European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 23, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Russell Baker thursday june 23, 1977 the stars and stripes Page 11 doctor omniscient answers the mail dear doctor what has become of the generation Gap i Haven t seen it for years and suddenly discover that 1 miss it signed Over 40. Dear Over 40 the generation Gap died ignored and heartbroken in the poverty of an Bast St. Louis Flop House four years ago. An autopsy ascribed death to an Onset of 30th birthdays on the Gap s younger Side which drastically reduced the vital flow of contempt juices necessary to keep the Over-30 population inflamed. As the younger Side of the Gap began finding it increasingly ludicrous never to Trust anybody Over 30, the Gap became languid and Idle lost its sense of purpose and started , the Gap s older Side developed a violent seizure of watergate syn drome characterized by an insatiable craving for titillation about government corruption. In an alarmingly Brief time the Gap lost All interest in itself and expired of acute pointlessness. Fortunately it was saved from a pot Ter s Field burial and has been removed to the smithsonian institution in Washington for stuffing and mounting. It will eventually be displayed Between two other distinguished relics of the american past the incredibly Boring Leisure time crisis of the Early 1960s and the metrical for lunch Bunch. Dear or. Omniscient is the sexual Revo Lution now Over and if so who won signed really out of it. Dear really out of it despite a few mop Ping up actions still in Progress much As mayor Beame s Campaign to bottle up Massage Parlours at Yorktown the sexual revolution is now history. There were two important , if you Are a girl and insist that the boy marry you you Are now a counterrevolutionary. From this Point of View the boys , the birth rate has dropped considerably indicating that sex is becoming asocial time killer like television. From this Point of View both sex and television lost. Dear doctor after 30 years of not read ing the comic strips i have recently re sinned and am appalled to see that  Tracy seems to be wearing somebody else s Mustache. Is it Mutt s or Jeff a and what does it mean has Tracy sold out to the hippies signed american. Dear american the Mustache Tracy is wearing used to belong to major Hoople. It thes european edition coi Billy e. Spangler. Usa. Maj. John c Taylor.  Mert Proctor Elmer d. Frank production Henry s. Epstein. Circulation m thai in Pap a is an author and Knoll Iclal Polk Allolor us armed Force ov.n.11. To Sun and strip l ubut Ltd in conjunction win it annoy Fotch in Lorma. I  of to  of Tomt. Tin Sun my str Pei a not Etc tally a Tell vow of to. . . In.  of Oronia or in. . Eunoa command.  Dow la j jail Norm mfr concerning comm.rcl.1 publication Dom not Conui Lul. An  by in.  of o. Tans., including in. My Loury War Twu. Murlun Drra the. Stan and str Law. Apo Omi. Pm a  to Sun and so rpm. Pool an ii 10 x win Uri Muai ii. Ormano.  Orl Tomim cd i. Tom ml01. A. York Lac room my   York room.  area cod. 1121 to in. Second  potage paid at hex York. N. Y. Hews bureaus Kall Laurn. A Many. Floyd Harrington. Building m. Pulaski Barrack. Vog.lw.1. Milieu re Ola or Kal anus own Civ Louii am , .  Synod a. Building ii. William o. Darby Cairn  Mii Iury Jyh or  cd Moil Muti Gart ail. Tara Militar 72s to  Civ Man 3in.�  T ski Lys so military w a . Gary Harrott. Raf Moldt Liall. C us Short. Ohk. Apo a. Mimmmiiii1mh mt.1 _ i tu32  Jim Hart. Soaib Pattii. Pm gon. Wathington Ooi. I. Imi num. Circulation offices  Byln. Civilian Oia him i rim i Mil it if Frankfurt ctr 16$ of we. Epsa. ?�?s,"��1 i i�s6 North Carman Region Rne Limval Mil 7100"job Stuttgart. Civ 1i4h6. Mil Huttt Gumc aim i. Civ wu3w and tin. Ji6m2. Italy a Nom Mil Camp Darby toil. Spain Madrid Civ of of ton Lon air  Mil a. Turkey Istanbul Civ 4ui7. United kingdom grow Nam common Civ i a. Military . W is composed of fabric taken from the Tassel of major Hoople s Fez. Tracy did not want the Mustache. While you were away the famous detective celebrated his 75th anniversary on the police Force. During those years  had never had a new suit and when chief Patton started inquiring about an appropriate gift Tracy said  would appreciate some new threads. Naturally the police budget would t stand the financial Burden so Patton bought major Hoople s Fez at a Flea Market and Tess sewed the Tassel into a Mustache. The Federal government is furious about the whole thing and senator Proxmire wants to know Why the police department is squandering Money on synthetic mus taches at a time when the City is trying to cadge