosbystillsnash.com

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) – Gov. Bill Richardson went to the heart of filmland to promote New Mexico as a location for movies.

Richardson met Thursday in California with executives of Universal, DreamWorks SKG, Warner Bros., MGM and Paramount to discuss bringing projects to the state.

New Mexico offers incentives for filmmakers, including tax breaks and an investment program.

“I found the executives to be very receptive and interested in what we have to say, and there are several potential projects in the works for this year that I hope to be able to announce soon,” Richardson said.

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) – After nine years as host of the syndicated radio show “Native America Calling,” Harlan McKosato is ready to take on an American Indian-oriented cable television station.

McKosato hears a market out there. He compares his project to the mystical baseball movie “Field of Dreams.”

“I keep saying “If you build it, they will come,”‘ said McKosato, quoting from the 1989 film.

McKosato believes American Indian programming can sustain a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week cable and satellite channel called First Americans Cable Entertainment System, or FACES.

Because of the cable commitment, he gave up his “Native America Calling” radio job on April 9, McKosato said.

McKosato, a member of the Sac and Fox tribe of Oklahoma, and business partner Kelly Wade say they’re ready to seek the money needed for capital expenses and programming expenditures. The initial startup amount would be $2.8 million.

As they move closer to going on the air, projected to be in 2007, McKosato said the investment capital will soar to about $60 million.

AP-ES-05-29-04 1513EDT