European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 7, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday september 7, 1978 times Square to get $172 million hotel the stars and stripes Page 11 . In midst of building Boom by Jerry Schwartz new York a new York seen for years As the sick Man of cities is in the midst of a construction Boom that will see a $172 million hotel Rise from the tawdry Ness of times Square and office buildings put up by two of the nation s wealthiest corporations. Some $1 billion in construction is scheduled in the City s five Borroughs District including hotels and office and Industrial buildings. The construction some underway some Only scheduled is seen As the result of an improving Economy for new York and an improving image and a tax incentive plan that has granted Abate ments on construction Worth More than $500 million in the past 18 months. Whatever the reason the construction is a Complete turnaround from the Middle years of the decade. Then the world Trade Center with its twin 110-Story towers was seen As a White elephant. Now it is almost completely rented and the glut in office space in general has disappeared. Then too construction work was so dead that bricklayers voted to take a pay Cut to avoid layoffs. We had an average of about 50 percent unemployed said Earl Fullilove of the building trades employ ers association " that effected everything from 90 percent unemployment for Brick layers and Stone cutters to 10 percent for  Fullilove said the Industry s unemployment is still some 30 percent but he expects it to improve As buildings now planned gel under Way. The most spectacular project is the $172 million 2,000-room Portman hotel to be built in the blighted times Square area where the theater District is located. Other hotels include a $41-million venture on East 42nd Street a 22-Story Hilton International hotel near the world Trade Center and the 1,050-room, $75-million Palace hotel behind St. Patricks Cathedral on Madison Avenue. A new Holiday inn is planned and Hilton has dusted off an old plan to add to the new York Hilton to make it the world s largest hotel. Meanwhile the old Commodore hotel next to grand Central terminal is getting a $90-million face lift and Dunfey hotel corp. Is spending $16.6 million to refurbish the hotel Berkshire on East 52nd Street. A $300-million convention Center pro posed but nowhere near the construction phase could set off a wave of More hotel construction. Hotels Are not the Only new buildings in Manhattan of course. Citicorp Parent company of Citibank the nation s second largest Bank recently opened a new head quarters building on the East Side. Nearby ism is building a 43-Story, $80 million office Tower and at and to plans a 37-Story, $110-million building. The at and to building is the creation of architect Philip Johnson and has been described As the most innovative skyscraper designed in years. In assessing the building Boom in new York ism president John r. Opel said new York is one of the world s most important centers of Commerce and Industry. It s a great place to do  researchers link excess of hormone of diabetes Dallas up two Dallas medical researchers report they have discovered one of the major causes of diabetes to be an excessive amount of the hormone glucagon in the body. European edition col. Billy , Usa editor in chief it col. . Taylor Usan Deputy editor in chief Mert Proctor managing editor Elmer d. Frank production manager henrys. 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. International mail the stars and stripes Postrach 11 10 34, d-6100 Darmstadt 11, Germany. Tel Griesheim cd prefix 06155 811 m Darmstadt Airstrip prefix 2376 741, telex 0419-332. New York office room 948, 201 Varick St., new York 10014, Tel area code 212 620-3333. Second class postage paid at new York n. Y. News bureaus Bremerhaven Germany Dan Synovec building 103, Carl Schurz Cavern Bremerhaven military 6659 or Bremerhaven Civ 0471 88782 Kaiserslautern Germany Floyd Harrington building 2897, Pulaski Barracks Vogel Weh military 6050 or Kaiserslautern Civ 0631 52104 Nuernberg Germany John Savard building 21, William 0. Darby Cavern Nuernberg military 7256 or Nuernberg Civ 712563 Stuttgart Germany de Hill bldg. 4330, Mcgee Barracks Stuttgart military 700.1 or Stuttgart Civ 541513 ., Gary Harris Raf Mildenhall co  Sports office Apo 09127, Mildenhall 712511 ext. 2231 or civilian Mildenhall 713882, telex 81652 Washington d.c., John Hart Oast a the Pentagon room 2e756, Washington 20301, Tel. 202 697-6695. Circulation offices Germany Berlin civilian 8331846, Mil 6187 Bremer Haven. Civ 85168, Mil 8119 Frankfurt Civ 692050 Kaiserslautern. Civ 57617, Mil Vogel Weh 6050 Munich Civ 6901503 or 6901504, Mil 6556 Nuernberg Civ 712558, Mil 7256 a Gran German Region Rhein main Mil 7103 or 6025 Stutt Gart Civ 814596, Mil 6030. Greece Athens Civ 9923390 and telex 216892. Italy Vincenza Civ 559346. Spain Madrid Civ 2057546 or Torrejon air base Mil 7546. Turkey Stan dui Civ 664372. United kingdom Greenham common Civ 44768, military 46263 ext. 209. The findings of drs. Roger Unger and Philip Raskin of the University of Texas southwestern medical school and the vet Erans administration Hospital in Dallas Are contained in the current Issue of the new England journal of Medicine. Their Contention that the presence of an excessive amount of glucagon in the body is a Factor in diabetes just As is the Lack of insulin could have far reaching implications in the treatment of 1 million sufferers of the most severe Type of the disease juvenile diabetes. Unger and Raskin found the metabolic problems in diabetes not Only were caused by insufficient amounts of insulin which suppresses glucose sugar in the body but also by the production of too much glucagon. Glucagon which is secreted by the pancreas normally stimulates the liver to pro  glucose in times of fasting or extreme physical stress. But in the diabetic Unger discovered that a constant High level of the hormone produced even higher Levels of blood sugar. Some medical experts disagreed with that finding. They conceded that every Dia Betic had High Levels of glucagon but Many disagreed on the abnormality s importance in diabetes treatment. It was kind of like attacking Mother Hood to say something other than insulin was involved in diabetes Unger said. The Magazine reports