European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 01, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday october 1, 1977 the stars and stripes Page 11 Dod in on bottle Container experiments fuss Over return cables continues by Randolph e. Schmid Washington a ninety nine bottles of Beer in the ditch. Ninety nine bottles of Beer. But put Money Down and you la turn it around. There la Only be 18 bottles of Beer in the ditch. Eighteen bottles of Beer. That at least is the Hope of environmentalists hoping for a Law to require deposits on All beverage containers in an Effort to keep the cans and bottles in use and off the  of the nation s Brewers soft drink makers and can and bottle manufacturers Are opposing the Effort. Oregon led the Way five years ago an serves As the test Case in the struggle but both sides can produce statistics which they say prove their Point. Since the Oregon Law was passed most bottle Bills calling for mandatory de posits have been Defeated except in ver Russell Baker new York not it is very hard not to be corrupt. It May even be eccentric. I speak from lifelong experience at avoid ing corruption. It has been difficult. It has earned me Little but the curious stares of my fellow americans and the insolence of bureaucrats. Sometimes i wonder if it has been Worth it. Whenever i veer toward melancholy at the thought of All the corrupt opportunities lost however i am cheered by evidence that sooner or later corruption conies Back to haunt those who Wallow in it. Lately for example the press has been vigorously exposing All the government people and businessmen who have been using government and company planes for private travel without paying the fare out of pocket. There but for my incorruptible principles go i i often say As these corrupt wretches Are kicked out of government jobs abused by the press denounced by stockholders terrorized by the internal Revenue service and hounded into psychic breakdown for i still remember the humiliating scene some years ago when i accepted a ride on a company plane and insisted on paying my fare. I had been stranded at a vacation spa on a Holiday weekend with All the airlines booked for the next three Days when a tycoon saw me sleeping in a plastic Airport chair for which i had insisted incidentally on paying rent. The Airport manager had urged me to forget it and had to be re minded that he was running a Public air port sustained by the taxpayers and not a the ? european edition col. Billy e. Spangle Rusa. Editor in chief it cot. J. C. Taylor. Usan. Deputy editor in chief Mert Proctor. Managing editor Elmer d. Frank. Production manager Henry s. Epstein. 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Turkey Istanbul Civ 664372. United kingdom Greenham common Civ 44768, military 46263 ext. 209. Free flophouse for people too improvident to Book their flights before the Holiday Rush. In any event the kindly tycoon invited me to ride his company plane Back to civilization with him and i accepted Only to discover at the end of the flight that he was corrupt. What is this he asked when we had arrived and i handed him $50 in Cash. I am paying the Standard airline fare for the flight i explained. Forget it he said. I refused. It would be corrupt i said. Go away he said. I have High Hopes of some Day becom ing an officer in the president s Cabinet i explained. If i accept a free ride in a Pri vate company plane i shall have to refuse the appointment on account of having once been  give me the 50 Bucks he said and lots of Luck but Don t count on  i gave him the $50. He walked away. I pursued him. You owe me $5.43 change i said. The airline fare for this flight is Only $44.57."he said he did t have $5.43 in change. He had Only $5. Why did t he just keep the 43 cents i walked. Once the investigative reporters broke the Story i pointed out it would look As if i had bribed him. He was glad to see the Back of me. People usually Are. They All talk about hating corruption but when you try to avoid being corrupted they treat you like a half wit. Let me know what president you re planning to serve in the Cabinet with so i can make a Large contribution to his opponent said the tycoon. He probably did too because not a single president since then has offered me a Cabinet Post despite the fast that i May be the Only person of Cabinet stature in the country who has never yielded to a corrupt  through school i never cheated once and whenever i saw people who were cheating i turned them in to the teacher. Afterwards they would beat me up in the schoolyard and throw dead cats through our living room window which annoyed my  you rather have a dead cat on the parlor Rug or a son doomed to exposure in later life As a Cabinet member who had once condoned cheating in the Public school system i demanded. My parents spoke to a local politician about trading their votes in Exchange for some free therapy for me in a county institution. When i Learned of their corrupt scheme to gain political favouritism at the taxpayers expense i went to the local newspaper to expose them but the report ers were All too Busy padding their expense accounts to heed an incorruptible 10-year old and when my parents heard of it they sent me to my room and threw dead cats Over the  has been a Long time ago but it is typical of what life has been Ever since. A times i have despaired. Often it seemed that my dream of Cabinet service would never be fulfilled. Lately however Hope Burns anew thanks to the passion wit which americans Are now pressing the Hunt for uncorrupted citizens. After All aside from me who else is left Mont South Dakota Michigan and a few local jurisdictions. Michigan s Law take effect in late 