European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 17, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday october 17, 1977 the stars and stripes Page 11 letters of the editor overpaid outpost pair say no this letter was prompted by recent Arti if we want a decent color in our rooms cles in various military oriented new spa we have to buy our own paint and due to pers and magazines relating to How we Are the inconvenient hours we must buy our being overpaid. Our base pay is $510 before taxes and$415 after taxes. Even with our wonderful benefits to get this pay we must work a least 12 hours a Day for at least five Days a week and pull an average of two 24-hour cd duties each month and two 24-hour someone is trying to say that we re getting guard duties usually one of which is on a overpaid for what we go through vow u i � for the hours we work and the mental we have platoon troop and Squadron sex hassles and physical abuse we have to put erases two times each a year. We go to up with $1,000 a month would be More suit Graf for about 20 consecutive Days no own food when on cd duty. Also we re occasionally blackmailed with the threat of weekend duty into buying . Now minus All that is mentioned above we Clear $353 As a monthly wage. And Days off and to Wil Flecken three times year for an average of seven to 10 Days each time again no Days off we command the Border outposts four times a year and get no Days off during this three week duty. We suffer through four mini agis annually each requiring from eight to 10 Days preparation. We also have to hassle with a regimental Alert once a month each lasting from one to three Days in addition to other obligations such As supporting other units on Field manbevers. Now where does our $415 go Well Tell you. On the average we buy one pair of fatigues per month and two pairs of boots Peryear have a cleaning of $20 monthly for fatigues and spend approximately $15 each month on Boot polish cleaning equipment Etc. Able. Would you do what we do for $353 month sgt. Dale w. Tillman sgt. Terence l. Horsley bad Hersfeldt Germany wants go pen pal i would like to be a pen pal to an american Serviceman. I m an English girl from London 20 years old and work ing in Belgium As a children s Nanny. During my six months Here i have Nad no need to speak French or flemish since the family i work for Speaks fluent English. This makes it difficult when i go out so i would like to communicate with people who speak the same language. We live out in the country and there Are no other English speaking people. I know where the shape base at Casteau is so if it s possible to write to someone from there maybe i can get to meet some people who speak the same Lan Guage. My hobbies Are swimming and judo. I also love to watch football As my brother plays for an English football team. I enjoy most sports and love soul music and dancing. June Lindsell Bosveld 2990wespelaar, Belguim Art Buchwald Washington the Tim kens sen their child Laura off to College with a Check for $7,000 in tuition and thought that was the end of it. But soon after they received a letter from the Dean of  Are Happy to announce that we have instituted a remedial Reading class for College freshmen and strongly advise that your daughter Laura participate in  she does to it is our opinion that Laura will not be Able to keep up with her  Cost will be $250." Timken read the letter. I though Laura could read he said to his wife. So did 1.1 think the problem is she can read but she has no comprehension of what she  did they teach her in Public school and High school i have no idea but if the College says column Sand comments she needs remedial Reading we better see that she gets it or $7,000 will go Down the  few Days later they got another letter from the  English department has brought to our attention the fact that your daughter Laura cannot write. They have recommended that she enrol in the remedial writing class which we started two years ago when we discovered this was common problem for most College Stu dents. If you agree that Laura should get this special help please Send a Check for $250."Timken was now very angry. How did she get in College if she can write mrs. Timken was much More sanguine about it. Laura can write. She just can t write Complete sentences " she went to school for 12 years and she can t write a sentence Don t your remember they were much More interested in Laura s thought than they were in How she put them  teacher s main concern was with expanding her  that s Hogwash Timken said. The made an illiterate out of my  i believe that s a bit Strong. Laura graduated with honors in analytical consciousness raising but she can t  m sure the collage can help her learn to write. After All it is an institution of higher  so now we have to pay $250 for some thing they should have taught her in Gram mar school Don t you remember when we went to the Pat meeting years ago and the Princi pal said it was the school s responsibility to make Good citizens out of the students and the parents responsibility to teach the children How to read and write Carlton we re the ones who  Timken sent in the Check and was no surprised to find another letter waiting for him a week  read it has come to our attention that no one in the freshman class can add multiply subtract or Divide simple sums. We feel it is urgent that this deficiency be corrected Early in a student s College career. Therefore we Are setting up a Spe Cial remedial arithmetic course. The fee will be $250. If you do not want your Daugh Ter to take this course we cannot guarantee she will  again Timken went through the ceiling. I thought Laura got a s in math i High  mrs. Timken said that was conceptional math. Her courses