Federal funds to meet its obligations to diet Smith. Dear or. Omniscient i see where Ramses ii the Well known Mummy has had his fungus infection cured by doctors in Paris and has been sent Back to Egypt with a clean Bill of health. What kind of society is this that can cure fungus in a 3,000-year-old Mummy but can t even cure the common cold i signed disgusted. Dear disgusted the answer to your question is quite simple. The Mummy did t have the common cold. H had fungus. If it had been suffering from a cold How do you know society could t have cured it Vintage mummies May not be As resistant to cures As you  my reply seems Curt it is because your phrasing of this query shows a pro found ignorance of the Roper Way to ask disgusted questions. The Only approve form for asking questions of this variety is As follows How come a country that can go to the Moon can t even cure the common cold there Are millions of variations. How come a country that can go to the Moon can t even keep the streets clean for example. Or How come a country that can go to the Moon can t even get the mail Cross town in less than three Days Al  answer to All these questions is that there is absolutely no correlation Between skills required to go to the Moon and those required to clean streets or deliver mail just As there is none Between the skills required to cure a Mummy s fungus and you Runny nose. If All or. Omniscient s correspondents asked questions As dumb As yours the March of knowledge would soon become a sore Limp. Signed or. Omniscient in York Timas Charity contributions hit $29.4 billion in 76 Washington up americans contributed a record $29.4 billion to Charity last year an increase of 9.4 per cent Over 1975 and for the first time in three years donations exceeded the Rise of inflation. The commission on private philanthropy and Public needs said however that More is necessary to allow charities to maintain their  its 1975 report to the Treasury department the commission said charitable contributions must grow at an annual rate of u per cent in order to keep up with Esca lating  total of $12.8 billion. 43.6 per cent of All the Money donated in 1976. Went to churches or other religious organizations an in crease of 9.9 per cent Over 1 975. 78-hour Frisbee record claimed by Pasadena pair Pasadena. Calif. Up a new mar athon Frisbee record has been claimed by Jeff Doney 24, and Dave Quinn 19, who threw the disc Back and Forth for 78 hours and two  record was 77 hours set last year in Corpus Christi Tex. Letters to the editor Cost of High school education i recently read an interesting article in the stars and stripes regarding tuition costs in Public  cannot understand the logic behind the Dod charging me $1,863 per year to pot my son through High school just because i elected to remain overseas after i retired instead of immediately returning to the ., where schooling is free whereas the Public College tuition rates in the  Remain Between $600 and $900. Why it costs More to Send a person to High school than to College is certainly beyond my comprehension. Robert e. Flora Hahn Germany editor s note Anthony Cardinal director. Department of defense office of dependent schools Alexandria va., re plies in schools operated worldwide by the Dod a common tuition rate for each school year is established subject to change upon a midyear review at operational costs. Announcement of tuition rate for school year 1976-1877, along with a statement that these rates were subject to revision is contained in a circular issued by the european school Region Dod Doeur circular 3u--1, dated aug. 1, b76. This circular was distributed to All dependents schools in Europe As a guide for enrolment tuition paying students. The procedure used for such retroactive adjustment and collection of tuition during the school year is an acceptable practice which was adopted As an interim measure Rise in tuition a recent practice of Dodd eur could have far reaching implications for non Dod persons in  Days prior to the beginning of term four received a Bill from the elementary school where my children Are enrolled. The Bill explained an increase in tuition for non Dod children which brings the annual tuition rate to j1.835 per child. An addition Al note stated that Dodd eur had decided to increase tuition for the current term a retroactive increase. Non Dod parents Are required to pay tuition in Advance. Therefore i have a receipt for the current term tuition indicating it was paid As re  imposing a retroactive tuition in crease Dodd eur is initiating a danger Ous precedent. Should bookkeeping reviews show they were unable to manage the affairs of the schools within their budget Dodd eur May decide to in crease tuition retroactively for terms one and  Parent who questions the legality of such a practice has but two alternatives since there was no Advance warning of the pending tuition increase 1. Pay the retroactive increase. 