Charges Dropped Against 9/11 Rescue Worker due to Hero Status

A Long Island judge has dismissed charges of driving under the influence and illegally possessing a weapon against a 9/11 rescue worker, citing the man's status as an "American hero."



Rex Troxell has this dream.

"I can't get my clothes off," he says. "You're trying to get them off, and you can't."

For most of us, being unable to get naked in public is hardly a nightmare. But Troxell is an art model. And posing in the nude, something he has done for 30 years, is key to bringing home a paycheck.





With its plethora of art schools, college art classes, art leagues and private artists, Chicago and the suburbs are home to an estimated 50 to 150 working art models at any given time, according to those in the business. It's a group that comes in all shapes, ages, sizes and backgrounds.


"We couldn't teach classes without professional models," said Duncan Webb, the academic dean at the American Academy of Art in Chicago and an artist himself. "They are essential,"