had to do with the advanced integration of numbers. Whenever could add or subtract them. Don t you recall when you complained once about it and Laura s teacher told you she can always learn to add and subtract when she gets to College " c los Angeles times end of mandatory retirement Congress has dispatched the principle of mandatory retirement based upon age. The August Senate Many of whose Mem Bers Are beyond the autumn of their lives in deliberation spoke of the dignity Ofman and the right to  who can Iveigh against those senti ments must we not Admire the congressional courage and compassion which has touched our oldsters nearly All of whom vote and comprise about 25 per cent of the population the intractable ills of our elderly Are no resolved by the end of mandatory retire ment and in fairness i must say that Noone makes this claim. However this particular remedy selected to alleviate the problems of our senior citizens does Impact upon other governmental and societal dilemmas. The continuance of the elderly on the employment Rolls will Stem depletion of the almost bankrupt social Security cof fers. The dire financial plight of the social Security is not secret and recent and unrelated House action intended to infuse fresh influx of funds into the social Security system by encompassing state and fed eral government employees attests to that. If the Cost of compassion for our elderly is ripping off civil servants the Price is not too great and besides it will save face for 9 added value tax a writer of a recent letter although meaning Well May have confused the Issue of the 11 per cent added value tax Relief procedures. The letter contained three major errors 1 while participation in this program by German vendors is at their discretion customers must obtain approval from the Vendor before initiating any action to seethe added value tax Relief. Therefore the merchant s approval is mandatory.2 the certified Check obtained by the customer and made out to the Community morale support fund a mss is for the net amount not the Gross amount of the Purchase. 3 finally the customer must return Thelong copy of the Purchase order to the a mss but not the last copy of the a Wick lung Schein German tax Relief  ment. All three copies Are retained by the merchant. Glen Robb Heidelberg Germany cigarette Price critic although the stars and stripes is to be congratulated on its excellent articles on smoking one cannot help but wonder just How committed the armed forces is to wards reducing this obvious health Hazard when commissaries continue to dispense cigarettes at discount  offering cigarettes at a Price that comes to Well under a Penny each commissaries Are removing one of the most powerful anti smoking  a matter of fact it might be of inter est to know just How Many smokers have delayed any attempt to quit smoking until their return to the United states and higher cigarette prices. Likewise the Low Price of cigarettes cannot help but encourage military de Pendents to take their first step towards a addiction which is As Bob Hoyer so aptly describes it extremely difficult to  m not advocating that smoking be banned or that commissaries Stop Selling tobacco products but i am suggesting that those who want to endanger their own health should pay dearly to do so. Richard c. Strickland High Wycombe England a bumbling  of compulsory retirement will extend the productive life of the in dispensable old timers As Well As Check ing the Drain on the social Security system. It will also result in higher health an worker s compensation costs for businesses. Ultimately it May result in the supreme court ruling that the senile May not be discharged because they Are Handi capped workers. The most significant Impact of this legis lation strikes our youth. We live in an Era where unemployment flirts with double digits. We live in a time where 20 per cent of America under 24 Are jobless and 42 percent of the Young Black americans Are without  is in this Day that Congress congratulates itself and counts the votes of the senior citizens. It is in this Day that con Gress is at once compassionate in the eyes of the elderly and criminal in the eyes of the Young. Paul Dorgan Frankfurt Germany looking for pen pals i m looking for a pen pal. I m 32-years Young and 5-foot-8 with frosted Brown hair and Green eyes. I enjoy life and people who love living. Please address letters to Mary m. Jones 8640manchester, Apt. #31 Buena Park Calif. 90621 reminder All letters to the editor must con Tain full printed name and address of the writer and must be signed. Unsigned letters will not be considered for publication. Writers Are encouraged to include phone number and Economy address especially if they desire a fast reply. Because of the Large volume of mail this column receives daily letters that Are Brief and to the Point have a much better Chance of being published. And tripes european edition col. Billy e. Spangler Usa editor in chief it. Col. J. C. Taylor Usan. Deputy editor in chief Mert Proctor managing editor Elmer d. Frank production manager Henry s. Epstein circulation manager this newspaper is an authorized unofficial publication for . Armed forces overseas. The stars and stripes is published in conjunction with the armed forces information program of the department of defense. Contents of the stars and stripes Are not necessarily the official View of the . Government the department of defense or the . European command. The appearance of displays in this newspaper concerning commercial publications does not constitute an endorsement by the department of de sense including the military departments. Military address the stars and stripes Apo 09175. 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