European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 1, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 12 the stars and stripes Friday september 1, 1978 James j. Kilpatrick another imposition by Federal bureaucracy one of the most depressing aspects of our supposedly free society is the government s itch to regulate the lives of peo ple. A companion aspect equally de pressing is the people s willingness to have the government regulate their lives. The pending pop gum and Candy decree provides a Case in Point. Back in april the food and nutrition service of the department of agriculture put Forth a proposal having to do with the Sale of foods in Competition with lunches sold under the National school lunch pro Gram. The Rule would prohibit the Sale of soda water Frozen deserts Candy and chewing gum on school premises until after the last lunch  Tucker Foreman assistant Secre tary for food and consumer services Justi fied the proposed Rule in this fashion Many parents nutritionists school administrators teachers and physicians have be come increasingly concerned about competitive foods in the Public schools. They believe the Sale of these snacks May con tribute substantially to increased plate waste reduced participation in the pro Gram and a general decline in the con sumption of nutritious foods. Mrs. Foreman emphasized that her department did not intend to be unreason Able. We Are aware she said that Many nutritious items Are sold in the schools including fruits soups and ice Cream. These could still be sold at any time. The intent is to prohibit the Sale of Only those foods that do not make a positive nutritional contribution in terms of their Overall Impact on children s diets dietary habits and  that basis mrs. Foreman proposed to crack Down on sales of soda pop Chew ing gum sherbets ices and an array of candies including but not limited to hard candies creams Jelly and gum like can Dies marshmallows nougat fudges. The department advertised the proposed regulation on april 25. And at first set june 9 As the deadline for comments. The idea was to get the Rule into operation by aug. 1, so that it would apply to the entire school year. But so Many comments came pour ing in that the deadline was extended to june 28. When they finally called a halt 2, 176 letters had stacked  week the school programs Divi Sion completed an analysis of the com ments. The melancholy fact melancholy to me anyhow is that 82 percent of the letter writers approved the proposed regu lation. Roy Wilkins that is not All. Of the nearly 1,800 approving letters roughly half asked that the regulation be amended to make it stronger Many persons wanted competitive foods banned entirely. Others wanted the list of prohibited items expanded. On the opposing Side not even 10 percent pro tested the regulation As an unnecessary intrusion upon the responsibility of parents and school  a few school superintendents objected that mrs. Foreman s Rule would serve Only to drive the children across the Street to buy pop and chewing gum. This was the View of High school principals in Clark county Nevada. They be been doing Well Selling the Type a government lunch with negligible plate waste and substantial Freedom for the kids to buy competing snack foods if they want to. The Nevada principals saw the proposed regulation As an arbitrary decision that would have regressive  this was a distinctly minority voice. The nevadans were drowned out by a Cho rus demanding not less regulation but More. Heartened by the response mrs. Foreman s outfit expects to Issue a Regula Tion next month that could become effective in the Middle of the coming school  Don t intend to jump up and Down go into convulsions or have the purple conniption fits. But the impending Rule is one More Little imposition by the Federal bureaucracy upon an area that ought to be left to individual localities and to individual families. Local school systems Are perfectly capable of writing their own rules and regulations on the Sale of food. Parents can Lay Down the Law to their children on the consumption of Money gooey Woody bars. Why do we need a Federal decree the answer is that we Don t need a Feder Al decree but we Are about to get one any How. And another and another and another unto the end of time. C Washington Star Syndicate i the participants will  1creta pay. Is will be  in a pec1schep,the Theba were will be mixed with5tmw and burned anpthepcprswillthembeun1pckep, the inability to Deal with minority despair this was the summer Many feared would be Long hot and marked by rioting and Large scale violence. The signs were posted High unemployment massive poverty discrimination in housing Opportunity dissatisfaction with government Aid programs Urban deficits cuts in welfare and a conservative supreme  while not an explosive summer of the kind that rocked the nation in the 1960s, it definitely was a  the nation racial tensions Are High and Are causing sleepless nights for political  Thomas Bradley of los Angeles recently said there Are serious prob lems in his City Between the police and racial  believe it is the kind of situation which existed in 1965. That could Hap pen again the mayor  is no Radical or extremist he is not Given to making wild statements that grab headlines. He is a reasonable and moderate Man who was elected by Black and White voters. However he and the mayors of Oakland calif., Seattle wash., and Gary ind., told of serious racial ten Sions in their cities at the National Urban league s recent convention. In Watts and other Urban ghettos the unemployment rate is As High As it was in 1965, and is particularly acute among electric Bill \ Black teen agers. Thousands of minority youths Are dropping out falling or being pushed out of classes each year in City school systems. Many of these youngsters Are illiterate and unemployed. Black and hispanic parents Are angry and Despon Dent at seeing their children destroyed. The Public recently was shocked by a film of Philadelphia police stomping and kicking a Black Man arrested in the after math of a police raid of a barricaded House of self styled radicals. Thousands of Phila Delphi ans recently marched to City Hall to protest acts of police brutality and a fed eral investigation is now under Way. Increasingly Federal investigations of alleged police misconduct Are being called for by Blacks and hispanics because they have despaired of local authorities capacity or willingness to Deal with an outbreak of violent attacks on Blacks. In Brooklyn a Black civic Leader was arrested and died of strangulation while in police custody. There have been senseless vicious beatings of Blacks by Whites on Brooklyn streets. Mayor de Koch is considering calling for an investigation of these incidents by the . Department of Justice to determine whether . Civil rights Laws have been violated. Politicians openly confess they do not have any answers to the problem. New biracial commissions have been formed to investigate and report. Mayor Bradley is worried that All the Progress that has been made in the training and sensitizing of police to racial problems will come to naught if improvement of Urban conditions does t happen soon. With every outbreak of racially inspired violence or prediction of civil disorder negro leaders keep going Back and Point ing to the Kerner commission report also known As the president s National advis Ory commission on civil disorders. That report was issued in March 1968, and while it had no new facts it did offers some bold interpretations and challenges we should reread that document every time there is uncertainty about the causes of racial animosity or about the strategy for change. In this connection the present trend to Ward a crackdown with More deadly police weapons death penalty Laws and lengthen ing of prison terms is definitely not the Way to peace in our cities. C the Register and Tribune Syndicate