that the two tors using four patients with juvenile Dia betes in their Experiment found that by giving the subjects Soma Tostain a brain hormone known to suppress glucagon lev Els the Levels of blood sugar dropped. But when the researchers began replacing glucagon the blood sugar Levels Rose accordingly. Unger cautions that the treatment is still in the experimental stage and More stud ies involving More people will be required. Albert a. Formicola of the City s hotel association said of the improved Trade businesses Are finally realizing that new York has not gone Down the Hudson that it is still a Good place to come to and do  the City has 100,000 hotel rooms. Last year they served 17 million visitors who spent $1.6 billion. This year Formicola said business is about 5 percent above 1969, the Industry s Best year. Europeans attracted by the devalued Dollar account for much of the increase. Visitors Are still discouraged of course by new York s reputation for crime and filth. But Formicola and others also noted that new York has become a nicer place to live and visit in recent years with Street fairs and performers and More cultural attractions than Ever. Its Heaters Are having an excellent year. Roman Ferber head of the City s tax abatement program said his office has been pushing the City s strengths and serv ices to lure new buildings and Industry. Since it began in february 1977, Ferber s office has granted tax abatement for 145 projects costing More than .$546 Mil lion. Ferber estimates these will bring 23. 819 new jobs to the City and almost $172 million in tax revenues. The program freezes property taxes for up to three years during construction. Then 50 percent of the assessed value of construction is exempted from property taxes in the first year after completion the abatement is decreased by 5 percent each year for 10 years. Incentives Are even greater for fixing up existing buildings Ferber said the incentives Are crucial. The Cost of construction in this City is totally atrocious and if not for the tax abatement they  build  he said. Leffer Sto the editor is this proper use of toy funds the Usa eur army continuing Edu cation system aces is conducting a workshop this week in Berchtesgaden. Personnel from the various de centers who Are attending were advised that if they wished to remain after sept. 10, they would have to make their own arrange ments. However he Usa eur aces div had reserved 50 spaces for sept. 2, 3, and 4 for those who arrive  Why was it necessary for the depart ment of the army to pay for individuals to stay in Berchtesgaden on saturday and sunday for a conference which began at 9 . On a tuesday is this proper use of toy funds even if the army did t pay for the two extra Days it did t seem fair for aces to use an official conference As an excuse for tying up 50 rooms during the last three Day weekend of the summer a time when the demand for recreational facilities was at a Premium. Why were they permitted to do this name withheld Aschaffenbur Germany editor s note Richard s. Kneisel Usa eur director of army continuing education services aces replies we Are Happy to reply to the writer s inquiry. It is Correct that he Usa eur aces div is holding its by annual work shop this week with 400 participants from around the world and from sister services As Well As various governmental agencies. Participants travelled some from the states and the Middle East Over the labor Day weekend and arrived at various times depending on available transportation in the two Day period preceding the conference. Additionally a number of the. Work shop directing staff were in Berchtesgaden working Over the Holiday weekend preparing for the workshop and registering participants. These two groups utilized the bulk of the fifty Beds currently reserved for the weekend period. Some aces participants May have combined the requirement to travel Over the Holiday week with family recreation in the Berchtesgaden area. In no Case were participants other than the workshop staff who Are actually working in Berchtesgaden authorized to draw per diem for the period preceding the workshop. In fact no per diem is allowable during the actual workshop As these expenses will be met by government contract with a considerable net savings to the government. In summary most of the workshop participants travelled and or worked Over the last three Day weekend of the sum Mer and for those participants who were fortunate enough to spend a Day or two of that weekend in family recreation at Berchtesgaden they did so like any other member of the military family at their own expense and with reservations made Well in  i Salute you air Many if not most letters appearing in the stars and stripes Are critical of the air Force or its personnel therefore it is with pleasure that i can recount the following. Several hours after i had counselled my son on his temper and selfish treatment of his Peers i found a note that he and a visit ing Nephew had run away. His Mother and i were naturally concerned for the boys safety. Our initial efforts to find them were unsuccessful and after one hour we reported their absence to the Ramstein a Security police. Their real concern from the Onset was readily apparent. Within minutes patrols were dispatched to comb the air base and local area for the missing boys. The German police were notified and an intensive search initiated. The Calm professional manner that the Security police exhibited reassured us that the boys would be found Safe and soon. As it turned out. The boys returned of their own volition Al Ter being gone about four hours none the worse for their experience. There was no punishment just a re minder that while we sometimes did t like their actions we never ceased to love them. This episode ended happily the boys were Home and Safe and perhaps a bit Wiser and i was again reminded of the out standing professionalism and dedication that categorizes personnel of the finest air Force in the world. Their concern and efforts despite the late hour and competing demands on their time were refreshing reassuring and reflect great credit upon the individuals concerned. Of particular note were Bruce a Bonner Ronald f. Hall Karl Bott and Kerry Farney. These individuals exceed that which could be reasonably expected of them. I Salute you All. It. Col. Thompson Lindley Ramstein a Germany