2. Take the child out of school.1 have never received a Bill for in creased costs on an item or service for which i had paid the original Cost in full. If my Utility company tried to make a rate in crease retroactive and threatened to Dis continue service until the increase was paid i would strongly suspect extortion on their part.1 realize that Dod american schools Are primarily for Dod personnel and that the addition of non Dod children increases the Cost of providing educational services. However my tax dollars also support the Dod and the 11.83$ per child tuition does seem unusually High when compared to Many prominent private schools in the states. A graduate student taking a full time course Load in the program where i teach will pay less tuition for an academic year than my third Grade child is required to pay. Dob Belcher Hahn Germany to inure compliance with general accounting office direction that All school operations costs be recovered. However the midyear adjustment procedure has been under review in this office for some time. Recently it was decided to establish single rate for the 1977-1978 school year. Any variances from costs incurred will be made to the new rates established for the following year. If this procedure proves successful it will be permanently adopted. The $1,835 Dod tuition charged per child for the 1978-1977 school year compares favourably with the rates charged by prompt nent private schools in the states for school year 1975-1976. Tuition costs in such slate Side schools Range upward from $2,000.specific examples for the 1975-1978 school year follow St. Albans school washing ton d.c., $2,600 Choate school Walling Ford. Conn., $3,000 Home Ness school Home Ness. N h., $2,400 Horace Mann Barnard elementary school Bronx n.y., $2,600 and Woodcock country Day school & Woodstock vt., $2,400.statistical Cost surveys conducted by the National Center for educational statistics reveal that the per Pupil expenditure for Dod dependent school runs slightly Les than for private schools of comparable size prove Dengg similar educational services. Education costs in grades kindergarten through 12 Bear Little if any relation to those in Post High school programs. There fore any comparison is  Congress authorized schools to be established in Oversea areas it was in tended that they be used for the sole Pur pose of educating dependents of military army civilian employees of the Dod who by reason of their employment Are As signed duties in foreign areas. The Federal government does not now nor has it Ever operated a system of free schools Tor the general tax Maytag Public. When  Citi Zens Are employed la other than Dod sponsored activities supported from Federal appropriations their dependents Are ineligible to attend Dod schools on other than a tuition paying basis. This includes retired military personnel taxpayers living la the  Are also assessed. In addition to the Federal income taxes they pay a tax on the land and Homes they own or rent. Uniformed Mem Bers of the Dod living on the Economy in the  Also pay such taxes. This is the primary source of Revenue used to support the construction operation and maintenance of  Public schools. Thus u one does in a Community in the .,  would be entitled to enrol his dependents in a Public school there free of charge because the real property taxes support the schools. He would be free to enrol his de Pendents in another school District in an Ajol Nung state Community but be would be obligated to pay the tuition rate charged by that District. The same conditions hold True for retired personnel. The person is no longer a member of the Active duty Mili tary Community. As such  is an out of District resident and by Choice be elected to enrol his dependents in a school District other than that designated us his official residence.. Public school districts compute Tui Tion rates for out of District students by dividing operating costs by the number of students served. This computation yield tag a per Pupil Cost which forms the Basil for the tuition charge. Is the same method employed by the office of dependent schools. This average rate b applied indiscriminately throughout us entire world wide  reminder All utter to the editor must contain full name and address of the writer and must be signed. Unsigned letters will not be considered for publication