1978. Among the measures being held up is a National bottle Bill promoted by sen. Mark Hatfield a Ore. The measure was recently rejected 10-6 in committee but Hatfield reportedly is considering submitting the proposal to the full Senate. In the meantime All government Agen cies responding to earlier legislation Are scheduled to report late this month on plans to limit beverage sales on Federal property to returnable  a head Start was the National Park service which instituted a returnable Only policy this summer at most of its  details of the project have not been compiled but a spokeswoman said that aside from a few minor problems it seemed to work Well and resulted in a reduction of litter. The defense department got into the act Early and is in the midst of a year Long trial of returnable Only at 10 military  spokesman said there had been some initial problems in starting the test but no major difficulties have been reported. Meanwhile the Battle Between Environ mentalists and manufacturers continues with both sides claiming their plan is the Energy Saver. Albert Barr of the Glass manufacturers Institute noting that refillable bottles Are heavier and require More Energy and materials to make said they must be. Turned seven or eight times before they constitute an Energy savings Over the lighter throwaway bottles. Barr said no definite figures on returns Are available nationwide commenting that return rates vary from City to City. In new York for example nearly everything is thrown away while in Chicago the majority of bottles is  said that his most recent report from Oregon indicates that bottles Are being re turned an average of about 10 times each. That rate saves Energy in comparison to throwaways but he said that before Ore gon s Law was passed the return rate was 22 times per bottle. By contrast environmentalists Are Esti mating Between 14 and 18 returns per bottle in Oregon and a state spokeswoman said the latest figures available there Indi Cate Between 18 to 20 returns per bottle. Both returnable and throwaway contain ers Are available in most of the country and sales figures show some contrasts in consumer preference. For example in new York City return Bles make up less than one per cent of the sales while in Chicago they account for 70 per cent. While the Lack of firm figures for returns on bottles or trip Page has generated considerable debate semantics themselves have led to much of the conflict. The opponents of the Bills refer in most of their literature to refillable contain ers. But the environmental Protection Agency a promoter of a bottle Bill refers instead to returnable containers. The difference is not noticeable to the consumer but the refillable Container is sent Back to the bottler after it is returned to be cleaned and filled for another  non refillable goes to a recycling Center where it is ground up and its Glass or steel or aluminium is put to another use. Under the proposed bottle Laws both refillable and non refillable containers would be allowed but the Deposit would encourage Consumers to return both instead of throwing away the  manufacturers have paid Little at Tention to this difference while Environ mentalists emphasize it As a Means of saving and reusing  Brewers however have confronted this Issue making their main emphasis re source recovery. They have been pushing for recycling of All trash and suggest that using Only returnable containers would remove much of the economic stimulus from recycling general trash. Jobs too have been a Bone of Contention with dire warnings of lost employment from manufacturers who fear the shut Down of can and bottle plants if Large num Bers of refillable containers come into use. But both sides admit that in Oregon there was a net gain in employment with new jobs in recycling and collection out numbering those lost in Container manufacturing. Letter so the editor follow up on hiring practices i recently had a letter to the editor published in which i asked certain questions concerning the department of defense hiring practices in Germany. My letter was answered by Patrick Busch of the staffing and services Branch in usar eur. Because my question was not phrased As specifically As it should have been and be cause 1 have since discovered some More facts in the matter i would like to Reph Rase it and add another  or. Busch has personally fur ther explained the situation to me i feel that there Are readers who would also be interested in the answers , Why is a . National who has the residency and work permits required by Germany not eligible to apply for Dod employment in other than non funded activities furthermore does this ineligibility no conflict with Federal Laws barring employ ment discrimination based on National origin Robert Lantz Ingelheim Germany editor s note Patrick j. Busch o the civilian personnel division l Sar eur replies a . National who has the residence and work permits required by Germany would have to be hired under the same conditions As a German employee pay scale. An american statute known As the classification act requires that american citizens employed by the . Government and paid from appropriated funds be classified and paid As provided in the classification act. Usa eur has always considered that the requirements of the classification act just described prevent employment of . Nationals in appropriated fund positions under conditions applied to German nationals. " Usa eur s interpretation of the effect of the classification act is presently under review at the department of de sense level. Until such time As Usa eur is directed to change the above employment policy Ordinary residents May Only be hired in non appropriated fund